Apple Hid a Working First-Generation iPod on Its Dead Pages

Apple Hid a Working First-Generation iPod on Its Dead Pages

A typo leads to a working 2001 iPod

Type any address that does not exist on the Apple Music website, such as music.apple.com/ipod, and the "Page Not Found" screen now shows a first-generation iPod next to the words "Give this a spin instead." Visiting music.apple.com/ipod directly changes the greeting to "Looking for something?", a small wink for visitors who came looking for it.

The click wheel actually works, even on a touchscreen

The virtual machine recreates the 2001 original with working menus and a working scroll wheel. On a Mac, hover over the wheel and click and drag to spin it; on an iPhone or iPad, swipe it with a finger, which turns the trick into a meta moment of using yesterday's gadget on today's screen. On desktop, arrow keys plus Enter also navigate, and Settings offers Shuffle, Repeat, Backlight Timer, a Clicker toggle, and Reset All Settings.

1,029 songs that nod to "1,000 songs in your pocket"

The library holds 1,029 songs, a quiet anniversary joke on Steve Jobs's 2001 promise of "1,000 songs in your pocket." Every track plays as an approximately 90-second preview rather than the full recording. The selection leans into the early-2000s era, with Eminem, blink-182, Evanescence, Shaggy, Mariah Carey, Alien Ant Farm, Sum 41, Bloc Party, Baha Men, The Ting Tings, Phoenix, and Justice among the names. Apple also built a 22-track Songs From iPod playlist with Gorillaz's "Feel Good Inc.," Daft Punk's "Technologic," and U2's "Vertigo," plus genre playlists dedicated to 2001 across alternative, country, pop, rock, and hip-hop.

Inside the egg hides Brick, unlocked by holding the center button

There is an egg inside the egg. Open Settings, select About, and hold the click wheel's center button for about five seconds to launch Brick, the Breakout-style game. The center button launches the ball while the wheel steers the paddle. The method mirrors the real Easter egg on the 2001 hardware, which is why a quick tap does nothing and many casual visitors missed it entirely.

Timed for the 25th anniversary of a $399 breakthrough

October 23, 2026 marks 25 years since Apple unveiled the first iPod on October 23, 2001. The original cost $399, offered 5GB of storage, connected over FireWire, and required a Mac with iTunes to sync, going on sale November 10, 2001. The web replica landed exactly on the anniversary, and its 1,029-song library reads as a birthday reply to the "1,000 songs" slogan. Apple has not said how long the interactive iPod will remain available, and no Apple Music subscription is needed to play with it.

Spotted by a user, verified by newsrooms racing to play

The egg was first surfaced by Kian on X, then picked up across tech media. TechRadar published an early hands-on after tapping through the huge library song by song; Notebookcheck found the Brick method of holding the center button on the About screen, a find Engadget credited. PCMag noticed Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" listed twice, either a slip or a deliberate wink at the duplicate-song headaches of syncing MP3 libraries in the 2000s. The no-login, open-in-browser nature of the tribute is the detail drawing the warmest reaction.