If you hadn’t noticed, 2024 is the year of the classic iPod renaissance. I am talking about classic iPods without downloadable apps or any Internet connection, not about the iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without any cellular radio inside. Although Apple has been publicly ignoring the iPod renaissance so far, that hasn’t stopped the birth of dedicated websites, countless YouTube videos and individuals who are flocking to restore, rebuild and sometimes upgrade these classic iPod devices, be it to listen to music or audiobooks. There is an entire ecosystem for buying and selling classic iPods, either as-is, restored or upgraded. For whatever the reasons, some people are rejecting using a smartphone for those purposes and prefer a classic iPod, whether they use wired earphones, a docking station or docking device. This article is specifically about what you need to know about their use for audiobook consumption, whether you are a producer, distributor or a consumer of audiobooks.
Software compatibility to connect & sync with your computer
For all of the many reasons I covered in my recent article Audiobook distribution strategy in 2024 + why M4B is ideal for direct sales, they should really be in M4B format, not in any format usually used for music files. This will facilitate the iPod knowing that it should be classified as an audiobook, not music, and therefore have it in the proper section.
On the macOS platform, after Apple discontinued the macOS iTunes app in favor of dedicated apps for different functions several years ago, the connection and synchronization of classic iPods was delegated to the Finder. During my research for this article, I received several loaned iPod units (acknowledgements are ahead) and purchased one myself. I discovered that the generation 4 and generation 5 are both thankfully still supported by the Finder in macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, as is the iPod Nano 7th generation. In all cases, it informed me that the iPods were already up to date in terms of software/firmware and offered to sync audiobooks to those models of iPods. It successfully synchronized all of the non-DRM audiobooks and some DRM-protected audiobooks (those which were purchased years ago from the iTunes Store and claimed on my Mac Mini M1). The DRM-protected audiobooks from Audible did not sync to the iPods until after being legally liberated by the free Libation app (reviewed here). The non-DRM audiobooks from Libro.fm synced without any issue, except those which were encoded (by Libro.fm) with the HE-AAC códec with M4B. (In addition to selling all audiobooks DRM-free, Libro.fm also supports independent brick & mortar bookstores, chosen by you, the purchaser.) However, all of the audiobooks I had personally encoded with the HE-AAC códec for author clients with M4B did synchronize and played fine on these three iPods. There must be some minute detail between my encoding and Libro.fm’s encoding to cause this subtle difference. (I am open to talk if Libro.fm wants to know how I achieved it.)
On the Windows platform, I did not do any personal testing. However, my research indicates that Apple still hasn’t completely retired the ancient iTunes app for Windows since Apple still hasn’t replaced all of its functions with dedicated Windows apps, as it did for macOS several years ago.
An alternative app to use on Windows or Mac if you ever find that the Apple apps no longer support your iPod (or, if in the future the Apple support for iPods ceases to exist) is a very highly rated app called WALTR PRO. WALTR PRO is available both for macOS and Windows. Even though the website’s headline no longer mentions iPods, the WALTR PRO app indeed supports them, as covered later in its websites and its videos. There is a free trial. The developer of WALTR PRO agrees with me about the benefits of using the M4B format for audiobook files and has published so on its website.
Behavior of the iPods I tested with audiobooks
Although all of the three models of iPods I tested support audiobooks and have their own section for them, that section is hidden until you activate Audiobooks in the settings. In the case of the iPod Nano 7th generation (the only classic iPod to include a touchscreen to my knowledge), it was easy to relocate the Audiobooks (Audiolibros) icon from the last page to the first page.
The iPod Nano 7th generation and the iPod 5th generation were capable of displaying the audiobooks’ cover art and the metadata, i.e. the audiobook title and the chapter title. The iPod 4th generation was incapable of displaying the cover art of any of the audiobooks, but the other metadata was shown. The navigation was fine with all of the tested iPods. This was the case with all of the audiobooks: the ones I had encoded myself for clients, the compatible DRM-free ones from Libro.fm and the liberated ones from Audible (thanks to Libation).
Although I personally don’t use any bluetooth audio headphones, it is important to point out that the iPod Nano 7th generation is the only classic iPod to offer this option as a standard feature, to my knowledge. (There are kits which add the bluetooth capability to older classic iPods.)
Explanation about the main image
The above image shows an iPod 5th generation on the left, followed by an iPhone 12 Mini in the center (for size reference only) and an iPod Nano 7th generation on the right. Even though the iPod 5th generation is larger, it has a much lower screen-to-body ratio than the much smaller iPod Nano 7th generation on the right. As a result, the iPod Nano 7th generation does a much better job displaying the audiobook’s cover art. The higher screen-to-body ratio on the iPod Nano 7th edition is possible since it has a touchscreen, which allows the elimination of the mechanical controls used on older models. Even though the iPod Touch Nano 7th edition has icons which can be repositioned via the touchscreen, it does not run any version of iOS and cannot download apps.
The most practical classic iPod for audiobook consumption
In my opinion, the most practical classic iPod for audiobook consumption is the iPod Nano 7th generation, after moving the Audiobook (Audiolibro) icon to the main screen. That’s because of the smaller size, larger screen to body ratio, flash memory (as opposed to mechanical, spinning drives) and better display of the audiobook cover art.
NOTE: Even though the iPod Nano 7th generation uses a Lightning connector (as opposed to the 30-pin connector used on other classic iPods), there are adapters to use the iPod Nano 7th generation to allow using the iPod Nano 7th generation with the docking stations and devices covered ahead.
Docking stations and devices for classic IPods
Many devices exist on the new and used market to dock any of the mentioned classic iPods to hear them with loudspeakers. Here are a few examples:
Above is the Apple Universal Dock. It has a 3.5 mm stereo TRS line output for connecting to powered speakers, an IR (infrared) receiver for use with a wireless remote control (included with the Apple Universal Dock), a 30-pin input for connection to a charger (not included).
Above is the Apple Hi-Fi, a discontinued speaker system that was developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It was released on February 28, 2006, for use with any iPod digital music player. The iPod Hi-Fi retailed at the US Apple Store for US$349 until its discontinuation on September 5, 2007. They are still available in the used market starting at about US$75.
According to Jeff Taylor of Beaker Films (and one of the two friends who lent me an iPod for this testing and research):
«The Apple Hi-Fi sounds great, has plenty of low-end and can get very loud. It can run on 4 D batteries, but even without them, it’s very heavy. I bought it for playback of a song during a music video shoot for ESPN.»
Above is the Bose SoundDock Series II Speaker Dock. Although discontinued by Bose Corporation in 2017, it is still available as used from about US$35 including a remote control. Despite an intensely compelling «urban legend», there is apparently no relationship between Bose Corporation (the audio company) and the internationally famous singer, composer, musician and actor Miguel Bosé, who is known to be a Spaniard, but was actually born in Panamá and has combined Colombian, Italian, Panamanian and Spanish nationalities. However, the «urban legend» might be true 🙂
Why the classic IPods are better for audiobooks than other standalone DAPs
In this section, I will explain why classic IPods are better for audiobook consumption than other dedicated standalone DAPs (digital audio players) which are on the market, i.e. those which are not Android devices. So far, all of the other dedicated standalone DAPs I have researched (those which are not Android devices) are incapable of playing M4B files. If you have read the benefits of the M4B format as covered earlier in this article and in more detail in Audiobook distribution strategy in 2024 + why M4B is ideal for direct sales, you now know why the classic iPods are in a class by themselves.
Acknowledgements
- Thanks to professional voice talent CC Limardo for lending me the iPod 5th generation for testing and research for this article.
- Thanks to Jeff Taylor of Beaker Films for lending me the iPod 4th generation for testing and research for this article.
- Thanks to Camila Vela for photographing the main image for this article.
- Thanks to Andreína Ascanio Toro for retouching the main image for this article.
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