On October 23, 2001, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs pulled the first-generation iPod out of his pocket at a launch event and announced that the product could put “1,000 songs in your pocket.” This iconic line not only changed the way people listen to music, but also completely rewrote the development trajectory of the global digital entertainment and technology industries. Now, this groundbreaking product has officially reached the important milestone of the 25th anniversary of its launch.
Relive the music revolution in your pocket: Apple’s website unveils a surprise interactive Easter egg for iPod’s 25th anniversary.
Although the iPod product line was fully discontinued in recent years, marking the end of the golden era of standalone music players, it still holds an irreplaceable place in the hearts of countless longtime Apple fans and music lovers. To celebrate this historically significant moment, Apple quietly hid a delightful “digital Easter egg” on its official website, allowing users around the world to relive the feeling of spinning the wheel back in the day on the webpage.
According to the latest discovery by the account Kian on social platform X, Apple has hidden a fully interactive original iPod model in its music service webpage. This special design is not officially featured in the homepage banner, but is hidden in the system in a form similar to a “404 page not found.”
Users who want to experience this Easter egg only need to visit the Apple Music webpage in a browser (for example, enter “music.apple.com/ipod”, or enter any nonexistent URL path, and the page will redirect to this carefully designed virtual iPod page.
theres a hidden fully functional ipod as a 404 page on apple music https://t.co/vLYpnkHG4x https://t.co/0cSz4SF1kp
— Kian (@kianworld) October 23, 2026
Upon entering the page, users will see an iPod perfectly replicating the first-generation 2001 style positioned in the center of the screen. This is not merely a static image, but a fully operable “digital physical entity”:
- Click Wheel interaction: Users can click and drag the classic Click Wheel mechanical wheel with the mouse to smoothly scroll up and down through menus.
- Button controls: Includes physical buttons such as Menu, play/pause, and previous/next track skip, all of which respond to clicks.
- Music previews: The device comes preloaded with several classic pop songs that were popular when the iPod was first launched in 2001. Select a track to play a music preview clip of up to 90 seconds directly through the web interface.
Through this interactive Easter egg that combines fun with retro nostalgia, Apple not only pays tribute to a classic but also lets a younger generation of digital natives witness firsthand and experience this technological artifact that once led the trends of its era. Although the physical life of the hardware has come to an end, the design aesthetics and music DNA established by the iPod remain deeply rooted in every iPhone and Apple Music today. If you were also a user who grew up with the iPod back then, why not open the webpage right away, slide that familiar scroll wheel once more, and relive the excitement of those years.
Source: KOCPC Chinese