Apple hides a working original iPod on its Apple Music site for the device's 25th anniversary

A working iPod behind a broken link

Apple has built a playable replica of the original iPod into the error page of its Apple Music website. Anyone who adds a path that does not exist to the Apple Music address, such as music.apple.com/ipod, lands on a page that shows the device instead of a standard error message. The find was reported on 23 October 2026, the 25th anniversary of the device's unveiling. The virtual player responds to clicks on its wheel, and its scroll wheel can be dragged with a mouse, trackpad or touchscreen. Outlets said the iPod is visible only in a web browser and not inside the Apple Music app.

What the hidden player contains

The interface copies the original device, with menus for Playlists, Artists, Songs and Settings. Engadget counted 1,029 playable songs, though each track plays only as a 90-second preview. The music leans toward the early 2000s, with artists named across reports including Coldplay, Eminem, Britney Spears, Daft Punk, Drake and U2. The Engadget reviewer, writing from the UK, was unsure whether several British acts would appear for US visitors. The reviewer also said the virtual iPod does not appear to require an active Apple Music account. A second hidden feature is Brick, a Breakout-style game that opens when the center button is held on the About screen, a real-life easter egg that also existed on the first iPod. MacRumors adds that Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs helped create Breakout while working at Atari in the 1970s.

The launch in 2001

Apple unveiled the first iPod on 23 October 2001, with Steve Jobs presenting it at the Town Hall auditorium on the Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California. The device cost $399 in the US and £349 in the UK. The original models offered 5GB and 10GB of storage and connected to Macs through the 6-pin FireWire 400 connector. Devices reached store shelves on 10 November 2001. TechRadar notes that the first reactions were not uniformly positive, since digital music had not yet reached the mainstream and many people did not see why a portable player mattered. Jobs promised owners room for 1,000 songs in a pocket, and TechRadar credits the scroll wheel, a Toshiba hard drive and a claimed 10 hours of battery life with setting the device apart from rival MP3 players, which were then niche products.

From launch to the anniversary

Apple discontinued the iPod line in 2022, with the iPod touch (7th generation) as the final model. The Verge notes that the iPod was a core pillar at Apple for 20 years before it ended, and that the line has made a partial comeback in recent years. A TechRadar reviewer who has owned most iPod models said the 1,000-song limit now seems small beside the 100 million songs on Apple Music. The same writer argued that standalone music players have grown popular again. Apple Music is available for $11.99 a month, or as part of the Apple One bundle, according to 9to5Mac.