iPod Mini 2017: Apple’s Discontinued Portable Music Player Reappears On Online Store

The iPod mini has reappeared on Apple’s online store, and its product page even says that it will starting shipping in 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, there seems to be no reason to believe that the Cupertino giant has revived the discontinued digital media player, or if it has plans of launching a 2017 edition of the device.

On Friday, MacRumors got a tip from one of its readers that the iPod mini has, for no apparent reason, resurfaced on Apple’s Singapore website. Upon checking, the publication discovered that the dated gadget was really shown on the online store, and it was even scheduled for release in a few weeks time.

The now-deleted product page listed the the iPod mini as available in four different colors: Blue, Green, Pink and Silver. It also indicated that users can choose between the 4GB and 6GB storage variants when purchasing the device. With the latter storage option, users could save up to 1,500 songs and play them on the go.

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Unfortunately, the reappearance of the iPod mini is believed to be nothing but a glitch on Apple’s Singapore website. The most obvious sign that it is a glitch is the outdated design of the product page when viewing it from a desktop browser. Also, there hasn’t been any update from Apple that it is preparing to relaunch the product.

The storage space variants also strongly suggest that the revival of the iPod mini is a product of a system glitch. The said options were launched with the second-generation models of the digital media player in February 2005. The pricing of the device is also very questionable in the first place. The 6GB variant costs SG$446.34, which converts to US$328.92. Such price tag isn’t reasonable — at the present time — for a device that merely stores music.

The iPod mini was discontinued 12 years ago in September 2005. The product was terminated after Apple introduced the iPod nano, which has also been discontinued along with the iPod shuffle on Thursday. This leaves the iPod touch as the only iPod-branded device that the tech giant is still selling.

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Meanwhile, the discontinuation of the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano has marked the death of iPhone 8 maker’s portable music players. The announcement did not come as a surprise though, considering that both product lines have never been updated in recent years. Apple did not really give the specifics as to why the two devices were discontinued.

An Apple spokesperson simply responded to Business Insider via email saying, “Today, we are simplifying our iPod line up with two models of iPod touch now with double the capacity starting at just $199 and we are discontinuing the iPod shuffle and iPod nano.”

Retiring the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano makes sense, knowing that the tech industry has since moved forward with producing devices that can carry multiple tasks. Another point here has to do with smartphones becoming powerful devices with very useful features and tools. Besides, the popularity of portable music players have evidently died down.