Paul Morris on July 28, 2017, 3:53 am

Apple Kills iPod nano And shuffle, Doubles iPod touch Storage Tier To 32GB And 128GB For Same Price

With iPhone 8 expected to land this coming September, and new iPads being launched just last month, the Cupertino-based business is focusing a small amount of attention on iPod by discontinuing iPod shuffle and nano and killing off the 16GB and 64GB iPod touch variants.

Apple has been receiving a lot of attention for its iPhone and iPad hardware in recent months and years, and has been giving that attention back to the lineups with new, refreshed, and powerful products, but seems to have neglected the iPod range in the process, which stands changed now; well at least somewhat.

Let’s start with the most aggressive changes made to the iPod range, which sits with iPod shuffle and iPod nano. This one has probably been a long time coming with faltering and declining sales, but the company has now taken the decision to entirely remove nano and shuffle from sale. That has manifested in Apple immediately removing the nano and shuffle product pages from its website, and will eventually make the move of removing those products from physical retail outlets, too.

For those who don’t need a full iPhone or iPad experience, but who do still want one of Apple’s media players without having to pay $500+, it leaves only the iPod touch. And don’t think the iPod touch has gotten away without having changes made to it.

Apple has previously offered iPod touch in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities to try and suit all needs and requirements across all budgets. That line has now been streamlined with the entry-level 16GB version being removed along with the top-end 64GB variant. Consumers will now only have access to a new $199 32GB option or a $299 128GB option.

This may be a relatively small refresh where the iPod touch is concerned but it’s a fairly big step from Apple to entirely admit that the iPod nano and iPod shuffle has seen its last days as a product. Anyone who is looking for an Apple music product will be able to part with $199 for an iPod touch with storage capacity doubled to 32GB, or $299 for 128GB, but anything other than that and they’ll need to invest in something like an iPhone SE.

The future is currently unknown for the iPod range, meaning that it’s unclear if further changes will occur and if the iPod will ultimately be phased out entirely. However, for now, the iPod touch is flying the flag for that range.