IPod
line of portable media players by Apple Inc.
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple from 2001 to 2022. The first version was released on November 10, 2001, 10 months after the Macintosh version of iTunes was released. Apple has sold an estimated 450 million iPods. Apple officially discontinued the iPod product line on May 10, 2022. The iPod is the longest-running product discontinued by Apple, with a total lifespan of over 20 years.
Some versions of the iPod can serve as external data storage devices, like other digital music players. Prior to macOS 10.15, Apple's iTunes software (and other alternative software) could be used to transfer music, photos, videos, games, contact information, e-mail settings, Web bookmarks, and calendars to the devices supporting these features from computers using certain versions of Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Before the release of iOS 5, the iPod branding was used for the media player included with the iPhone and iPad, which was separated into apps named "Music" and "Videos" on the iPod Touch. As of iOS 10.2, the music app was incorporated into the modern Apple TV app. While the iPhone and iPad have essentially the same media player capabilities as the iPod line, they are generally treated as separate products.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “IPod” as line of portable media players by Apple Inc. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as line of portable media players by Apple Inc. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9479. The Library of Congress control number is sh2004002275. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001 and 2022.
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This entry incorporates text from “IPod” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.