New iPods - no headphone output?

[Dave2002]

Is there a reasonable way to get an output from one of the new iPods through to a car stereo system?
There is an Apple adapter, but almost 100% of reviewers I’ve noticed say it’s just trash. Some modern cars may have Bluetooth receivers, but older ones won’t. Going via FM adapters seems a really poor way to get reasonable quality. This seems like a complete disaster re satisfying real consumer requirements.

**Actually does look as though the iPods (but not new iPhones) do have a headphone socket which can be used with an Aux cable - response from further down this thread.

[Bryn]

Is there a reasonable way to get an output from one of the new iPods through to a car stereo system?
There is an Apple adapter, but almost 100% of reviewers I’ve noticed say it’s just trash. Some modern cars may have Bluetooth receivers, but older ones won’t. Going via FM adapters seems a really poor way to get reasonable quality. This seems like a complete disaster re satisfying real consumer requirements.

Just what I would expect from an Apple product.

[Dave2002]

Just what I would expect from an Apple product.

OK - but at least most aren’t complete car crashes like some of Microsoft’s offerings.

Some of the wired adapters I’ve found on Amazon may be good enough.

[Bryn]

OK - but at least most aren’t complete car crashes like some of Microsoft’s offerings.

Some of the wired adapters I’ve found on Amazon may be good enough.

A pocket player which cannot play FLACs, out of the box, seems pretty much of a car crash of a design to me.

[Stunsworth]

Just what I would expect from an Apple product.

iPods can communicate with a car stereo either by Bluetooth or by using the iPod's headphone socket into an AUX input. I'm not sure what else they could offer.

[Sir Velo]

Is there a reasonable way to get an output from one of the new iPods through to a car stereo system?
There is an Apple adapter, but almost 100% of reviewers I’ve noticed say it’s just trash. Some modern cars may have Bluetooth receivers, but older ones won’t. Going via FM adapters seems a really poor way to get reasonable quality. This seems like a complete disaster re satisfying real consumer requirements.

Have you tried the aux input (qv)? I run my Walkman HD which plays FLAC files through a Chord Mojo DAC and then through the aux input in my car; occasionally, when I've forgotten to charge the Mojo (or simply can't be bothered) I just plug the Walkman straight into the Aux. Plays without a hitch.

[Dave2002]

iPods can communicate with a car stereo either by Bluetooth or by using the iPod's headphone socket into an AUX input. I'm not sure what else they could offer.

The issue I was raising is that the newest iPods don’t (if I’m right) have a headphone socket, so Bluetooth is needed if no wired adapter is to be used.
Not all cars have Bluetooth audio.

I doubt that the FLAC isssue which has been raised is really so significant for the target market, and it may not even be a limitation any more.

[Bryn]

The issue I was raising is that the newest iPods don’t (if I’m right) have a headphone socket, so Bluetooth is needed if no wired adapter is to be used.
Not all cars have Bluetooth audio.

I doubt that the FLAC isssue which has been raised is really so significant for the target market, and it may not even be a limitation any more.

If https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-ipod/ipod-touch is to be trusted, there is indeed a 3.5mm headphone socket. You need to scroll down quite a bit to get to the relevant info.

[richardfinegold]

1) I wasn’t even aware that Apple still sold iPods
2) My iPhone 6S had to be replaced last week and I wound up with the iPhone 8, no headphone jack. I haven’t yet used the supplied adapter other than to verify that it work since I use Bluetooth. I have however done what Sir Velo has done, with the same player.

[Dave2002]

If https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-ipod/ipod-touch is to be trusted, there is indeed a 3.5mm headphone socket. You need to scroll down quite a bit to get to the relevant info.

Thanks for pointing that out. It’s so far down I assumed that Apple had omitted that, as I believe they have done with new iPhones. Supplying the iPods with the fancy new (!!) ear pieces added weight to my supposition.

[Dave2002]

I suppose since I’ve now got what might be a satisfactory answer, I should probably ask for a question mark to be appended to the thread title, which I started based on a premise that new models don’t have headphone outputs.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

On the more general point of making incompatible products in order to corner the market, Kodak did it for years, and only got their fingers burnt once (disc films). But even Kodak was ultimately almost destroyed.

[Stunsworth]

1) I wasn’t even aware that Apple still sold iPods
2) My iPhone 6S had to be replaced last week and I wound up with the iPhone 8, no headphone jack. I haven’t yet used the supplied adapter other than to verify that it work since I use Bluetooth. I have however done what Sir Velo has done, with the same player.

I have an iPhone 8 Plus and the adaptor works well, I only had one set of portable headphones so I kept it permanently plugged into them. Replacement adaptors are around £8 and you can buy ones with a 3.5mm socket and also a charging socket so you can listen and charge the phone at the same time.

After saying all of that I bought a pair of Apple Airpods and have been very pleased with them.

I have a couple of the old iPods at home, but can't remember when I last used either of them.

[Dave2002]

1) I wasn’t even aware that Apple still sold iPods
2) My iPhone 6S had to be replaced last week and I wound up with the iPhone 8, no headphone jack. I haven’t yet used the supplied adapter other than to verify that it work since I use Bluetooth. I have however done what Sir Velo has done, with the same player.

I wonder if the new iPods were introduced after the recent iPhones - which don't have sockets. There was a bit of a fuss by some iPhone owners about the lack of the outputs when they were first released - so perhaps Apple did take notice. In the longer term perhaps it won't matter, as things will change/adapt eventually, but there are still people who are using iPods and treat them as different devices. Indeed we currently have a painter working in our house who has one of the Classic models, which he has attached to a boom box device, and which he sometimes has on very loud while he works. He has it on shuffle play, and this provides a continuous background with no announcers to intervene, as on R3 or CFM. His taste of music rarely matches my own, though some of his jazz is really good, and he has some opera arias - mostly the obvious popular ones - which he sings along to. He is interesting to talk to at times, and it seems he has more LPs than I have - he thinks about 6000 - and he also had some 78s which he disposed of at the dump, but then discovered that he'd trashed some sought after ones which could have fetched high values on eBay. He advised me to keep my own Classic iPod - and says that they fetch high prices because some people really like them.

[Stunsworth]

I wonder if the new iPods were introduced after the recent iPhones - which don't have sockets

No, the latest iPod model was introduced in 2015...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iPod_models