These iPod Wallpapers for your iPhone give it a wonderfully retro-style Lock Screen!

22 years ago, Steve Jobs held in his hand what would quite literally be the turning point of his company. The iPod made its first debut in October 2001, and it’s difficult to picture what Apple would look like without it. Such has its cultural effect been on society that if you’re a millennial with an iPhone, chances are you probably owned (or tried desperately to convince your parents for) an iPod. However, if you missed that boat (or even if you just miss having an iPod right now), Oliur and Shane Levine’s wallpapers have you absolutely sorted. The iPod Wallpapers Pack turns your iPhone lock screen into a makeshift iPod with the popular music player’s display conveniently showcasing the date and time as well as your iPhone lock screen widgets. No, it won’t control music playback. Yes, we wish it did!

Designers: Oliur & Shane Levine

Click Here to Buy Now: $14

Turn your iPhone lock screen into a 6th Gen iPod Classic!

The $14 wallpaper pack comes with 12 different iPod Classic variants to choose from, including color varieties as well as themed and grungy iPods that kids bedazzled with stickers and other paraphernalia. All the images are high-definition, which works exceptionally well on your iPhone’s AMOLED retina screens…

Click Here to Buy Now: $14

The post These iPod Wallpapers for your iPhone give it a wonderfully retro-style Lock Screen! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This resurrected ‘iPod’ from Nothing isn’t real… but I honestly wish it was

You may think that a Nothing ‘Npod’ music player sounds like an absurd idea, but I’m here to say that it makes absolute sense…

There are some undeniable similarities between the Apple of Steve Jobs, and the Nothing of Carl Pei. Both founders started other successful businesses (Jobs also founded Pixar and Pei founded OnePlus) before finding their true calling in tech. In his 2022 presentation, Carl Pei mentioned that tech had stopped being fun, rather subtly casting aspersions at Apple that used to make exciting products once upon a time when Steve Jobs was in his ‘pirates of Silicon Valley’ era. Apple’s breakout product may have been the Mac, but it truly became a cultural phenomenon with a music product – the iPod. Similarly, Nothing made its global debut with a music product too – the Nothing Ear (1). One could argue that the Nothing Phone (1) almost perfectly matches the iPhone 12’s size and shape, so it’s safe to say there’s quite the overlap… and this fan-made Nothing Npod (1) takes things a step further.

Designer: Shreyansh Onial

Designed by Shreyansh Onial, the Nothing Npod (1) simultaneously pays homage to Apple’s iconic iPod Shuffle and Nothing’s transparent design aesthetic and glyph interface. In ways, it’s also a reflection of how Nothing is capable of revolutionizing the music industry through the power of technology and nostalgia.

The Npod (1) is a pretty literal fan-made reinterpretation of the iPod Shuffle, with the signature circular control panel on the front and a matching circular glyph interface on the back. A wireless charging coil on the back also hints at the iPod… er, Npod (1) charging wirelessly, although there’s definitely a USB-C charger on the bottom, judging by the ‘!’ glyph on the back which can also be found on the Phone (1) and Phone (2).

The presence of a glyph interface on the Npod (1) seems like an odd choice, but it isn’t inconceivable that the interface responds and reacts to the music being played. One arc in the circle could act as a volume indicator while the other could serve as a seek bar, showing the progress of the audio file (the Phone (2) had such a feature too).

The Npod (1) is designed to be a tad bit smaller than the Ear (2) case, reflecting the iPod Shuffle’s comparative size too. The Npod and TWS earbuds go together rather well if you ask me, although the music player is clearly missing a pocket clip that would allow you to attach it to your clothes for easy control and usage.

For now, however, the Npod (1) is just a fan-made concept (I imagine Apple’s legal team would sue Nothing into oblivion if they made something this, well, similar). Ultimately though, it’s a fun design exercise that also serves as a pretty strong reminder of the overlap between the current ethos of Nothing under Carl Pei, and of Apple in the turn of the millennium under Steve Jobs.

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Maybe a circular Apple iPod isn’t such a crazy idea after all…

Apple has had its fair share of product successes, but none have been as impactful as the iPod. The iPod truly made Apple a consumer tech company, taking it out of its little box of being a niche computer manufacturer. It practically changed the music industry overnight, ostensibly killing the CD and the Walkman while simultaneously pushing a generation towards digital downloads. It also singlehandedly forced the entire music industry to pivot from selling entire albums to selling singles. As the iPod rapidly became a household device, it also spawned an entire industry of tech-accessory manufacturers who made speakers and docks specifically for the iPod… but most importantly, it allowed tech and fashion to collide in a way that nobody had ever experienced before… fundamentally changing how Apple would make products in the future. Andrea Copellino’s iPod Nano concept captures that very spirit of the iPod in a fresh new design that breaks the mold all over again.

Nostalgia can be an incredibly powerful emotion (case in point, the 2019 Moto RAZR), although Copellino’s redesign doesn’t capitalize on the old iPod’s iconic design. Instead, it challenges it with a fresh relook at what a music player from Apple could look like – and I’ll be honest. I like it for a bunch of reasons.

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

As Apple gradually began phasing out the iPod, it increasingly began looking like the iPhone (in fact the iPod Touch was almost indistinguishable from earlier models of the iPhone). Copellino sidesteps this problem by giving the iPod a complete refresh and making it circular. The new iPod Nano paves its own path forward with a fresh new design that’s instantly distinguishable from the iPhone. It sports a circular UI that Copellino designed from scratch too, borrowing elements from the Apple Watch. It also comes with a circular display that looks just marginally smaller than the one used on the HomePod Mini.

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

What I really enjoy about the new iPod Nano is that it looks different but feels the same. Classic iPods came with round jog-wheels that established a circular interaction, and the new iPod Nano’s circular display just carries that forward. Its puck-like design is comfortable to hold and comes with a clip on the back that makes it easy to secure your music player around your pocket.

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

The iPod Nano concept has a bunch in common with the iPhone (although its drastic design change really sets it apart)- it runs Apple Music, Podcasts, Siri, among a bunch of other apps. It’s entirely portless too, working seamlessly with the AirPods, Pro, and Max, and charges wirelessly. Ingeniously enough, the iPod Nano is exactly the same width as Apple’s MagSafe charger, allowing it to line up perfectly while charging. Magnets on the back of the iPod let it snap to the charger perfectly, ensuring alignment every time.

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

Is Apple going to relaunch the iPod? Probably not, although Copellino’s earlier concept looks a lot like something Apple WOULD launch. This circular iPod Nano is more of a design exercise or a fan-concept, although there’s definitely a dramatic appeal to it. I could totally imagine an alternate universe with colorful billboards of human silhouettes holding circular touch-sensitive iPod Nanos, and people lining up outside Apple stores to buy them!

Designer: Andrea Copellino

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

The post Maybe a circular Apple iPod isn’t such a crazy idea after all… first appeared on Yanko Design.

Is Apple relaunching the iPod on its 20th Anniversary this year? Here’s why it could be a smart idea…

Four words – Lossless Audio, and Apple Arcade. These four words could just as easily the new iPod’s design brief. The Twitter rumor-mill’s working on overdrive after a few sources claimed that Apple could announce a new iPod this fall. A few designers even went so far as to create renders based on hearsay and leaks, and I’m absolutely here for it. A new iPod could be a pretty nifty product for a variety of reasons. Here are my thoughts.

Only last week Apple announced that lossless audio was coming to Apple Music. With a new iPod, it’ll be like Apple going into the music-streaming war guns-a-blazing. Spotify’s slowly but surely dominated this space, and the new iPod could almost be Apple signaling that it’s taking the music domain pretty seriously. The iPod could drum up major interest the same way the Moto RAZR did – nostalgia is a powerful force. Moreover, the hardware would be no different from the iPhone 5 or the iPhone SE, given that the renders look pretty much exactly like those devices.

Secondly, the new iPod has the ability to become Apple’s gateway device for a variety of iOS features (and probably even MagSafe, who knows). Kids could use it for listening to music, but could also potentially use the iMessage service on it. The iPod could leverage the power of Apple Arcade too, becoming a very affordable device that parents would buy for their kids in a heartbeat, tying them into the Apple ecosystem at an early age. The iPod has always been an impulse purchase (as opposed to the iPhone)… reissuing the gadget on its 20th anniversary absolutely makes a world of sense!!

Image Credits: Steve Moser, AppleLe257, and Apple_Tomorrow

Share your memories and reviews of the last iPod Classic

This week marks an anniversary of sorts for the 6th-generation “classic” iPod. Not its release date (September 5th, 2007), but the date it was officially discontinued: September 9th, 2014. That day Apple stopped producing non-touchscreen mobile music...

This iPod-inspired AirPods case is a music (and podcast) lover’s absolute dream!

I personally believe the audio industry owes a massive debt of gratitude to Apple. The company has singlehandedly caused ripples in the industry ever since the iPod. Whether it’s the tiny music playback device, or the birth of iTunes and the death of music piracy, or the removal of the headphone jack and the ushering of the wireless age of AirPods (or even the fact that Apple literally invented the podcast), it’s undeniable that a major chunk of the past 20 years have been pretty much governed by what Apple has said or done.

Elago’s AW6 cases for the AirPods help cover that journey from beginning to end. Designed to mimic the iPod Classic’s jog-dial, the silicone sleeve for the AirPods are a nice bookmark in time, while also acting as a protective cover for your AirPods case. Compatible with 1st and 2nd gen AirPods, the sleeve comes with a slot for the charger as well as a carabiner clip so you can hang that piece of audio-nostalgia from your belt-loop or your backpack… and that tiny hole right above the menu for the charging light just sweetens the deal!

Designer: Elago

Click Here to Buy Now

Click Here to Buy Now

Apple introduces real-time lyrics to Music

With the release of iOS13, Apple's added a fun new feature to Music: time-synced lyrics. The updated lyrics experience presents real-time synced song words that animate along with the music as they're being sung, rapped or spoken, no matter how mumbl...