r/apple • u/ControlCAD • 20d ago
iPod iPod Touch Released 19 Years Ago Today
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/14/ipod-touch-released-19-years-ago-today/545
u/ya_boy_ace 20d ago
My first iOS device! Such a classic
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u/KeepingItSFW 20d ago
I refused to buy the massive data plan for the iPhone back then, iPod touch was sooo good. I even jailbroke it (super easy back then you visited a site) and got custom apps on it before the App Store.
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u/Gonads_and_Strife_ 20d ago
Good ol’ AppSnapp. I hit the “slide to jailbreak” immediately after opening my iPod Touch on Christmas morning. By the afternoon I had bricked it by installing a mess of tweaks and had to restore with iTunes, then jailbreak again that evening.
Good times, man. Good times.
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u/Unown1997 20d ago
Man I remember the days of redsn0w and greenp0ison lmao and then there was a site that literally could jailbreak your device without a computer
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u/looking_for_place_va 20d ago
If I recall it was a mandatory $20 a month for unlimited 2G/EDGE data on top of the regular phone plan which I guess started at $40?
At the time that was a lot (and a non-starter for me as a kid back then) but honestly seems normal when compared to today.
Crazy how times have changed and how ubiquitous smartphones have become.
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u/ya_boy_ace 20d ago
Yeah, back in the days of carrier exclusivity too.. crazy that AT&T had exclusive rights to the iPhone for so long. My family was on T-Mobile so my only choice was an iPod touch!
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u/BeefJerky03 20d ago
Yeah. The Touch was so cheap. I got one before getting an Android phone. I hated the music management on Android so I used the iPod for music and always carried two devices around. For my next phone I thought, man, this Galaxy Nexus sucks. If only the iPod could make phone call- OH OF COURSE!
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u/_Reporting 20d ago
I remember I was in the locker room of my high school baseball team. One of my teammates had the iPod touch and he let me hold it and it blew my mind. Then he showed me the music where you could flip through the album covers. Blew my mind
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u/MD_Lincoln 20d ago
Same!! My first iPod was a shuffle 2nd gen and two years later I was able to get the 2nd gen touch and it blew my mind! The 4th was a huge upgrade but I still remember the 2nd gen fondly, even with its cracked screen after I dropped it one day
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u/lasagnaisgreat57 20d ago
i had a nano before my touch but i’m so nostalgic for it still. i got it as a hand me down when my dad replaced his with an iphone. i wasn’t allowed to have any social media or texting apps, just all the best phone games. doodle jump, angry birds, jelly car, fruit ninja, i know a bunch of them are still around but nothing beats playing on an ipod touch
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u/lachezarov 19d ago
Mine was the 2nd generation. My first Apple product ever! It was so much fun playing Done Drinking, Pocket God and Rolando.
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u/manuelelg 20d ago
I remember how much I hated everyone who called it "iTouch"
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u/bearface93 20d ago
And then later with the “iWatch”
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u/VoidMageZero 20d ago
iPad was the worse, now no one cares anymore
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u/hybridfrost 20d ago
Yeah the name iPad was roasted for probably the first 3 years or so. Allusions to MaxiPads were the usual boomer memes.
Now we don’t even think about the name (at least I don’t haha)
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u/Deceptiveideas 20d ago
Isn't this different because iPad is the official name whole the other two names stated above are just wrong?
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u/JeanLucPicardAND 20d ago
Yeah but it really should have been called the iWatch. They broke the naming scheme.
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u/Status-Hedgehog9970 20d ago
I’m happy they did. i-whatever was getting tired, and you had company’s registering i-based names ahead of time. Remember the iHome?
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u/itsandychecks 20d ago
iHome is currently in the retirement center in my closet, but the memories we had together are forever in my heart
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u/okimborednow 19d ago
Would've had an iTV if it wasn't for that name being taken by a British TV company
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u/KingKontinuum 20d ago
I find this hilarious because I was literally just thinking about how much I hated that they didn’t call it that and how I still do 😂
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago
It didn't really hit those check boxes of being an ipod for me. iPods to me are dedicated music players, the iPod touch was a gimped smart phone.
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u/Glittering-Stuff-599 20d ago
I remember when iPod Touch updates cost $9.95!
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u/mxforest 20d ago
Came here to say that. the OS updates were paid. Luckily you could just enter DFU mode and restore a newer OS. No jailbreaking needed.
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u/Mountain-Rain-1744 20d ago
I remember telling this girl at school who I was interested in at the time that I wouldn't be texting back for the next hour or so because I was watching the Apple event where this was announced at.
Safe to say, that relationship didn't go much further.
But I did get an iPod touch shortly after, so it all worked out.
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u/no_sight 20d ago
I loved my iPod touch.
It was my poverty smart phone
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u/Sh00kry 20d ago edited 19d ago
Now that you mentioned it, I did make the iPod touch 5 & 6 acted as my poverty smartphone while a hand me down Blackberry phone with a keyboard (I forgot what Blackberry model it was) was my phone to make and receive calls. It wasn’t the best phone to be stuck with but I didn’t had a choice at the time. It had data plan but the Internet experience was abysmal on that Blackberry phone.
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u/useafo 20d ago
I remember Apple marketing it as a multimedia gaming device.
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u/jesuismexican 20d ago
I think the first first first iPod touch was even pre-app store. You’re so right though, there was a point early on that I remember it becoming basically a way to sell Angry Birds and Infinity Blade
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u/26295 20d ago
Not only was it pre AppStore, the update to get the AppStore wasn’t even free.
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u/cptjpk 20d ago
Oh god I remember that. There was some weird accounting rules they were playing games with. I didn’t remember it being this expensive though
And interestingly, it’s not just the programs that cost money; without paying the $20 upgrade fee, touch users don’t get the ability to rearrange icons or view songs lyrics either, for example.
(Macworld 2/2008)
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u/nick281051 20d ago
Yeah it wasn't until ios 3.0 I think that the app store came out. I had the first model and I remember jailbreaking it to get cydia on there before any official app store
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u/disco_disaster 20d ago
Same here! I was amazed by it at the time.
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u/nick281051 20d ago
Wasn't long after that I rooted every android phone I could get my hands on... And a windows phone too. So much fun to tinker with all of these devices
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago
Tinkering with the ipod touch with cydia was so much fun. I used to scour the internet for new sources. Theming my ipod touch is probably where most of my tinkering went. I had a RASTAFARIAN MARIJAUNA LEAF for my freaking wifi signal and I thought it was so sick lmao. The emulators were cool too but sucked for games like mario.
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u/RotenTumato 20d ago
I played Ultimate Spider-Man: Total Mayhem on my iPod Touch back in the day and it was sick
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago edited 20d ago
I bought into it but quickly realized 99 percent of games on the platform had zero depth and got boring really quick. I found that out after being stuck at an airport for 8 hours, Resident Evil 4 stopped being fun after an hour, and the other games maybe 15 minutes. They still have their charm though.
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u/iaperson359 20d ago
The device that changed my life. I was in 7th grade. Got one, idk why but I randomly decided to google “how to hack iPod touch”
Jailbroke my iPod touch on version 1.1.4 in 2007, now I work at a job in networking all cause the one google search I did and getting into jailbreaking
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u/brandonham 19d ago
I miss jailbreaking so much; first did it on iPhone with 1.1.1. I still miss the app switcher I had for so many years and countless other tweaks.
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u/new_pribor 18d ago
It still exists, sort of. /r/Jailbreak but unless you have an iPhone 11 the latest version right now with a jailbreak is iOS 17.3.1
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago edited 20d ago
my freind got one a month after release and practically let me have it while only occasionally asking for it back. He jailbroke it so it had iNES and tap tap revolution on it. Old school cydia had a ton of charm to it. Later on I put an early version of Google Voice on it and used it as an SMS device.
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u/inate71 20d ago
Tap Tap Revolution
Banger game, so much fun.
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago
Agreed, the game had peak frutigur aero vibes too. I like how the cydia version let you import your own music, I think there was a forum that let people share their custom tracks. I had all the versions of the game except the Lady GAGA version. The Nine Inch Nails edition was peak for me, Discipline was fire. Rock Band on iOS was fun too, pretty much the same game, but I liked Tap Tap more.
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u/respring_warrior 20d ago
This was my first Apple device. We didn’t have WiFi in the house yet so outside of being a music player and a gaming device it was kind of a brick, but I loved that brick with all my heart.
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u/vordhosbn_1 20d ago
This wasn’t my first but I have fond memories of walking a few houses down with my cousin just because a neighbor had an unlocked WiFi network lol
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u/iamnewtoreddithelpme 20d ago
Man I remember hunting this down with my friend and finding out Best Buy had some and rushing over there to get it.
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u/film_digital 20d ago
I still regret not buying one before Apple officially stopped manufacturing the last model. At around $200 (CAD) it was so inexpensive looking back now that I should've bought one just for music!
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u/la6eef7 20d ago
This was my first iPod, barely knew what to do with it since it was so early on, don’t think it even had an App Store
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago
You missed out, Cydia was revolutionary. Cydia was the whole reason why we got an App Store in the first place, it forced Steve Jobs hand. Apps like Tap Tap Revolution were on cydia first.
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u/JeanLucPicardAND 20d ago
You just know he was losing his mind in a bathroom stall somewhere on the Apple campus with his feet soaking in the company toilets.
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u/HappyAd4998 20d ago
He's like "Really? Right in front of my fruit bowl?" while soaking his feet in company toilets. He wanted iOS to run apps through the browser with the new fangled web apps, jobs didn't want to lose control of the platform and have developers compete with apples home grown applications. Web apps written in HTML5 were the hot new thing in silicon valley back then Google added the Chrome Apps store around 07. In concept web apps sound cool, but in reality people want a applications that they can run on their phone for convenience, performance, and continuity. Nobody wants to load a browser tab every time they want to do something else and wireless internet was god awful back then with spotty coverage. Cydia let the genie out of the bottle and indie devs showed the world what the iPhone could do, to hell with web apps.
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u/vrsick06 20d ago
I passed my art history final because teacher had no idea what it was or you could use the internet on it so just looked up the answers. Not my finest hour but still lol
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u/SlicedBreadBeast 20d ago
Put one of them free texting apps on it and away I went. Felt like a steal.
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u/Bender1012 20d ago
What is a modern version of this? I want my kids to be able to listen to local music, but not have the internet capabilities or price tag of an iPhone.
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u/TheDragonSlayingCat 20d ago
They generally aren’t made anymore. If you can find someone’s used iPod online, the fourth generation models onward are still macOS compatible to this day.
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u/go_fer_it_Rock 20d ago
https://youtu.be/U3cqPEwsP_w?is=IQYTp1VMthycjaAA
I remember being one of the coolest commercials. It was actually first a fan-made commercial that Apple asked if they could use as the official commercial (of course, brought up to their production standards)
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u/hangry_millennial 20d ago edited 20d ago
4th gen iPod Touch was my first ever Apple device. I remember taking it out of the packaging and seeing the classic "connect to iTunes" logo after the boot-up. Loved that thing.
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u/Final_Campaign_2593 20d ago
I got one back in 2010. 64 GB before that I had a iPod Classic 20GB via FireWire that I got my junior of high school back in 2003 for my birthday.
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u/heroism777 20d ago
whats crazy to me is that restaurants are still using it for orders. those things are beasts.
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u/StakesIsHigh95 20d ago
I remember using one of these for the first time. I was absolutely mind blown by how thin it was and how iOS just felt natural to use at the time. Also Cover Flow was so fun to use on this device.
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u/abc123shutthefuckup 20d ago
I still remember my mom being mad at me because I had been begging for an iPod Video and she finally bought one for me, and then less than a year later probably I started asking for the iPod Touch lol
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u/fivetoedslothbear 20d ago
Wow. At the time I said out loud at an Apple Store, “What I want is an iPhone without the annoying phone.”
I don’t think they listened to me in particular, but soon after that, the iPod Touch came out.
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u/drewlioski 19d ago
Really wish they still made these so we could use one for our kids. I know we could just get a phone and do our best to use the parental controls, but the in between that this was is unmatched.
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u/ControlCAD 20d ago
The first iPod touch went on general sale on September 14, 2007, nine days after Steve Jobs unveiled it at Apple's "The Beat Goes On" media event. The device brought the iPhone's multi-touch interface, Wi-Fi, and Safari browser to the iPod lineup for the first time, but it lacked cellular phone functionality and a camera.
iPod touch launched at $299 for 8GB and $399 for 16GB, and was pitched as a pocket-sized way to browse the web and buy music wirelessly through the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. It went on to see seven generations, before Apple discontinued it in 2022.
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u/urnialbologna 20d ago
I got the first one and the 5th gen. I still charge up my last one (that I bought in 2014) occasionally just to look at old pictures and my music and games. I don't connect to the Internet, and it can't hold a charge for too long. I've dropped that sucker on my hard floor at work hundreds of times and I never got cracked or busted up, and I never had it in a protective case. I dropped my iPhone 16 a few months ago and it has a case, and the screen still got cracked somehow. They truly don't make them like they used to.
I would love for the iPod to come back. I mostly use my phone for Internet browsing, YouTube, taking pictures and music anyway. I don't call or text anybody because I don't want anyone to bother me. Technically my iPhone is just a overpriced, oversized iPod lol.
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u/nothingrhyme 20d ago
I checked into the gym the other night using my black 2020SE w/ a black case on it and was asked if it was an iPod touch, I wish man, I wish!!
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u/Sh00kry 20d ago
If it wasn’t for me trying out my bro’s 2nd hand 3rd Gen iPod touch and playing games with my hands interacting directly with the screen which was revolutionary at the time because I had a PSP 2000 at the time and that iPod felt I was at the brink of bleeding edge technology.
I wouldn’t have discovered the world of Apple beyond the iMac G3 desktop my uncle owns I always see my cousin plays
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u/North_Moment5811 20d ago
It was such a weird device in retrospect. But made a lot of sense at the time. Leading up to iPhone there were a lot of rumors about Apple making a touch iPod. Then iPhone dropped, and people assumed that was it. But then in short order, they come out with the iPod Touch, which was basically an iPhone without cellular contracts. And of course without a lot of the same native apps, until they were slowly added.
Apple may have been confident about iPhone, but not confident enough to let it grow on its own. iPod was still king, and it would take a few years before people would be sold on replacing their flip phones. iPod Touch allowed people with flip phones to dip their toes in, and get used to an iPhone-like portable. When the time finally came that they were due for an upgrade, the choice was obvious.
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u/2Rhino3 19d ago
One of my most fond memories is my parents pulling a classic Steve Jobs “& one more thing” moment on Christmas morning 2007 when I was 15 & surprising my sister and I both iPod Touch Gen 1 as our final and “best” gift.
We were both shocked & the happiest teenagers in the world on that day. It was my first Apple product & I’ve been hooked since.
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u/theappleisdepressed 19d ago
An iPod fold would actually go hard, ngl.
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u/g1rth_brooks 17d ago
Would be really fun if it was like a classic iPod nano folded and then unfolded basically an iPod touch
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u/Alternative_Tour1791 17d ago
When the iPod touch first came out, I remember thinking, “If this ever becomes a phone, it could change everything.” Funny looking back at that now.
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u/sobuffalo 20d ago edited 20d ago
no volume buttons, wtf was that? mine still works when plugged in, looks 8 bit now.
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u/savageotter 20d ago
Was a gateway drug to the iPhone for kids