Since the iPod disappeared from Apple’s catalog there has always been a profile of people who miss it. Many of us entered Apple precisely through that, and although today we have one stored in a drawer without touching it for years, the love has not gone anywhere. What happens is that the panorama of current music doesn’t make it easy if you want to continue using it: either you have a library purchased from a long time ago, or you live within Apple Music, and that service does not let you transfer songs to such a device.

That’s where the render you posted on X comes in. An iPod neo that already has 1.7 million views and that in the Applesfera editorial team we especially liked it because it is inspired by the MacBook Neo. We saw it and the reaction among the companions was the same for all: “Ternus, we have a wish for you.”

An iPod Classic adapted to new times

The concept recovers the language of the sixth generation iPod Classic with today’s materials: unibody aluminum body, rounded edges, a color in the purest Citrus style of the MacBook Neo. And below the click wheel of a lifetime, just as we remembered it. The screen is small and color. On a menu that preserves the usual categories: Music, Albums, Artists, Songs, Podcasts, Audiobooks and Settings.

The specifications that appear written already belong to 2026: Bluetooth 5.4, USB-Cup to 20 hours of battery life and compatibility with Apple Music. On the back it has the Apple logo centered next to the name iPod neo. It is a design that mixes the iPod Classic with the finishes of a current product, and that answers quite well a question that many have been asking for years: what an iPod would be like if Apple launched it in 2026.

Why we still want an iPod

What is missed is not just the device, it is the way of listening to music that it came with. Before you prepared a trip by carefully choosing what you took with you.you took care of your own library, and that limitation made you enjoy what you listened to more. Now we have tens of millions of songs just a tap away, and yet it’s harder to decide what to play.

When Apple retired the iPod, it said its spirit lived on in other devices: the AirPods, the Apple Watch, the HomePod mini. And he is partly right, but None of them are devices dedicated only to music.without applications or social networks involved.

iPod Neo concept created by Applesfera

What we would ask for if Apple knocked on Ternus’ door

The dream would be something halfway between the iPod Touch and the Apple Watch. Independent, with Wi-Fi to download music at home and Bluetooth for AirPods, but above all officially validated by Apple Music. Something that no current player has: being able to download your streaming library to listen to it offline. With 128 or 256 GBas did the latest iPod Touches compatible with the service.

Dreaming even higher, an eSIM to access mobile data without depending on the iPhone, but without the temptation to install anything else. And if, Apple has much more pressing priorities than releasing an iPod right now. But John Ternus takes over as CEO on September 1, and there remains our request. With love, in case anyone in Cupertino would like to pay attention to us. September will arrive with the iPhone 18 Pro, the foldable one, and presumably no iPod in sight. Dreaming is free, would you also like Apple to be encouraged?

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