iPod No Longer in Production, but Now Increasingly Sought After by Gen Z

Apple’s music-playing device, the iPod, is now increasingly sought after by young people born between 1997 and 2012 (Generation Z), according to a recent report released by Axios.

The report notes that searches for keywords “Original iPod” and “iPod Nano” on Google have increased throughout 2025. Axios did not specify the scale of this increase compared to the previous year.

Beyond Google, the report also documents that searches for two iPod devices—the iPod Classic and iPod Nano—on the eBay marketplace rose during the January-October 2025 period. This trend aligns with a survey conducted by music observer Emily White in December 2025, which found that 32 percent of Gen Z now prefer listening to music via legacy music players, such as MP3 players.

The iPod, first released by Apple in 2001, was officially discontinued and development ceased in 2022. Today, the music-playing function has largely been replaced by smartphones. Yet why is Gen Z now widely seeking out iPods?

Cal Newport, a professor at Georgetown University in the United States, explains that people, particularly Gen Z, are turning to legacy music players because these devices offer simplicity. The simplicity in question refers to the fact that these devices have only one function: playing music. This contrasts sharply with smartphones, which can be used for numerous purposes, and several smartphone features—such as notifications, internet access, and social media—are considered disruptive to the music-listening experience.

Most of the users surveyed by Emily also expressed similar sentiments. They report that listening to music on legacy devices serves as a form of digital detox, allowing them to step away from the internet-connected world that can interfere with their activities.