Rumored to be discontinued amidst an increased focus on touchscreen devices, Apple’s screenless iPod shuffle and Click Wheel-based iPod classic have survived for yet another year. Oddly, while Apple’s Senior Vice-President Phil Schiller acknowledged that the fourth-generation iPod shuffle was not being updated this year—a decision now reflected in Apple’s web pages, which continue to show the same device at its prior 2GB size, $49 price, and colors—he omitted any mention of the iPod classic, which was previously left out of last year’s iPod announcement event as well.
The iPod classic has not been updated since 2009, when it became a single model with a 160GB hard disk, replacing the nearly identical 120GB model introduced in 2008. Apple.com’s web pages continue to show it as a $249 device with 160GB of hard disk capacity, with the same 2.5”, 320×240 screen and two body color options; it is offered as a high-capacity iPod given that no iPhone or iPod touch model exceeds 64GB in capacity.
