New Apple TV, iPod Touch appear in Target inventory systems

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2020
Listings for new Apple Watch bands, a new Apple TV set top box, and an updated iPod Touch are appearing in Target inventory scanners.

A New Apple TV 4K may come soon with updated chipsets
A New Apple TV 4K may come soon with updated chipsets


In an update to our earlier story on "AirPods (X Generation)" it appears that Target already had listings in its system for multiple other products as well. In response to a query from 9to5Mac more images were sent from Target employees showing listings for a new Apple TV, iPod Touch, and Apple Watch Bands.

Rumors of a new Apple TV update have been scarce, and if updated this March, may just be a chipset bump to bring it in line with modern products. With Apple Arcade becoming more popular, a new set top box would allow more uniform experiences across modern devices and give developers more power to play with on the platform.

Apple tends to release seasonal colors for their Apple Watch bands, so seeing them listed here is no surprise. The three entries are priced at $49 which suggest three new colors for the sports band.

The iPod Touch is the wild card. Apple does not update the iPod Touch often, and it was recently updated last year. The single listing shown is priced the same as the high end iPod Touch at $399, and there does not appear to be a lower-cost model in the system.

The images were first supplied to 9to5 Mac on Saturday morning.

More images of Target inventory system courtesy of 9to5Mac
More images of Target inventory system - photo credit 9to5Mac


These listings are not direct indicators of new products or even a launch date. As stated in our previous article, AppleInsider spoke with multiple Target staffers on Saturday morning regarding the original screenshot. While they could not provide us any information about the legitimacy of the original image, they did say that placeholders for new products are common, with pricing information -- but not accurate product names -- often provided by the manufacturer in advance of release.

As a general rule, we were told that products with an inventory placeholder ship within a month, and sometimes as soon as a week following initial appearance in the system.

An event is expected to occur in March where new products will be announced. Rumored so far is the Tile like "AirTags," the "iPhone SE 2," and the new "AirPods Pro Lite" and "over-the-ear AirPods."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Sad that there are no new iMacs rumored for March.
    dedgecko
  • Reply 2 of 16
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,687member
    I think Apple is feverishly trying to bolster whatever devices contribute to its subscription based services just as quickly as it can to build market share and build services revenue. A new ATV and iPod Touch that provide a premier user experience for subscription services like gaming is very important in the short term. 

    Demand for upgrades to products like iMac is probably fairly elastic. Getting a new iMac out in the fall versus in the spring is probably not going to make a huge difference to the bottom line. Heck, look at how long it took Apple to finally upgrade the Mac Mini. Did anyone inside Apple lose their job or have their program funding dry up because the upgrade cycle was stretched out so long? I doubt it. But how many new services initiatives launched during this same period of time that started off at zero revenue but are now delivering results that many a company would be proud to have as their only bottom line number? 

    It’s always a balance between strategic vs tactical and right now subscription services are strategic and updating long lifecycle products like desktop computers is tactical. 
  • Reply 3 of 16
    dinoonedinoone Posts: 75member
    The $399.99 price for the iPod Touch X Generation is an interesting coincidence with the rumored price of the forthcoming 64G iPhone 9/SE2. On the other hand it is definitely too high for an iPod Touch to be sold along a new A13-based 64G iPhone 9/SE2 expected with the same price. Is X Generation a potential new label/naming syntax across the forthcoming 2020 Apple iOS hardware?
  • Reply 4 of 16
    dedgeckodedgecko Posts: 169member
    lkrupp said:
    Sad that there are no new iMacs rumored for March.

    They could get a spec bump

    Scot1
  • Reply 5 of 16
    litolooplitoloop Posts: 96member
    if they make the new ipod into the size of any of the 11 series iphones i’ll be getting one. 
  • Reply 6 of 16
    sailorpaulsailorpaul Posts: 322member
    Hurry up already with the AirTags.   I have 13 staff traveling in a 45 mile radius w some very expensive gear.

    Oh, and secure video cameras that are better than beta on HomeKit

    And...  Thanks for everything else
  • Reply 7 of 16
    gilly33gilly33 Posts: 444member
    Well if new Apple TV I’ll hold on off on upgrading for now. See what all this news brings. My current device is ATV HD. 
  • Reply 8 of 16
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,133member
    The Apple TV would benefit from a redesigned remote more than a new chipset. 
    coolfactor
  • Reply 9 of 16
    gmgravytraingmgravytrain Posts: 883member
    The iPod Touch seems to be oddly out of place in this current device era. Considering the proliferation of smartphones, Amazon has well over a hundred models of Chinese-made portable mp3 audio and mp4 video players, so maybe Apple still selling the iPod Touch isn't that much of a stretch. Of course, none of those Chinese-made content players come close to a cost of $399 as many are cheaper than $50. I'm surprised there is that much of demand for standalone music and video players. Some seem to offer a lot of feature bang for the buck although they don't seem to be very well-made. I know there are people out there wondering why Apple continues to sell an iPod Touch, but there must be some good reason for that

    I would consider purchasing an updated iPod Touch but I still have a couple of working older iPods and a couple of cheaper Chinese-made mp3 players, so I don't have any real need for another mp3-type player. I do think it's wise of Apple to keep selling any device that may help their content subscription business but in my opinion, iPod Touch sales would likely be rather small in number. I have nothing to back that up, but with so many used iPhones available, it just doesn't seem like there would be much demand for an iPod Touch.
    edited February 2020
  • Reply 10 of 16
    laytechlaytech Posts: 341member
    Apple TV could really do with a decent update. Photos is hopeless, whilst it is good to see the images in the cloud, when you view it, even with super fast internet, they take ages to load, and what about pitch to zoom or at least double tap to zoom in on a photo. There are a bunch of subtle improvements to Apple TV that can happen and should happen. The remote needs work can be clunky and inaccurate.

    Would be nice to see iCloud Storage base data be 20GB for free for at least most basic users. 


    edited February 2020
  • Reply 11 of 16
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,327member
    retrogusto said:
    The Apple TV would benefit from a redesigned remote more than a new chipset. 

    Agreed, and I don't think the current specs of the 4K model are much concern, except maybe as games get more sophisticated. But man, I sure have trouble with the Netflix app! What a joke that app is. We frequently need to reboot our device because the app slows to a crawl over time, and I'm not familiar with a way to force-quit apps on tvOS, so rebooting the device, which is quick, solves the problem... until the next time.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,327member

    gmgravytrain said:
    The iPod Touch seems to be oddly out of place in this current device era. ...  I know there are people out there wondering why Apple continues to sell an iPod Touch, but there must be some good reason for that

    iPod touch is a great handheld solution for kids that don't need a phone.

  • Reply 13 of 16
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,278member
    The new Apple TV sounds interesting. I have the one before the 4K release, so this would be a nice upgrade for me.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    wattoukwattouk Posts: 50member
    coolfactor said:
    retrogusto said:
    The Apple TV would benefit from a redesigned remote more than a new chipset. 

    Agreed, and I don't think the current specs of the 4K model are much concern, except maybe as games get more sophisticated. But man, I sure have trouble with the Netflix app! What a joke that app is. We frequently need to reboot our device because the app slows to a crawl over time, and I'm not familiar with a way to force-quit apps on tvOS, so rebooting the device, which is quick, solves the problem... until the next time.
    You can force-quit apps by pressing the TV button twice quickly then swiping up... thank me later👍🏻
  • Reply 15 of 16
    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt Posts: 2,321member
    retrogusto said:
    The Apple TV would benefit from a redesigned remote more than a new chipset. 
    Agreed.  I've used my daughter's and it's, shall we say, somewhat less than perfectly intuitive.  Easy to mistakenly go back instead of doing what you wanted to do.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    blah64blah64 Posts: 993member

    The iPod Touch seems to be oddly out of place in this current device era. ...  I know there are people out there wondering why Apple continues to sell an iPod Touch, but there must be some good reason for that

    iPod touch is a great handheld solution for kids that don't need a phone.

    And for adults that prefer not to be tracked like animals. ;-)
    Flip phone for actual phone use, and iPodTouch for camera, games, email, etc.  Works great.
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