Recall the iPod? It’s quietly returning. Four years after Apple discontinued the device, secondhand sales are rising—driven partly by young listeners drawn to its vintage style and the ability to enjoy music deliberately, with playlists free from algorithmic control.
“Many young people are increasingly looking for ways to limit smartphone distractions, often for mental health and well-being reasons,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. “Using a dedicated music device like an iPod helps cut reliance on your phone and prevents you from getting sidetracked by activities like endless social media scrolling when all you want is to enjoy music.”
If you want to join the iPod comeback, here are some tips:
Ways to Get an iPod
New iPods are no longer sold, but finding a used one is fairly easy. With 450 million sold over twenty years, plenty are still in circulation.
There’s a thriving secondhand market, as evidenced by thousands of listings for used iPods on eBay. “Based on my discussions with people in the market, there has definitely been renewed interest in refurbished iPods,” said Wood.
But watch out, because eBay, strangely, also has thousands of listings for new iPods. On closer inspection, they’re from China-based sellers and some buyers have left feedback complaining they received a used or refurbished device in counterfeit packaging.
Facebook Marketplace, peer-to-peer reselling site Mercari and refurbished electronics platform Back Market also have plenty of listings. Back Market, which operates in the U.S., Japan and more than a dozen European countries, said iPod sales last year jumped 48% from 2024.
Some companies specialize in selling refurbished iPods.
You might also find one tucked away at home—someone you know could have an old iPod lying in a drawer. My 16-year-old daughter, for example, recently found her grandmother’s silver iPod Nano, complete with its original charger and white earphones, in a guest room nightstand.
Online, a lively community of iPod enthusiasts shares tips, photos, and even showcases devices with custom modifications, like faceplates in unique colors.
What Model of iPod is it?
iPods come in several different styles. The original iPod, launched in 2001, featured a scroll wheel that became iconic. By the sixth generation, Apple labeled it the Classic.
Later, Apple introduced the smaller Mini and Nano, as well as the screenless Shuffle. The Touch came next, with a glass touchscreen and iOS, functioning like an iPhone without the phone capabilities. If you’re unsure which model you own, Apple’s identification page can help.
Reviving Your iPod
So you’ve dug up grandma’s old iPod—but does it still work? The battery may be dead, so you’ll need the right charging cable.
Later iPod Touch models use Apple’s Lightning cable, while all other iPods require the 30-pin cable, recognizable by its wide, flat connector. Apple no longer makes these, but third-party replacements are available.
If charging doesn’t bring it back to life, the battery may need replacing—or there could be other issues, like a broken headphone jack or a damaged screen. Apple still offers repairs, but only for the last two generations of the Touch.
You can either take it to a repair service or try fixing it yourself if you’re comfortable with DIY. The repair site iFixit offers detailed, step-by-step guides for replacing different components, though you’ll need to find the replacement parts on your own.
iPod Touch users should note software limitations. The seventh-generation iPod Touch—the final model sold—can only run iOS 15, while older models are restricted to earlier versions.
This doesn’t affect other iPod models, since they don’t use iOS.
Loading Music onto Your iPod
Grandma’s silver iPod Nano seemed to work fine, but I opted for a factory reset to erase the old audio files and restore the original settings. You’ll need a computer—Mac or Windows—to do this, and Apple provides a guide with the steps.
Windows users can manage their iPod and sync music using Apple’s iTunes. To add music from your computer, drag the files into iTunes and drop them into the iPod’s library. For songs previously purchased in iTunes, download them first, then right-click and choose “Add to Device.”
Since Apple discontinued iTunes for Mac in 2019, Mac users now use Apple Music, which allows the same simple drag-and-drop process.
Attention Apple Music subscribers: newer iPod Touch models can stream music. For all other iPod models, however, you can only add and play music files from CDs or purchases from digital music stores.
Updating Your iPod Software
Most iPods are fairly simple, partly due to the limitations of their built-in firmware. Yet their simplicity is part of the appeal for hobbyists, according to Wood. “There’s a growing community of people modifying iPods for modern use,” he said.
A common tweak is replacing the iPod’s firmware with open-source software like RockBox, which lets users add features Apple didn’t include or weren’t available when the device was released.
This can enable support for high-resolution lossless audio, manage music without iTunes, and track listening habits to share playlists on platforms like Last.fm, Wood explained.
Read the original article on: Tech Xplore
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