New iPod touch teardown shows power optimizations, no sapphire camera lens cover
A teardown of the sixth-generation iPod touch published on Friday exposed new details about the device, including the presence of a marginally bigger battery, the lack of a sapphire lens cover, and which chipmakers are involved in supplying parts.
The battery in the updated Touch is rated at 1,042 milliamp-hours, versus 1,030 in the fifth-generation model from 2012, said repair firm iFixit. This suggests major power optimizations, since the device's A8 processor is significantly more powerful than the A5 in the old model, and yet Apple advertises 40 hours of music playback or up to 8 hours of video.
Although Apple has upgraded the rear camera to an 8-megapixel model more comparable to the iPhone 6, it's still missing some features, including a sapphire lens cover. Sapphire is tougher to scratch than Gorilla Glass or Ion-X glass, but also more expensive to produce. Apple may have made a sacrifice to keep prices down and profits up.
The dissected iPod featured Hynix RAM, Toshiba flash storage, and an InvenSense gyroscope and accelerometer. The M8 motion coprocessor was built by NXP Semiconductors, and two touchscreen controllers belonged to Broadcom and Texas Instruments. The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module was marked as coming from Universal Scientific Industrial, but iFixit noted that it's likely based on a Broadcom design.
Evalutating repairability, the firm said that while replacing parts isn't impossible -- particular since there's no Touch ID sensor, and pull tabs are present on the battery -- many parts are still soldered together, and other obstacles like convoluted ribbon cables get in the way.
The sixth-gen Touch launched on Wednesday with prices ranging from $199 for 16 gigabytes to $399 for a new 128-gigabyte capacity. It was Apple's first major iPod upgrade since 2012, and even then the iPod nano and shuffle have remained essentially unchanged, simply picking up new colors.
The battery in the updated Touch is rated at 1,042 milliamp-hours, versus 1,030 in the fifth-generation model from 2012, said repair firm iFixit. This suggests major power optimizations, since the device's A8 processor is significantly more powerful than the A5 in the old model, and yet Apple advertises 40 hours of music playback or up to 8 hours of video.
Although Apple has upgraded the rear camera to an 8-megapixel model more comparable to the iPhone 6, it's still missing some features, including a sapphire lens cover. Sapphire is tougher to scratch than Gorilla Glass or Ion-X glass, but also more expensive to produce. Apple may have made a sacrifice to keep prices down and profits up.
The dissected iPod featured Hynix RAM, Toshiba flash storage, and an InvenSense gyroscope and accelerometer. The M8 motion coprocessor was built by NXP Semiconductors, and two touchscreen controllers belonged to Broadcom and Texas Instruments. The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module was marked as coming from Universal Scientific Industrial, but iFixit noted that it's likely based on a Broadcom design.
Evalutating repairability, the firm said that while replacing parts isn't impossible -- particular since there's no Touch ID sensor, and pull tabs are present on the battery -- many parts are still soldered together, and other obstacles like convoluted ribbon cables get in the way.
The sixth-gen Touch launched on Wednesday with prices ranging from $199 for 16 gigabytes to $399 for a new 128-gigabyte capacity. It was Apple's first major iPod upgrade since 2012, and even then the iPod nano and shuffle have remained essentially unchanged, simply picking up new colors.
Comments
The Broadwell chips in modern MacBook Air are significantly more powerful than the custom Merom chip in my MacBook Air, yet mine gets 5hrs of rated life vs 12+ for the Broadwell version. I don't think Apple had to do anything here short of up the voltage.
What is that black oval opposite the camera lens?
What is that black oval opposite the camera lens?
WiFi antenna location. That's been a Touch hallmark since the first gen.
Very powerful, indeed. This will be good enough without refresh for the next 4 years. Faster chip, better ram, bigger battery in the same chassis and board design, now I'm convinced that Apple can upgrade the 5S to 4" 6C with these similar upgrades + NFC. That would make 4" iPhone fans excited.
The slower lens in turn may be a requirement of the thinner device profile.
After 4 years of using my 4S as a camera, 2 years as a phone, I see no scratches on the lens cover, and I think it's glass, not sapphire, and it sits flush with the back besides.
In other words, Apple maybe did not cheap out, but showed their usual regard for overall qualiity of results no matter what anyone thinks.
speed, in photographic terms when speaking of lenses, is simply the maximum opening size of the aperture.
I would expect the faster lens (aka the bigger opening) to be more sensitive to aberrations in the front material.
however, I very much agree that thickness (or lack there of) could very well be the reasoning behind the material choice.
In the case of aberrations, i can see your point. I guess i should restrict the question to light loss from the sapphire relative to plain strong glass. Thanks for taking the point seriously. Someone at MacRumors (naturally) was characterizing the use of glass as a "ripoff."
How ironic. When the iPhone 5 came out, the sapphire lens was thought to cause the purple lens flares in photos and the critics raked Apple over the coals. Now they want sapphire?
First impressions:
1) The packaging looks cheap plasticky.
2) Very surprised that there is no power brick -- there's only a cord. Fortunately I have many power bricks, so I am ok, but I would have expected that Apple would throw in one on a $399 product.
3) The device itself is gorgeous. Apple would be stupid not to add a 4-inch iPhone to its lineup, since this is what it would look like (i.e., the iPhone 6 form factor with a 4-inch screen). I have little doubt that it will be a huge hit.
4) The on/off button is on the top, not side. I find that a tad strange for something Apple is introducing in 2015. I would have thought that there might be some attempt at parallelism in design. It's weird to have to go back to pressing the button on the top when I've (finally) got used to pressing a button on the side on my iPhone. (Somehow, this felt like less of an issue on my iPad).
1) Got any photos of the new packaging? Is it the rounded plastic box they normally put iPods Nanos and Touch models in, something cheaper?
2) I think Shuffles and Nanos don't come with chargers either. Just the USB cord.
4) I find it fascinating that you have these expectations. For example, iPads still have their sleep wake buttons on top, and their volume buttons to the right (instead of the left) side of the screen. Because form follows function, and Apple had a functional reason for moving the sleep/wake button on the large screen iPhones to the side. That reason isn't present on true one-hand-use devices like the 4" iPhones and iPod Touch.
1) Got any photos of the new packaging? Is it the rounded plastic box they normally put iPods Nanos and Touch models in, something cheaper?
2) I think Shuffles and Nanos don't come with chargers either. Just the USB cord.
4) I find it fascinating that you have these expectations. For example, iPads still have their sleep wake buttons on top, and their volume buttons to the right (instead of the left) side of the screen. Because form follows function, and Apple had a functional reason for moving the sleep/wake button on the large screen iPhones to the side. That reason isn't present on true one-hand-use devices like the 4" iPhones and iPod Touch.
1) I have not bought an iPod for a few years now, so perhaps the packaging is not that different from what it's been in the recent past. But that does not make it any less cheap and plasticky looking.
2) I was not talking about Shuffles and Nanos.
3) I am not sure of what 'function' you're referring to. If you mean ability to use the on/off switch one-handedly, I suggest you try and hold an iPhone 6 in your hand (assuming normal size), and see how far your forefinger extends: it quite conveniently reaches to where an on/off switch on top would be. So, I guess, I am not following your point.
(Btw, what is so 'fascinating' about having a rather pedestrian expectation of design parallelism?! Many of Apple's product categories -- e.g., the laptops -- do, and have always been that way. In fact, it's that similarly in 'look and feel' that set Apple products apart).
iFixit do the best technical teardowns.