Reviving the iPod Classic

In the pre-iPhone and streaming era, the iPod was the coolest way to listen to music on the go. With a design that seemed tiny and sleek at the time, the innovative click wheel, and lots of storage capacity, the iPod was hard to beat. Now, of course, it is very easy to beat. The same phone that does just about everything else can just as easily play your entire music collection.

But that doesn’t stop some people from wanting the original. The iPod does have its benefits, after all. Since it only plays music, it’s not going to bug you with notifications, text messages, and emails that interfere with the listening experience. Aside from that, the iPod is also just plain cool, especially for those that had one back in the day.

YouTuber The Retro Future had an old iPod Classic, but the case was bulging and scratched, and the screen was damaged. Rather than toss it in a drawer, he decided to fix it up. The plan was to install the hardware in a brand new case made by Boxy Pixel, replace the damaged components, and also sneak in a few upgrades.

Toward that goal, the original case was pried open and the hardware was carefully removed. The source of the bulging case was quickly identified — a very old rechargeable battery that was not looking good at all. This, along with the screen that it damaged, were discarded. The iPod’s 80GB mechanical disk drive was still chugging along fine, but to reduce the weight and bulk, it was also cast aside.

The remaining hardware was installed in the new case along with an iFlash-Solo adapter that allows an SD card to be used in place of the hard disk. A new screen was also installed to replace the damaged one. And the battery was not only replaced, but upgraded in a big way — a 3,800 mAh battery replaced the original 600 mAh battery.

The click wheel was replaced with a clear version simply because The Retro Future liked the way it looked. Finally, a custom board developed by Boxy Pixel was installed to enable USB-C charging and Bluetooth connectivity.

In the end, The Retro Future essentially had a brand new iPod that was better than any that had ever actually existed before. If you have an old iPod Classic sitting around, be sure to check out the video to see how you can bring it back to life.