Apple's $399 iPod at 25

Apple sold a portable music device for $399 exactly 25 years ago. The price covered 5GB of storage, which held approximately 1,000 pop songs. Steve Jobs, then chief executive, unveiled the product on October 23, 2001.

The launch occurred during a period of financial recovery for the company. Jobs had moved the business past its beige computer era and into the Mac OS X era. The iMac and iBooks were generating revenue despite the recent dot-com crash. Jobs framed the new device as part of a wider strategy where the Mac acted as a hub for digital media.

Jobs identified music as the primary market target. He noted that competitors such as Creative, Sonic Blue, and Sony already sold portable players. He argued that none of these firms had found the correct formula for digital music. At the time, the market consisted of CD players, MP3 CD players, flash players, and hard-disk jukeboxes. Jobs selected the hard-disk format for the new product.

The device supported MP3, WAV, and AIFF file formats. It provided CD-quality audio. The 5GB capacity stored about 1,000 tracks encoded at 160Kbps. Jobs stated that for most users, this volume represented their entire music collection.

The hardware relied on a new 1.8-inch hard drive from Toshiba. The drive measured 0.2 inches in thickness. The finished product measured 2.4 by 4 by 0.78 inches. It weighed 6.5 ounces, which Jobs described as lighter than most cell phones of that era.

Connectivity used a single FireWire 400 cable for charging and data transfer. Jobs claimed this connection moved a full CD onto the player in five to 10 seconds. USB connections of the time took roughly five minutes for the same task. The FireWire link also allowed the device to hold 1,000 songs in about 10 minutes, compared to five hours over USB.

A lithium-polymer battery provided 10 hours of continuous playback. Apple indicated that the battery could reach 80% charge in one hour. The device included 20-minute skip protection to maintain playback during movement.

The interface featured a piezoelectric clicker for tactile feedback. This allowed users to navigate by playlist, artist, or song with one hand. Jobs demonstrated the device by playing Sarah McLachlan's song "Building a Mystery." The launch coincided with the release of iTunes 2, which added MP3 CD burning and automatic library syncing.

The iPhone debuted in early 2007, more than five years after the initial iPod launch. The two products coexisted in Apple's lineup for over a decade. The iPod line eventually declined in popularity as smartphone capabilities expanded.

Apple released the seventh-generation iPod Touch in May 2019. This model represented the final entry in the product line. The company discontinued the iPod in May 2022.