Apple kills off iPod Nano and Shuffle

It marks the end of an era: Apple has officially (and quietly) killed off the iPod Nano and the iPod Shuffle, leaving just the iPod Touch as the only remaining version of the company’s iconic portable music players.

"Today, we are simplifying our iPod lineup 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,” Apple said in a statement.

If you click on "buy" links for the Shuffle or Nano on Apple's websites, you'll receive a notice that "the page you're looking for can't be found." You can still get to "support" pages for the discontinued iPods.

The writing has certainly been on the wall for some time, especially with the features and functions of standalone iPods long part of the iPhone. The iPod brand is now down to a $199 Touch version with 32GB of storage and a $299 model with 128GB.

Even with the presence of the lower priced Nano and Shuffle, the iPod Touch has been the most popular iPod Apple sold; Touch models provide an iPhone-like iOS experience without the phone. The iPod Touch had been last updated in 2015.

The original iPod was not the first portable music player when it debuted in the fall of 2001, initially as a product that only worked with the Mac. But it soon helped transform Apple’s standing beyond being just a computer company and set them on the road towards eventually becoming the most powerful brand in tech.

Through the years, Apple has introduced new iPod designs at various price points, all of which, beyond the Touch models, that have since been discontinued.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter