As downloaded music fades away, Apple discontinues older iPods

Reuters

Published Jul 27, 2017 01:59PM ET

Updated Jul 27, 2017 02:10PM ET

As downloaded music fades away, Apple discontinues older iPods

By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) - Apple Inc (O:AAPL) said Thursday that it will discontinue the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano, the last two music players in the company's lineup that cannot play songs from Apple Music, its streaming service that competes with Spotify and Pandora Media Inc (N:P).

The two devices are the direct descendants of the original iPod introduced by then-CEO Steve Jobs in 2001, widely seen as putting Apple on the eventual path toward the iPhone. They can only play songs that have been downloaded from iTunes or from physical media such as CD.

Apple said the new iPod line will consist of two models of the iPod Touch ranging form $199 to $299 depending on storage capacity. The iPod Touch is essentially an iPhone without mobile data service and runs iOS, the same operating system as iPhones and iPads.