Apple Nixes iPod Nano and Shuffle From Its Lineup

Apple has announced it is discontinuing its low-end iPod models, the Nano and Shuffle, Bloomberg reports. However, the company is doubling the capacity of its two iPod Touch models. The move follows Apple nixing the iPod classic with the click wheel in 2014.

Signs of the models’ demise seemed inevitable. Both of the discontinued iPods haven’t been updated in several years, though they were available in new colors. The Nano, which replaced the iPod Mini in 2005, was last redesigned in 2012. Meanwhile, the Shuffle, which also first hit the market in 2005, was last revamped in 2010. The two iPods have already been removed from the company’s online store, and will soon disappear from retail stores.

The products were two of the most affordable items in Apple’s lineup, with the Nano starting at $149 and the Shuffle starting at $49.

“Today, we are simplifying our iPod lineup with two models of iPod Touch now with double the capacity starting at just $199 and we are discontinuing the iPod Shuffle and Nano,” Apple said in a statement.

iPod Touch, which was launched in 2008, is Apple’s biggest-selling iPod. On Thursday, it discontinued its 16GB and 64GB models and lowered the prices of its new double-capacity styles. The 32GB retails for $199 and the 128GB is available for $299. Unlike the Nano and Shuffle, the Touch offers Wi-Fi capabilities and an 8MP camera as well as more storage.

The news of the two portable players’ extinction should not come as much of a surprise to consumers, given that listening to on-the-go music is often done via streaming or stored music via smartphones. As Bloomberg notes, Apple has sold more than 400 million iPods since the line’s inception in 2001, whereas iPhone, first introduced in 2007, has surpassed a billion units sold as of July 2016.