Apple Confirms It’s Not Getting Rid Of The iPod, Finally Updates The Device

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Just a month ago, we flirted with the possibility that Apple’s recent removal of the iPod from the top of the company’s site – in favor of its new subscription music service – may have been the beginning of the end for the company’s music player. Alas, today, the tech giant revealed that, no, it’s not sending the iPod the way of the dodo bird, instead, it’s updated the device… for the first time in three years.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple introduced an updated version of its iPod Touch, complete with the same software chip as the newest iPhone and a big ol’ powerful camera.

Among the updates Apple bestowed on the new iPod – which retails starting at $199 – are improved fitness tracking capabilities, 10-times faster graphics performance, and three-time faster WiFi connectivity, the company says.

The device will now come with Apple’s streaming-music service on a free trial basis for three months. But remember, if you do get the new iPod and decide you don’t want to keep the streaming-service after three months, you have to manually change preferences so not to be charged the $9.99 or $14.99 fee each month.

Apple’s new iPods will come in either a 16-gigabit version or a 128-gigabit version in several colors.

The company’s relative muteness on the possibility of a new iPod – along with the aforementioned home screen change – had many consumers and tech-lovers questioning whether or not the company would keep the device that was so groundbreaking when released in 2001.

In fact, the last major update for the iPod came in 2012, followed by the demise of the iPod Classic in September 2014.

Apple Updates iPod Touch [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist