Resurrect the iPod with USB Adapters and Keep the Music Alive

Apple just announced that it is discontinuing the only iPod it still sells – the iPod Touch. With this, Apple no longer sells product that single-handedly changed the music industry and established Apple in the music industry.  

This news has brought the popularity of the device to the forefront and a quick eBay search will tell you that people are really taking advantage of it.  

If you either have your old iPod laying around or if you managed to buy one of the older models recently, you should definitely look into turning it back on and perhaps updating your music collection on it. 

An old iPod that you haven’t turned on in a few years acts almost like a time capsule, taking you back to the music you listened to back in the day. Perhaps you were a teenager or even an aspiring fitness enthusiast or a dance enthusiast — you will likely meet your past self as you scroll through the library. 

The iPod touch comes with Wifi and so you can get the Music app on it, but the older, iPods, the one with the scroll wheel (best haptics ever!), need to sync with iTunes to have any music on them. And let’s face it, if you really want an iPod right now, you would go for the classic rather than something that looks exactly like your phone. 

So if you are the lucky owner of a new old iPod, let’s see how to get your favorite music, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos on it. 

The trick with old gadgets is adapters and for connecting anything to your computer, you will need lots of computer adapters. To sync your iPod you will need iTunes or in the case of a Mac, the Music app. 

Now in case of syncing with a PC or a Mac with various ports, you will just need to find the 30-pin connector to the USB A connector cable. But if you want to connect your iPod to a newer Mac with just the USB C port, you will need a USB adapter, one that can plug into this port and give a USB A port. Then you can simply use the USB A to 30-pin connector cable. 

Let’s look at the steps:

• Get your 30-pin connector cable with USB A, plug it into the iPod and connect it with your Mac which has a USB A port. 
• Open the Music app. (The old iTunes app has been split into Music and Podcasts since macOS Catalina). 
• You’ll have to either manually sync each song you want on your iPod or you can sync your entire music library with it. 

However, there is a catch: you cannot sync music that you have only subscribed to over your Apple Music plan. You will need to own your music and there are multiple ways to do that. 

You can purchase songs from the iTunes store or even transfer music from CDs. 

If you are in the habit of buying CDs then this should work great for you, but it will not be frictionless. It is highly unlikely that your laptop has a CD Drive. You can, however, connect an external CD Drive to your laptop. You will most likely need a USB A to USB B micro USB cable to connect these. 

With this setup: 

• Plug in your CD Drive to your laptop with a USB adapter for the USB C port
• Open the Music app on your Mac
• You will be able to see the iPod on the left panel
• Click on that and you will see “iPod Options”
• You can opt for “Choose Manually” if you want only selected songs on your iPod or “Automatic Sync if you want your entire library to sync with the iPod
• To add more than one song, use the Command key while selecting songs
• Drag your selected songs to a pre-existing playlist on the iPod or create a new one

You can follow the same steps for a PC or a Mac, with the difference being in the ports you have access to and the difference between iTunes and Music app. 

Either way, you will need more or less the same USB cable adapters, the 30-pin to USB A cable, maybe a USB B adapter, and even a USB C adapter.

iPod has been a coveted gadget for years, and now that Apple has completely stopped manufacturing it, it has become so even more. It also provides the luxury of being disconnected from notifications and the internet in general while being a greatly useful tool for listening to music on the go. 

We have all the USB cable adapters you need to get this little time capsule up and running for you again!