Marking 24 years since the first iPod went on sale, we revisit the rumors, price pushback, design wins—and how Apple’s music player paved the way for iPhone.
© A. Krivonosov
November 10 marked 24 years since the first iPod went on sale. Apple had unveiled the device in late October 2001, but this was the day people could finally walk into a store and buy it.
Long before launch, the rumor mill spun wildly around the mystery product. One leak dubbed it iWalk and framed it as a pocket computer with a color TFT display and handwriting input—an idea that never materialized. Another suggested the device was too elaborate for a simple music player and belonged to a home digital stereo setup, while German reporters likened it to a standalone Hi‑Fi‑grade CD drive. Yet one source came closer to the mark, saying the device would let people keep all the music in their home in one place, even if it mistakenly described it as a speaker with AirPlay support.
More grounded predictions cast it as a digital music device that could sync with a computer. The iPod name surfaced shortly before launch, but most details still landed as surprises—unlike today, early‑2000s leaks were sparse. On release day, some MacRumors readers queued up, setting a pattern for prelaunch lines outside Apple Stores that would become especially visible in the iPhone era. As with many first‑generation Apple debuts, reactions were mixed. Forum posts complained that the $399 price was steep, the polished back attracted fingerprints too easily, audio quality fell short of compact discs, the device warmed while charging, and Mac‑only support shut out PC users. Others were delighted—and, as time proved, the iPod became a phenomenon, expanded into a full family of models, and ultimately paved the way for the iPhone.
Back then, the idea of carrying a 5‑gigabyte FireWire drive in your pocket felt striking. Owners used the iPod not only for music but also as a portable hard disk. MP3 players were already around, but they lagged in storage, design finesse, and interface ease. Over time, the need for a standalone music gadget faded as the iPhone absorbed that role. The last of the line was the iPod touch, updated through 2019. Production officially ended in 2022—a rare move for Apple to say directly that a product’s run was over.