Earlier this month, Apple announced it was no longer making the iPod touch, ending a long and glorious chapter for one of the most popular products in company history, the iPod. The iPod, which has been available in several variants for more than two decades, was Apple’s effort to improve the quality and capabilities of the best-selling MP3 players of the time.
Apple would do the same with smartphones less than six years after it first released the iPod. When Apple announced the end of the iPod touch this month, the company said the device, which resembles an iPhone but lacks telephony capabilities, will be on sale until supplies are completely exhausted. Almost immediately, the online Apple Store sold out of all versions of the seventh-generation iPod touch with the largest amount of available storage (256 GB) and the PRODUCT (RED) unit with 128 GB of storage.
Those who buy Apple iPod models are trying to capture nostalgic feelings
Chart showing rating lost by iPod models due to depreciation
The most valuable iPod model right now is one that we said sold out of the online Apple Store. That would be the seventh-generation iPod touch with 256GB of storage (the largest amount of storage available), which SellCell says can sell in good condition for as much as $100. The 128GB variant of the seventh-generation iPod touch sells for $60, also in good condition. The original 2019 launch price for the seventh-generation iPod touch was $399.99 for the 256GB version and $299 for the 128GB storage model.
Prices for iPod models after depreciation
The iPod model that passed the test of writing best is the seventh-generation iPod touch with 32GB of storage. That device can still run you $57, resulting in a 71.4% depreciation rate. And surprisingly, the value of the iPod Nano 7th Generation 16 GB is up 13.4% since Apple’s announcement earlier this month. SellCell says that if you need the extra few bucks you can get by selling your iPod device now, put it up for sale.
Do you sell or keep your depreciated iPod to give to your children?
But if you plan to keep your iPod as a second device, or because you plan to give it to one of your children, the depreciation is slow enough to allow you to hold onto the device for a while before using it. it sells it. And there could be a small increase in resale value in the coming weeks. Not a huge amount, mind you, but maybe just enough to make you think you did the right thing by waiting.
Any device you buy starts to lose value as soon as you take it home and open the box. When you buy a car, the depreciation starts the moment you drive the car off the dealer’s premises. But with smartphones, while the basics apply, some models are a better value than others because of things like the rarity of the model, the condition of the specific device being sold, and how many months of support is left.
And while it may seem hard to imagine now, there will come a time when even today’s flagship smartphone models, including those from Apple and Samsung, will find themselves in the same position as the iPod; technologically behind the times and valued at a small percentage of the original launch price.