Not only is the iPod Touch the last official surviving member of Apple’s iPod music dynasty, it’s also the only model Apple has ever released with wi-fi connectivity. But what if the old iPod you have somewhere in a drawer can be changed to add Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as access to streaming services like Spotify? This is exactly what developer has Guy Dupont reached with the 4th generation iPod he got from his mother-in-law.
This particular iPod Classic was launched in 2004 and makes it 17 years old (yes, it makes us feel old too). It was designed with a very small screen (by today’s standards), a click wheel and no wireless connections, but by changing all its insides, Dupont managed to more or less update it with the modern world. . The player now has access to Spotify’s entire catalog and can stream it to your Bluetooth speaker or wireless headset.
So how did he do it, you ask? Those interested in repeating his performance, or anyone who wants to spend this lunch a little different, should definitely watch his video below.
As noted by 9to5Mac and Engadget, precious little of the original 4th generation iPod Classic remains in this modified version, but contains the original case with a functioning click wheel (which now contains haptic feedback). But the final results are quite special.
Dupont called his masterpiece ‘sPot’, which now has a color screen and an internal 1000 mAh battery. A $ 10 Raspberry Pi Zero W and a micro-USB connector were also used to create and install a version of Spotify (using the official Spotify APIs) that reverts to the classic iPod interface.
The upcycling project apparently costs Dupont less than $ 100 in total, but the prosperous developer has no plans to try to repair and sell more iPods. To prove it, he actually shared details about how he built the sPot on Hackaday and also the source code of the software he created on GitHub – presumably if you want to go it yourself.
Can Apple take some tips and release an iPod Classic series with updated features under a retro hood? Unlikely, perhaps – but then again, not impossible.
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