Haven't you heard? The iPod is back! Well, sort of – sales of second-hand and refurbished models are through the roof, as younger generations seek to disconnect from the black hole in their pocket. But while Apple is showing no signs of bringing back its classic MP3 player, there are plenty of third party iPod alternatives out there.
And now, one of the most striking examples yet has entered the fold. The New Matter Sudo, with its aluminium body and click wheel, is such a dead ringer for the iPod Classic that it's a wonder John Ternus isn't banging down the door with a cease-and-desist letter.
But Sudo isn't simply an old iPod Classic wearing a fresh coat of paint. For starters, it can stream music as well as play your own files (although at this point it's unclear which streaming services are actually supported). There's a microSD slot supporting cards up to a frankly ludicrous 1TB. You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack – remember those?
The nostalgia is baked into the controls, too. There's a proper tactile click wheel for flicking through your music, sitting beneath a 2.73-inch touchscreen. It's all powered by Sudo OS and squeezed into an aluminium body measuring just 103.5 x 58.6 x 8.5mm. In other words, it's the size of an iPod, not the IMAX display—sorry, iPhone—in your pocket.
And now for the catch. You can't actually buy it yet. A $50 deposit will get you a place on the list for the first batch, due to drop at the end of 2027. The total expected (and that word is doing a lot of heavy lifting) price is $249. And as we know from disasters like the Humane AI pin, investing in a product before it actually exists is risky business.
Still, if it all comes together, this could be the most compelling contemporary iPod we've seen – one that'll certainly look chic next to your favourite dumb phone.
