Next-gen video iPod to employ 16GB of NAND flash - report

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple Inc. is gearing up to unveil a NAND flash-based video iPod in late September, which may aggravate the currently observed NAND flash shortages, according to DigiTimes.



Citing "sources at Taiwan-based component makers," the Far Eastern rumor publication claims the "new iPod video" will use NAND flash as the "major storage media," offering twice as much capacity as Apple's high-end iPhone handset.



"With the launch of the new iPod imminent, together with the recently reported power outage experienced by Samsung Electronics at its fabs, component makers are concerned that overall NAND flash supply may be impacted," the report states.



Apple's current line of video iPods employ bulky 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDDs), but are the last of the firm's consumer electronics gadgets to do so. Since introducing the iPod nano in 2005, the company has slowly shifted all of its other handheld devices to the more reliable solid-state NAND flash memory.



Analysts have argued that it only makes sense for Apple to progress its video iPod players in the same fashion, as flash storage -- which is more compact and lacks the movable parts of HDDs -- would pave the way for smaller form factor players, as well as improvements to both battery life and durability.



"We believe that the video iPod transition from 1.8-inch hard disk drives to NAND flash memory may occur as soon as late 2007," Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora wrote in a February report. "Our checks indicate that Apple is considering canceling its next generation HDD-based iPod design, with the form factor refresh involving a move to NAND flash memory."



DigiTimes, which makes no mention in its report whether the 16GB video iPod model would include a touch-screen interface akin to the iPhone, has been hit or miss on the subject of Apple rumors over the course of time. However, the publication's most recent round of "hits" have outweighed its misses.



Still, it should be noted that DigiTimes as recently as last month reported that a multi-touch video iPod would arrive in August, as opposed to its most recent claims of late September.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 72
    a-mazea-maze Posts: 65member
    Isn't 16 gig a bit small for video? What could they put in the iPhone case if they throw out all the phone stuff? Still WiFi/bluetooth?
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  • Reply 2 of 72
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a-maze View Post


    Isn't 16 gig a bit small for video? What could they put in the iPhone case if they throw out all the phone stuff? Still WiFi/bluetooth?



    They would just stuff 2x or 4x the chips in the device to give you 32Gb or 64Gb of RAM.
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  • Reply 3 of 72
    16gb? most of us who were excited to upgrade to a widescreen touchscreen ipod no longer can. i was looking forward to a 100gb widescreen touchscreen ipod with osx. my 5g has 47gigs, so if all new ipods will be nand-flash only, i guess those of us who want our entire collection on one ipod will have to wait a while longer. how long till a nand based device can handle 100gb and be reasonably priced ($350)?
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  • Reply 4 of 72
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a-maze View Post


    Isn't 16 gig a bit small for video? What could they put in the iPhone case if they throw out all the phone stuff? Still WiFi/bluetooth?



    I was thinking the same. I'm hoping maybe some sort of hybrid flash+hard drive version. I would hate dropping from my 60GB iPod to a new "top-of-the-line" iPod with a mere 16GB of storage. That wouldn't even hold half of my music let alone the vast majority of video. Flash storage to intelligently cache contents so it can idle down the hard drive except when absolutely necessary.



    And then there's the flaw of a smaller form factor. Smaller form factor and video player don't really go too well together. You need a decent sized screen to reasonably enjoy watching video. Otherwise you get to listen to a video and watch a couple of pixels move about on screen.



    What I'm hoping for is an iPod video with a true 16x9 screen (not the iPhone's almost 16x9 screen) capable of displaying 720p content (to match the AppleTV's highest resolution). It doesn't need to actually fully display 720p, just downconvert 720p content to its screen. Then toss in an update to the iPhone to allow it to display 720p content and announce the arrival of 720p content on iTunes (yeah, I wouldn't buy any movies that way having already jumped to Blu-Ray, but TV shows would be nice).
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  • Reply 5 of 72
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,585moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTel View Post


    They would just stuff 2x or 4x the chips in the device to give you 32Gb or 64Gb of RAM.



    Possibly using multiples of 8GB would be cheaper if 8GB is less than half the price of a 16GB. I wonder if this would be where ZFS would come in handy with pooled storage. It would be a great way to test out the filesystem in a Mac-related but non-critical way.



    Maybe they could get away with adding an SD slot and then that allows the storage to be increased quite easily when future flash developments come about.
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  • Reply 6 of 72
    I definitely DON'T think the iPod will get 16GB flash memory, that's just really ridiculous. First of all it would make no sense to call it an video iPod, secondly it would make no sense. As i think a Video iPod shoud be exactly that, that you're able to watch basically more or less your video/DVD archive on your iPod, and not just some movies, few CD's and that's about it, 16GB is full....Sorry if i'm sounding negative, but i personally hope the video iPod will "blow our minds" in a positive way, and 16GB flash will not do it. Surprise me in a positive way and my wallet will always open for Apple products, and eg stuff like 720p will do it!!



    Then again, 16 GB on a Nano is a different story....
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  • Reply 7 of 72
    mgkwhomgkwho Posts: 167member
    Um, September 11 everybody. Not late september, not august. September 11.



    And would you idiots all please think and listen to MacTel? 16GB supply does not equal 16GB iPod.



    -=|Mgkwho
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  • Reply 8 of 72
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 802member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vulcan1 View Post


    then again, 16 GB on a Nano is a different story....



    That would make sense. 3rd Gen Nano, now with 16GB of storage, and it can play video. That's a toy that has a built-in market. It doesn't even come close to replacing the HDD models though.
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  • Reply 9 of 72
    The "buy a Mac, get a free iPod Nano" promotion at the Apple Store for Education ends September 16. We won't see new Nanos until at least September 18.
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  • Reply 10 of 72
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bfohwrd View Post


    The "buy a Mac, get a free iPod Nano" promotion at the Apple Store for Education ends September 16. We won't see new Nanos until at least September 18.



    Not necessarily. I think they have released new iPods before the mac + iPod promos have expired before. The new iPods just weren't eligible for the promotion.
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  • Reply 11 of 72
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,715member
    I can see them doing this. It's not farfetched.



    But coming out with a 16GB video iPod doesn't mean that they will discontinue higher capacity HHD players. This could be an addition.



    A 16GB model would probably cost as much as a 30 GB HHD model, so there could be more than one model in the line-up.



    I can see plenty of people lining up for a 16GB SST model if it also offers a decent improvement in battery life.



    Not everyone needs 30 or more GB's of storage.



    Look at what was said when Apple came out with the Nano with half the storage of the older Mini's. It was thought that they wouldn't sell as well because of it, and yet, they broke all sales records.



    The same thing will happen hers. People on line will howl, but the public will stand on line to get them, and Apple will set more sales records.



    Then, next year, Apple will increase the memory size again.
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  • Reply 12 of 72
    eaieai Posts: 417member
    If they bring out a 16gb flash iPod that supports video, I think they'll have to make that a "nano", and also have an 8gb version. That would be fine for most people. I don't know what percentage of iPods sold are HD-based now, but I don't think they'll drop the HD-based models. So perhaps we'll see an upgrade across the whole iPod line - iPod Nano to 8GB and 16GB, supporting video. iPod to 80GB and 100B. I'd guess that the iPod will go to iPhone styling, while the iPod Nano will perhaps keep some aspects of the current anodized aluminium design - they'll want to be able to color them as thats pretty popular.



    The question is, will the iPod Nano get a touchscreen etc? Maybe that'll just be reserved for the iPods...
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  • Reply 13 of 72
    feynmanfeynman Posts: 1,087member
    I plan on buying an existing iPod now just in case this move goes to their regular iPod line.



    I am in the process of archiving my entire TV on DVD collection as well as DVD collection (well over 500 DVDs total) and if they come out with some 16 GB version then I would not be able to even fit a quarter of my collection on one of these. Let alone any music or podcasts or even games for that matter.



    It would be a joke and no one would buy one....let's see, bigger screen, running OS X or, same size screen and more space....hmmm which one is more important?
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  • Reply 14 of 72
    irelandireland Posts: 17,802member
    Could they sell a 30 or 32GB SDD version for $399 ?



    I'm thinking 40GB 4" touch-screen for $299 and 100GB 4" touch-screen for $399. Both with some kind of flash-assisted 1.8" moving hard drive.
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  • Reply 15 of 72
    jousterjouster Posts: 460member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by caliminius View Post


    ......I would hate dropping from my 60GB iPod to a new "top-of-the-line" iPod with a mere 16GB of storage....



    But....you wouldn't have to. It isn't compulsory that you buy each new release, and your existing iPod will be unaffected....
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  • Reply 16 of 72
    mrpiddlymrpiddly Posts: 406member
    16gb of flash,



    I require at least 25 TBs of data. It should also be able to play movies at 7,680 × 4,320. The main problem with the whole plan is that 25 terrabyes is only enough for one uncompressed video at 7,680 × 4,320..
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  • Reply 17 of 72
    a-mazea-maze Posts: 65member
    Let's dream a bit...

    Why don't they put a DVB-T receiver (digital live tv) in the new iPod 16:9 touch screen model with 32 gig's? That way they would be ahead of the market in US and EU and have a foot in Japan.

    SD slot? NEVER! It wouldn't be elegant enough...

    Current video iPod sadly proves that people will watch video on a very small screen... but with those nice Archos coming out this won't be the future. No money on any Ipod Nano video bets for me!
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  • Reply 18 of 72
    Don't read into it. This is complete bull shit. The Nano will be the one getting 16GB NAND in Septemer, Creative's equivalent got that upgrade last week. There is no way that Apple will be selling a 16GB iPod video. When Apple switch over to flash memory for the iPod video they will be offering at least 32GB.
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  • Reply 19 of 72
    tmedia1tmedia1 Posts: 104member
    16 Gigs is a joke for a video iPod. Where is this info coming from? This is cr@p.
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  • Reply 20 of 72
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jouster View Post


    But....you wouldn't have to. It isn't compulsory that you buy each new release, and your existing iPod will be unaffected....



    I know I don't have to replace my iPod with every new release (my current iPod is in fact the first and only one I've owned). But say it dropped dead tomorrow and Apple announced new video iPods with a "whopping" 16GB of flash RAM storage along with the simultaneous discontinuation of the current 5G video iPod line. I would hate for this 16GB iPod to be my only option for a new video iPod. To my mind, an upgrade should well actually be upgrade. Don't know how dropping from 30GB or 80GB all the way down to 16GB could qualify as an upgrade regardless of any other enhancements it has.
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