iPod classic (2007)
The sixth generation of the iPod: metal shell, a Cover Flow interface, and up to 160 GB to carry the whole collection.
© Evan-Amos · Public domain Resized, no crop or retouching.
Specs
| Storage | 80 GB and 160 GB on a 1.8-inch hard drive |
| Display | 2.5-inch color, 320×240 |
| Key feature | $249 and $349, available immediately, per Apple · Apple (2007-09-05) |
Launch
Apple introduced it on September 5, 2007, in San Francisco as part of a full iPod family refresh: for the first time the main model was called iPod classic, with an anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel body in silver or black, per its press release. The 160 GB model promised up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video, with up to 40 hours of music per charge (30 on the 80 GB), Apple's figures. Wikipedia records that the same day the family also gained the new video-capable iPod nano and the first iPod touch. · Apple (2007-09-05)
In the press release, Jobs contrasted the original iPod's pitch with the new capacity leap: the first put a thousand songs in your pocket, and the classic put forty thousand. The same release announced additional paid games coming that same month to the iTunes Store: Sudoku and Tetris from Electronic Arts and Ms. PAC-MAN from NAMCO, expanding the three preloaded titles.
Marketing
The pitch was capacity above all: the interface was overhauled with Cover Flow for browsing album art, and it shipped with three pre-loaded games (iQuiz, Vortex and Klondike), with more paid titles on the iTunes Store, per Apple. Apple put cumulative iPod sales at over 100 million at that point. Wikipedia documents two later revisions: on September 9, 2008, the line became a single slim 120 GB model at $249 with Genius, and on September 9, 2009, a 160 GB option returned in the slim profile, also at $249. · Apple (2007-09-05)
Flaws and fixes
The iPod classic remained the family's hard-drive player while the catalog moved to flash and touchscreens. Apple discontinued it on September 9, 2014, without a successor, as Wikipedia records.
Wikipedia describes it, at discontinuation, as Apple's last iPod with the original 30-pin connector and click wheel. The Verge reported Tim Cook's explanation at WSJD Live on October 28, 2014: Apple no longer had access to the parts needed to build the 160 GB classic and felt it was not worth redesigning it. The report documents a supply and redesign decision as well as the end of an interface.