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Associated Press

Remember the iPod? It is making a quiet comeback.
Four years after Apple killed off its digital music player, second-hand sales are surging – fuelled in part by young people interested not just in its retro looks but in listening to music in a focused way and with playlists not determined by algorithms.
“There’s a growing trend, particularly among younger users, to mitigate the ease with which they can be distracted by smartphones, often driven by mental health and well-being concerns,” says Ben Wood, chief analyst at market research company CCS Insight.
“Having a dedicated music device, such as an iPod, is a good way to reduce your dependence on a smartphone and avoid being drawn into other activities, like doomscrolling through social media feeds, when you only really want to listen to music.”
If you are interested in joining the iPod revival, here are some pointers.
How to get an iPod
You cannot buy a new iPod any more, but it is not too hard to get your hands on a used one. There are still a lot of them around because Apple sold 450 million over two decades.
There is a thriving second-hand 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,” Wood says.
But watch out, because eBay also has thousands of listings for “new” iPods. On closer inspection, many are from China-based sellers, and some buyers have left feedback complaining that 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. According to Back Market, which operates in the United States, Japan and more than a dozen European countries, iPod sales jumped 48 per cent from 2024 to 2025.
There are also businesses dedicated to selling refurbished iPods. And there is a chance someone you know has one gathering dust in a drawer somewhere.
For support, there is a vibrant online community of users swapping tips and sharing pictures of their devices, many with aftermarket modifications like faceplates in non-original colours.
Which iPod is it?
There is not just one single style of iPod.
The original iPod, released in 2001, came with a scroll wheel that became a design signature. When the sixth generation was released, Apple started calling that line the Classic.
It was followed by the smaller Mini and Nano versions, and the Shuffle, which had no screen. Then came the Touch, which had a glass touch screen and ran on iOS to support mobile apps – basically an iPhone without the phone.
If you are not sure which model you have, check Apple’s identification page.
Bringing it back to life
So you have found grandma’s old iPod, but does it work? The battery could be dead, so you will need a charging cable.
Later generations of the iPod Touch used Apple’s Lightning cable, but all other models require a 30-pin charging cable, which has a distinctively wide, flat plug. Apple does not make these any more, but replacements are available from aftermarket manufacturers.
If charging does not revive it, the battery might need replacing. Or maybe there is something else wrong, like a broken earphone jack or a damaged display. Apple still repairs iPods, but only for the two final generations of the iPod Touch.

You can send it to a repair service or fix it yourself if you are feeling handy. Repair website iFixit has detailed step-by-step repair guides for replacing various components. You will need to source spare parts yourself.
Touch owners should beware of software limitations. The most recent version of Apple’s operating system that will work on the seventh-generation iPod Touch – the last version ever sold – is iOS 15, and previous models are limited to even older versions.
This is not an issue with other iPod variants because they do not run iOS.
Adding music
You will need a computer, either a Mac or PC, to do this. Apple has a page that outlines the steps.
Those with Windows computers can use Apple’s iTunes program to manage their iPod and sync up their song library. To add digital music files from your computer, drag the files into iTunes and drop them in the iPod’s music library. To add a song that you have bought previously in iTunes, download it to your computer, right-click on it and select “Add to Device”.
Apple discontinued iTunes for macOS in 2019, so Mac computer users will have to use Apple Music, but it is an equally easy process of dragging and dropping files.
Take note, Apple Music subscribers: you should be able to stream music on later generations of the iPod Touch. But for every other type of iPod, you will only be able to add and listen to music files ripped from a CD or bought from a digital music platform.

Upgrading the software
Most iPods are pretty basic, in part because they are limited by the device’s on-board firmware.
But part of the iPod’s appeal is that it is easy for hobbyists to tinker with them, Wood says.
“There is definitely a movement of people looking to take iPods and modify them for modern use,” he says.
One popular hack is replacing the iPod’s firmware with open-source software such as RockBox, which can be used “to upgrade an iPod to offer greater control and add features that Apple had not included or did not exist at the time”, Wood says.
This includes support for high-resolution lossless music files, the ability to manage music without iTunes, and tracking what you have been listening to so you can upload your playlist to a platform such as Last.fm, Wood says.


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How to get an iPod and set it up as Apple’s music device makes a comeback

Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds a first-generation iPod during a news conference in October 2001, at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple’s music players are gaining popularity again, despite the tech giant stopping selling them years ago. Photo: AP

Apple’s iPod Shuffle.

The first-generation iPod could store around 1,000 songs. Photo: Apple/dpa

Apple’s iPod Nano.

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From Nanos to Touches, Apple’s retro iPods are gaining fans years after being discontinued. Here’s a guide on finding them and what to avoid


From Nanos to Touches, Apple’s retro iPods are gaining fans years after being discontinued. Here’s a guide on finding them and what to avoid.


Technology

iPhone

eBay

How to get an iPod and set it up as Apple’s music device makes a comeback

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Nanos to Touches, Apple’s retro iPods are gaining fans years after being discontinued. Here’s a guide on finding them and what to avoid

From Nanos to Touches, Apple’s retro iPods are gaining fans years after being discontinued. Here’s a guide on finding them and what to avoid