Before smartphones grew to become all-in-one music gamers, leisure streamers, and gaming units, we relied on moveable MP3 gamers to take heed to music on-the-go. Following the digital music revolution of the late ’90s, MP3 gamers started rising in reputation, however it was the arrival of Apple’s iPod — and iTunes — in 2001 that modified the music (and moveable music) recreation endlessly.
Apple’s iPod and its many variations, together with the Nano, Classic, and Mini, dominated the ’00s, promoting roughly 400 million iPods between 2001 and 2014. But, following the discharge of the primary iPhone in 2007, moveable MP3 participant and iPod gross sales regularly started to say no. And in 2022, Apple discontinued the iPod. However, in the previous couple of years, the old-school iPod has seen a resurgence in reputation, because of Gen Z.
But you needn’t scour the web for iPod options or second-hand fashions to leap on the iPod revival wave. The RePod Ultra is a Kickstarter gadget that goals to repurpose your Apple Watch with a mechanical redesign that fills us with iPod-esque nostalgia — and it is already reached its funding purpose.
What is the RePod Ultra?
According to its Kickstarter campaign page, the RePod Ultra is “a mechanical redesign that brings Apple Watch Ultra back into daily use.” The gadget itself is a steampunk-like titanium construction that snaps onto your previous Apple Watch Ultra, which appears exceptionally cool and in addition affords an additional layer of safety.
Aesthetically, this gadget appears like one thing you would possibly take to house, however it’s obtained some old-school options that, whereas modernized, promise to make you’re feeling fairly nostalgic if you happen to’ve ever owned an iPod. The RePod Ultra has a metallic rotary dial that permits you to modify quantity, scroll, play video games, and navigate the watch’s display screen, very similar to iPods had. WGP describes it as a “steering wheel for your sound.”
The RePod Ultra does not change how your Apple Watch Ultra features; you’ll nonetheless have entry to podcasts, calls, funds, music, and its different options. The rotary dial goals to make the controls really feel extra exact and tactile than utilizing a touchscreen — although the touchscreen remains to be accessible. In addition, the casing’s design means you’ll be able to nonetheless magnetically cost your Apple Watch, hear sound by means of its audio system, and entry its facet buttons, with out having to take away the gadget out of your watch. Essentially, the RePod Ultra seems to mix traditional options of the iPod with newer Apple gadget capabilities, wrapped up in a futuristic-looking package deal.
That proposition was sufficient to see WGP assembly its Kickstarter funding purpose of HK$10,000 on March 7, with the primary items estimated to ship in April 2026. There are three colours obtainable: Natural Titanium, Ultra Silver, and Black Titanium. If you wish to decide up a RePod Ultra for your self, alongside a lanyard and guide, it will price you a pledge of $89 (the standard MSRP is $159).