T3 Magazine was first launched in the U.K. in 1996, and today has announced its 30th anniversary awards, which include three new categories, including the “Biggest Product in T3’s Lifetime”: the iPod.
T3 Editor-in-Chief Mat Gallagher told Forbes this: The iPod changed Apple from a computer company into a leader in portable devices. It was clever, easy to use but most of all it was cool. The iPhone simply built on this success, taking it to new extremes, though without the iPod it may never have existed.” Also, T3 named Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Person of the Year” for 2026.
Apple introduced the original iPod on October 23, 2001, with the pitch, “1,000 songs in your pocket.” It dominated the digital music industry for over two decades before Apple officially discontinued the entire product line on May 10, 2022.
The iPod’s evolution branched into several distinct models over its 21-year run:
- The iPod Classic (2001–2014): The original juggernaut. It debuted with a 5GB hard drive and a physical scroll wheel, eventually evolving into the iconic Click Wheel design and expanding storage up to a massive 160GB.
- The iPod Mini (2004–2005) & iPod Nano (2005–2017): Introduced to offer smaller, more colorful, and flash-memory-based alternatives to the larger Classic. The Nano went through multiple redesigns, morphing from a tall, thin candy-bar shape to a tiny square with a multi-touch screen.
- The iPod Shuffle (2005–2017): The most stripped-back, screen-less model. It encouraged users to listen to their music in “shuffle” mode and was incredibly popular for workouts due to its tiny size.
- The iPod Touch (2007-2022). Basically, it was an iPhone without the cellular capabilities. Launched the same year as the first iPhone, it brought the iOS app ecosystem, web browsing, and gaming to the iPod line.
- The iPod also paved the way for the iTunes Store, but its underlying technology laid the foundational groundwork for the iPhone.
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