This Week Marks the 20th Anniversary of the iPod and 30th Anniversary of the PowerBook

Apple's virtual "Unleashed" event coincides with two major Apple product anniversaries this week, including the 20th anniversary of the original iPod being announced and the 30th anniversary of the original PowerBook's introduction.

ipod 2001 1000 songs
Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPod on October 23, 2001 at a small press event at Apple's former Infinite Loop headquarters. Jobs famously pitched the iPod as offering "1,000 songs in your pocket" and compared the device's "ultra-portable" size to a standard deck of cards, which was impressive at the time.

"With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go," said Jobs in a press release. "With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again."


Alongside the iMac and the iPhone, the iPod was one of a few key products that helped Apple become successful again after the company flirted with bankruptcy in the late 1990s. The device has since become a niche product for Apple, though, with the iPod touch being the only remaining model available for purchase today following the discontinuation of the iPod classic in 2014 and the iPod nano and iPod shuffle in 2017.


Fittingly with Apple expected to unveil redesigned MacBook Pro models today, this week also marks the 30th anniversary of the original PowerBook models being unveiled on October 21, 1991 at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas. By modern day standards, these PowerBook models were Apple's first true laptops with a hinged form factor still familiar today.

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....

Top Rated Comments

dannyyankou Avatar
52 months ago
I feel like an old fart now
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djinn Avatar
52 months ago
Still have the first iPod announced. Brings back memories.



Attachment Image
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shaun3000 Avatar
52 months ago
Best product intro, ever. It was in his pocket the entire time! I continually kick myself for not buying Apple stock then and there.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KPOM Avatar
52 months ago
The original iPod required FireWire and wasn’t officially compatible with PCs. I remember installing a FireWire card on my desktop PC and finding some unofficial software online to get it working. Along the way, I managed to accidentally erase the iPod, but I took it to one of those brand new Apple Stores and they restored it for me. :)
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnnytravels Avatar
52 months ago
So, fingers crossed for a new iPod later... I would get one for sure.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cashville2400 Avatar
52 months ago
That old iPod looks like a thing of beauty.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)