Believe it or not, until earlier this year Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) still sold a version of the original iPod that it introduced in 2001. But in September with the launch of the iPhone 6, Apple quietly removed the device — the last one to use the legacy 30-pin connector — from its online store without giving a reason. Now, Tim Cook has explained why his company has decided to kill off the legacy device.
Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJD Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that a new edition of the company’s classic iPod line was not in the works simply because it’s not economically feasible. Parts are no longer available so the device would have to be redesigned, and Apple doesn’t believe that the demand is there to justify it.
“We would have to make a whole new product,” Cook said at the conference. “The engineering work to do that would be massive. The number of people who wanted it is very small.”
While the classic iPod won’t see a seventh generation, the iPod itself isn’t entirely dead. The flash-based iPod shuffle, iPod nano and iPod touch are all still available. Of course, if you really want a classic iPod there are plenty still available on eBay.
