iPod 7th Gen iPod nano is amazing!

[anthony131]

I purchased the first gen iPod (Classic) as soon as it was announced. I've owned the third, fourth mono, fourth color, and fifth generations, the iPod Mini, and the first gen shuffle. It's taken me until this past week to acquire the 7th Gen iPod Nano.

I am blown away by this minuscule device. I've loaded nearly 1,800 256kbps songs onto it. The user interface is a JOY to use. The UI is smooth and seems less "intuitive" than it feels like it's anticipating my thoughts. It even has the top-tap to scroll back to the top of the list. It has Bluetooth that works with my AirPods, my car, and other speakers. It has a built in radio that uses your headphones as an antenna - I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Some HD radio stations even have some ability to display the song AND you can bookmark that song to reference later. This device has brought more "wow!"s and smiles to my face than any device in recent memory.

When people complain about Apple unnecessarily making hardware too thin, I can hold this crazy-tiny thing in my hand and I'm just blown away by how cool it is. Personally, I prefer hardware that feels like magic over something that has a battery large enough to last a week. I've missed the feeling this iPod has brought me.

I can't hate on how powerful and profound phones have become today. It's effing amazing that one device can play music, take pictures, stream movies, enable all the world's communication platforms, can allow you to conduct critical business or topple governments while FaceTiming with your SO. But using a more simplified and intentional device like an iPod is something I hope everyone has the opportunity to appreciate. Productivity, or over-productivity, seems less apt to offer the joy of well designed futuristic feeling gadget.

 

[Grumpus]

Ooooh... black... nice! Mine is blue, still with great battery life even though I bought it new and have used it nearly every day since. And, yes, the radio is great. You may find that restoring it under Monterey or newer will hang (and hang Finder in the process) so I recommend using a machine running Mojave (or Windows) for that.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Nano 7 is wonderful

Is it fully functional with gen 1/2 Airpods?
No weird volume issues?

I assume the gestures to skip track, etc, don't work

 

[Grumpus]

I recall seeing a posting here indicating that the Nano 7th gen bluetooth won't pair with Airpod Pro buds. And you need wired earbuds if you want to use the radio. My 7th gen pairs just fine with my Bose QC-45 cans.

 

[turbineseaplane]

And you need wired earbuds if you want to use the radio

That's unavoidable as it uses the wires as an antenna

 

[anthony131]

I recall seeing a posting here indicating that the Nano 7th gen bluetooth won't pair with Airpod Pro buds. And you need wired earbuds if you want to use the radio. My 7th gen pairs just fine with my Bose QC-45 cans.

I can confirm that it does in fact pair with first gen AirPod Pro. The issue I've had is that the AirPods love to connect to other devices as soon as you take them out of the case. Switching them to the iPod can be a hassle.

 

[Grumpus]

I can confirm that it does in fact pair with first gen AirPod Pro. The issue I've had is that the AirPods love to connect to other devices as soon as you take them out of the case. Switching them to the iPod can be a hassle.

Good to know. The report(s) I was thinking of were regarding failure to work with AirPod Pro 2 - you can pair them but there is no sound. There are other similar reports on the interwebs, and I thought there was a thread here on MR too but I'm not finding that now. I don't think I've seen anything regarding the non-Pro AirPod models.

EDIT: Found the MR thread I was thinking of here.

 

[Traverse]

It was probably my favorite iPod despite it seemingly being rejected by much of the community. If only they had released a higher capacity model.

 

[lenovics]

One of the best, easy to carry everywhere

 

[Richard8655]

Four 7th gens here. Wonderful small music player and last of the FM devices. Always regretted that Apple abandoned the iPod market.

 

[sracer]

Four 7th gens here. Wonderful small music player and last of the FM devices. Always regretted that Apple abandoned the iPod market.

It is indeed terrific. I use mine nightly to help fall asleep (bad case of tinnitus). I have a playlist of music, but also audio-only of TV shows (like Columbo and Quincy), and a few videos. The screen is so small and can dim that it doesn't disturb my wife.

 

[twdawson]

It is indeed terrific. I use mine nightly to help fall asleep (bad case of tinnitus). I have a playlist of music, but also audio-only of TV shows (like Columbo and Quincy), and a few videos. The screen is so small and can dim that it doesn't disturb my wife.

I have just started suffering with tinnitus and it’s getting annoying, how does listening to music help when trying to get to sleep?

I am new to this affliction so would like an opinion from a fellow sufferer of this.

 

[sracer]

I have just started suffering with tinnitus and it’s getting annoying, how does listening to music help when trying to get to sleep?

I am new to this affliction so would like an opinion from a fellow sufferer of this.

For me (your mileage may vary), the variations of tones and sounds of music do better at masking the ringing than doing nothing or listening to static white noise like from a fan. White, pink, or brown noise seems to help many tinnitus sufferers, but just makes it worse for me.

The music that I listen to is instrumental which helps to avoid having my brain process the vocals. I pick tracks that facilitate me "chilling out" which has been very effective. (that means a "no" to my vintage Disco mixes 😂) I use earbuds that are comfortable to wear and don't bother me when laying on my side.

 

[twdawson]

For me (your mileage may vary), the variations of tones and sounds of music do better at masking the ringing than doing nothing or listening to static white noise like from a fan. White, pink, or brown noise seems to help many tinnitus sufferers, but just makes it worse for me.

The music that I listen to is instrumental which helps to avoid having my brain process the vocals. I pick tracks that facilitate me "chilling out" which has been very effective. (that means a "no" to my vintage Disco mixes 😂) I use earbuds that are comfortable to wear and don't bother me when laying on my side.

Thank you I will give this a try.

 

[GMShadow]

It was probably my favorite iPod despite it seemingly being rejected by much of the community. If only they had released a higher capacity model.

An unfortunate reality of most of the later iPods - the Classic existed for capacity needs but it pretty much stalled out after 2009, and Apple didn't really replace it until 2019 with the 256GB Touch...which was too little too late really.

 

[netjack]

There's something special about using a device that's focused on just music. The iPod Nano really does bring back that magic. Glad to hear it's still bringing you joy!

 

[Taylor2]

Great info!

 

[SnowPenguin]

It's the iPod that felt like an iPhone mini at the time. It had many beautiful colors too.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm still not sure I was more wowed and instantly in love with any tech product more than the very first iPod Nano

It just seemed impossibly thin and light

I vividly remember picking it up at the downtown Chicago Apple Store on a beautiful day

 

[Saturn007]

Anthony, marvelous original post in this thread!

You've captured the magic that certain tech devices once brought us — and still can!

 

[Chidoro]

If I was able to get music on it without iTunes, id buy a refurbished one. As it stands, I just threw a bunch of stuff from Apple Music onto my watch and moved on.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If I was able to get music on it without iTunes, id buy a refurbished one. As it stands, I just threw a bunch of stuff from Apple Music onto my watch and moved on.

?
It syncs with Apple Music on Mac

 

[Chidoro]

?
It syncs with Apple Music on Mac

What’s a Mac?