Apple's new $199 iPod touch now available in the UK, other countries as global rollout continues
Consumers throughout Europe, Asia, and South America can now get their hands on Apple's revamped 16-gigabyte iPod touch, as the colorful media player has launched in a number of new countries just five days after its debut in the U.S.
The list of new markets contains most of the usual suspects, including the U.K., Australia, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, China, and Japan, among others. In keeping with Apple's current pricing strategy, international buyers can expect to pay a premium for the device -- from HK$1,588 ($205) in Hong Kong to ?159.00 ($273) in Britain.
Apple announced the change to its iPod touch lineup last Thursday, bringing the 16-gigabyte variant to feature parity with its higher-capacity siblings and slashing prices across the board. All models are now available in six colors with rear-facing cameras, and the family starts at just $199, down from $229.
While it is unclear exactly why Apple chose to make the move, it may have been born of a desire to unify the devices' underlying hardware to lower costs. A teardown of the new device by repair firm iFixit found the 16-, 32-, and 64-gigabyte models to sport identical internal designs.
Despite the iPod's fall from prominence within Apple -- overshadowed, now, by the blockbuster success of the iPhone and iPad -- the lineup continues to be a major seller, moving some 2.7 million units last quarter. Apple no longer breaks out iPod sales by model, but it is generally accepted that the iPod touch accounts for more than half of that figure.
The list of new markets contains most of the usual suspects, including the U.K., Australia, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, China, and Japan, among others. In keeping with Apple's current pricing strategy, international buyers can expect to pay a premium for the device -- from HK$1,588 ($205) in Hong Kong to ?159.00 ($273) in Britain.
Apple announced the change to its iPod touch lineup last Thursday, bringing the 16-gigabyte variant to feature parity with its higher-capacity siblings and slashing prices across the board. All models are now available in six colors with rear-facing cameras, and the family starts at just $199, down from $229.
While it is unclear exactly why Apple chose to make the move, it may have been born of a desire to unify the devices' underlying hardware to lower costs. A teardown of the new device by repair firm iFixit found the 16-, 32-, and 64-gigabyte models to sport identical internal designs.
Despite the iPod's fall from prominence within Apple -- overshadowed, now, by the blockbuster success of the iPhone and iPad -- the lineup continues to be a major seller, moving some 2.7 million units last quarter. Apple no longer breaks out iPod sales by model, but it is generally accepted that the iPod touch accounts for more than half of that figure.
Comments
Such a shame they did not decide to update the CPU, you'll be lucky to get iOS 9 support on this and I wouldn't be surprised to see iOS 8 as the last version. Very poor update.
What are you supposed to do with 16GB??????
I wonder why Apple needed a five day delay between the USA launch and the worldwide launch of the 16GB iPod?
Was the weekend just past a special USA holiday weekend and Apple wanted to pick up some early sales?
I am aware the fourth of July is coming real soon now!
Listen to music and use it for light browsing? Somehow I manage to survive with an 8GB iPhone and a 16GB iPad.
Listen to music and use it for light browsing? Somehow I manage to survive with an 8GB iPhone and a 16GB iPad.
16Gb is the amount of apps on my iPhone, I really need a 280GB iPod, my iTunes is pushing 1TB
What are you supposed to do with 16GB??????
Use it.
What are you supposed to do with 16GB??????
Same question to 16GB iPhone 5S users.
Listen to music and use it for light browsing? Somehow I manage to survive with an 8GB iPhone and a 16GB iPad.
16Gb is the amount of apps on my iPhone, I really need a 280GB iPod, my iTunes is pushing 1TB
Do you use iTunes Match and buy your media from the iTunes Store? If you do, you have no need for 8GB, much less 1TB.
16GB would be perfect as a GPS (trail or road) paired with a Bad Elf GPS Pro. It's something I've actually been thinking about doing.
Do you use iTunes Match and buy your media from the iTunes Store? If you do, you have no need for 8GB, much less 1TB.
Exactly. I bought an iPod Touch for somebody as a gift a couple of years ago, and that was 8GB. They use iTunes Match, and it's still working fine for them to this day.
Yeah unless you uhm download movies and apps
Yeah, and if somebody likes to store a lot of movies and store a ton of apps and games, then guess what, they should probably buy a model that has a larger capacity. They can choose up to 64 GB.
I don't really see the problem.
If somebody has really big feet, do they spend their time walking into shoe stores and complaining that size 6 sneakers will not fit them?
Just buy a bigger size.
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I feel like my post is drowning of sarcasm but you never know.
The product hasn’t been updated, so I can’t imagine why you expected an update of any sort.
Least exciting Apple product release ever.
Old processor, tiny memory, big price.
Except it’s not anything even remotely like you’re pretending. They’re dropping a crippled model and replacing it with the regular model at a smaller size.
It isn’t a product update. It isn’t designed to be a product update.
In the UK, there is a sevenTEEN not seventy dollars 'premium'.
(The large cut in price of the other two models is, I would say, a bigger story than the unification of design.)
If you do take into account sales tax, the UK pricing seems to reflect the US pricing before the price cuts. The 16GB is just below $229 and the 64GB is over $350 - very nearly 20% more expensive! Come on Apple, stop ripping-off the UK!