The iPod Nano is a portable media player and pocket computer designed by Apple, it is one of three versions including the iPod Shuffle and iPod Touch. This particular iPod was provided factory sealed directly by Apple Inc. from its Cupertino base in California.

The 6th generation iPod Nano was the first complete rethink of the original iPod Nano’s design since the product launched in 2005. It featured a much smaller display size and a square form factor which abandoned the clickwheel in favour of a fully multi touch device. Although it could display images, it featured a noticeable lack of video playback as well as video camera which was supported by the previous 5th generation. This Nano also features just three buttons, one power button and two buttons for the volume control. The Nano also came in 7 different colours in anodised aluminium.

The iPod Nano led to widespread speculation on the development of the Apple Watch (eventually launched in 2015) due in large part to the form factor of the 6th generation Nano which also featured a digital representation of an analogue watch as one of its built in applications.

This iPod was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. The iPod was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring miniaturisation of design.