How to Use an iPod Nano LCD with an ESP32

It may be hard to remember in our modern age of advanced do-it-all smartphones, but Apple’s iPod range was responsible for popularizing all kinds of groundbreaking new technology over the years. Apple had a real knack for making new tech both accessible and practical. These days that means that old iPods are cheap and contain components that are still useful, and you can even use the LCD touchscreen from an iPod Nano 6 with your ESP32.

The Apple iPod Nano 6 LCD utilized the Mobile Industry Processor Interface Display Serial Interface (MIPI DSI) protocol to communicate with the processor. That protocol is common in smartphones and other mobile devices, so this general process can be used with many other screen models — and other microcontroller development boards. But, the ESP32 doesn’t “speak” MIPI DSI natively, which means you need an intermediary to handle the communication.

As the linked guide explains, you can do that with an SSD2805 MIPI bridge IC chip. That chip is affordable, but very small and intended for industrial manufacturing. To use it, you’ll most likely need a breakout board that’s easier to connect between the ESP32 and LCD. After setting up the hardware, you can install the requisite software libraries, including LittlevGL to handle graphics. Once installed, you can display whatever you like on the LCD, and even read inputs from the touchscreen.