As downloaded music fades away, Apple discontinues older iPods

FILE PHOTO: The new iPod Nano is introduced during Apple Inc.'s iPhone media event in San Francisco, California September 12, 2012. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo

(Reuters) - Apple Inc <AAPL.O> said Thursday that it will discontinue the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano, the last two music players in the company's lineup that cannot play songs from Apple Music, its streaming service that competes with Spotify and Pandora Media Inc <P.N>.

The two devices are the direct descendants of the original iPod introduced by then-CEO Steve Jobs in 2001, widely seen as putting Apple on the eventual path toward the iPhone. They can only play songs that have been downloaded from iTunes or from physical media such as CD.

FILE PHOTO: Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs speaks on stage with images of the iPod Shuffle (L) and iPod Nano projected on screen at Apple's music-themed September media event in San Francisco, California September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo

Apple said the new iPod line will consist of two models of the iPod Touch ranging form $199 to $299 depending on storage capacity. The iPod Touch is essentially an iPhone without mobile data service and runs iOS, the same operating system as iPhones and iPads.

It is capable of streaming music from Apple Music and running the same apps as iPhones. Apple does not break out sales figures for iPods but says the iPod Touch is the most popular model.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis)