Tony Fadell Reflects on Creating the iPod Ahead of Device's 20th Anniversary
One day ahead of the 20th anniversary of Steve Jobs unveiling the original iPod on October 23, 2001, Apple's former senior vice president of the iPod team Tony Fadell has reflected on his role in creating the device in an interview with CNET's Roger Cheng.
Fadell said that Apple was on a mission to launch the iPod before Christmas 2001. Impressively, he said that he "really got started" with developing the device in May 2001, just five months before it was introduced by Jobs. "It was nonstop, seven days a week," he said.
When Jobs unveiled the iPod at a small press event at its former Infinite Loop headquarters, the device was not fully finished, according to Fadell. Nevertheless, he said Jobs handed out this early version of the device to the media in attendance, along with a collection of 20 CDs containing the music that had been pre-loaded onto the device.
Fadell added that by 2005, Apple was starting to look into the cell phone market. As he has shared in previous interviews over the years, Fadell said his team toyed with prototypes of a full-screen iPod with a virtual click wheel, adding that the Mac team had separately designed a "massive capacitive touchscreen the size of a pingpong table." Apple ultimately launched the iPhone with a multi-touch display in 2007.
The full interview is a worthwhile read over at CNET for those interested in the days leading up to the original iPod's launch two decades ago.
Popular Stories
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by
Juli CloverFollowing the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Apple finally released the first beta of iOS 18.4 to developers for testing purposes, and while the beta is lacking some of the Apple Intelligence features we were hoping for, there are some notable new additions.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence
There is a new Priority Notifications feature that can show you your most...
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Apple has confirmed that its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e has nothing to do with the device's lack of MagSafe support, according to Macworld.
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, there was some speculation online about how MagSafe magnets might have interfered with the C1 modem's cellular connectivity performance, and this was considered to be a potential reason for the...
Apple today announced its first custom cellular modem with the name "C1," debuting in the all-new iPhone 16e.
The new modem contributes to the iPhone 16e's power efficiency, giving it the longest battery life of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.
Expanding the benefits of Apple silicon, C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most...
