Before smartphones became all-in-one music players, entertainment streamers, and gaming devices, we relied on portable MP3 players to listen to music on-the-go. Following the digital music revolution of the late ’90s, MP3 players began rising in popularity, but it was the arrival of Apple’s iPod — and iTunes — in 2001 that changed the music (and portable music) game forever.
Apple’s iPod and its many variations, including the Nano, Classic, and Mini, dominated the ’00s, selling roughly 400 million iPods between 2001 and 2014. But, following the release of the first iPhone in 2007, portable MP3 player and iPod sales gradually began to decline. And in 2022, Apple discontinued the iPod. However, in the last few years, the old-school iPod has seen a resurgence in popularity, thanks to Gen Z.
But you don’t need to scour the internet for iPod alternatives or second-hand models to jump on the iPod revival wave. The RePod Ultra is a Kickstarter gadget that aims to repurpose your Apple Watch with a mechanical redesign that fills us with iPod-esque nostalgia — and it’s already reached its funding goal.
What is the RePod Ultra?
According to its Kickstarter campaign page, the RePod Ultra is “a mechanical redesign that brings Apple Watch Ultra back into daily use.” The gadget itself is a steampunk-like titanium structure that snaps onto your old Apple Watch Ultra, which looks exceptionally cool and also offers an extra layer of protection.
Aesthetically, this gadget looks like something you might take to space, but it’s got some old-school features that, while modernized, promise to make you feel pretty nostalgic if you’ve ever owned an iPod. The RePod Ultra has a metal rotary dial that lets you adjust volume, scroll, play games, and navigate the watch’s screen, much like iPods had. WGP describes it as a “steering wheel for your sound.”
The RePod Ultra doesn’t change how your Apple Watch Ultra functions; you will still have access to podcasts, calls, payments, music, and its other features. The rotary dial aims to make the controls feel more precise and tactile than using a touchscreen — though the touchscreen is still accessible. In addition, the casing’s design means you can still magnetically charge your Apple Watch, hear sound through its speakers, and access its side buttons, without having to remove the gadget from your watch. Essentially, the RePod Ultra appears to combine classic features of the iPod with newer Apple device capabilities, wrapped up in a futuristic-looking package.
That proposition was enough to see WGP meeting its Kickstarter funding goal of HK$10,000 on March 7, with the first units estimated to ship in April 2026. There are three colors available: Natural Titanium, Ultra Silver, and Black Titanium. If you want to pick up a RePod Ultra for yourself, alongside a lanyard and manual, it’ll cost you a pledge of $89 (the usual MSRP is $159).
