Apple launches new iPod touch with 64-bit A8 CPU, 8MP camera, M8 motion coprocessor & 128GB capacity

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Comments

  • Reply 121 of 173
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    What system is involved? Lion can be a bit cranky but if you've got a Mac that can handle more than 2GB RAM it's workable. Ideally you'll have 4GB+
    Yep. The new iPod Touch is the modern equivalent of the IIgs. Big leap over prior models which will now remain unchanged until someone at Apple remembers they make it and finally axes it.

    That's why it got A8. So it will last several new iOS generations and Apple doesn't have to think about it.
  • Reply 122 of 173
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    multimedia wrote: »
    You are correct sir. Install the free magicJack VOIP app and you've got a WiFi iPhone with no monthly charges.
    Does anybody have a list of iOS VOIP apps and maybe reviews for quality. Also are there other apps allowing direct connection node to node, that is server free communications between units. The other thing these up units don't have a vibrator do they?

    Zactly. If these and all the A5 iPods running iOS 9 can pair with watchOS 2 ?WATCHes, the market for ?WATCH will explode exponentially. That's an extremely exciting possibility I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple reveal in September. Plus pairing watchOS 2 ?WATCHes with any iPad above the original of course.??????
    I'm not a big watch fan but I didn't see anything in the product description indicating support one way or another. That was a quick skim though.
    A8 M8 on a 4" screen that only weighs 3oz boggles the mind. Gamers are gonna go ape shit for this iPod touch.???????????????????? Plus I just discovered it's got 802.11ac High Speed WiFi???? And Bluetooth 4.1 too????????

    Actually this thing has huge potential for many different uses. I have to wonder if it is an improved A8 to run at a lower power level.

    My only disappointment is the flash storage sizes, but overall an impressive upgrade.
  • Reply 123 of 173
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,034member
    Not going to happen.
    iPod Touch has no cellular, no GPS, no Touch ID...no ?Watch support.
    Cellular, GPS & Touch ID are not necessary for ?WATCH to work well. WiFi is all one needs for most ?WATCH features to work perfectly.

    GPS is a Maps feature but certainly not necessary.

    The ?Pay setup for ?WATCH has nothing to do with Touch ID. That's why iPhone 5 and 5c are pairing supported.

    And using ?Pay with the ?WATCH has nothing to do with being connected to the Internet on the ?WATCH side of the transaction. ?Pay info is confined to a locked box inside the ?WATCH.??????
  • Reply 124 of 173
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post

     

    Most cars will soon have easy access to Wi-Fi, so the idea that this is only for kids is ridiculous.

     

    I do have a question though:

     

    The iPhone 6 Plus' big selling point (aside from the size) is that it has optical image stabilization for videos. The iPhone 6 didn't get that feature.

     

    Apple lists "cinematic video stabilization" as one of the new iPod's video camera features.

     

    Is there a huge difference here?

    How does the iPod Touch's video camera compare to the iPhone 6?




    iPhone 6 Plus uses hardware + software image stabilization.

    iPhone 6 and new iPod touch only use software image stabilization.

     

    While both have an 8MP sensor, the iPhone 6 likely has a larger sensor.

    The iPhone 6 tech specs specifically states "New 8-megapixel iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels".

    The iPhone 6 also has a ƒ/2.2 aperture vs. the ƒ/2.4 aperture in the iPod Touch.

    Both have autofocus, but the iPhone 6 also has something called Focus Pixels.

    Both appear to have a flash, but only the iPhone 6 tech specs mention a True Tone flash.

    The iPod Touch can only do Photo geotagging when Wi-Fi is available when the photo is taken.

    Only the the iPhone 6 tech specs mention a Sapphire crystal lens cover.

    The iPod Touch also does not appear to support Auto HDR for photos

     

    The tech specs for the FaceTime camera on the front of both devices are identical.

  • Reply 125 of 173
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member

    Or people who find their iPhone's battery life woefully inadequate. Or developers who want a way to test apps.

    There are so many possible "or's" that the original commenter made himself look foolish and immature. What impresses me here is that we now have what is effectively an extremely powerful handheld computer with a very low price at the entry point. Just the new Wifi and Bluetooth upgrades are significant.

    This Touch ought to see a significant resurgence in sales for some time.
  • Reply 126 of 173
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post





    Cellular, GPS & Touch ID are not necessary for ?WATCH to work well. WiFi is all one needs for most ?WATCH features to work perfectly. GPS is a Maps feature but certainly not necessary. The ?Pay setup for ?WATCH has nothing to do with Touch ID. That's why iPhone 5 and 5c are pairing supported.



    Let me put it this way...

    Apple is happy if you buy an iPod Touch.

    But Apple really, really, really wants you to buy an iPhone.

    Apple makes a lot more profit and customers tend to be far more addicted to iPhones(more repeat sales in the future).

    This isn't about what works...it's about what is best.

    The iPhone gives the best experience and that is what Apple is focused on.

    Also when you are focused on delivering the best experience it is much easier to do that by only supporting the iPhone.

  • Reply 127 of 173
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post





    There are so many possible "or's" that the original commenter made himself look foolish and immature. What impresses me here is that we now have what is effectively an extremely powerful handheld computer with a very low price at the entry point. Just the new Wifi and Bluetooth upgrades are significant.



    This Touch ought to see a significant resurgence in sales for some time.



    Thank you for your insightful analysis. :rolleyes:

  • Reply 128 of 173
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post

     

     

    You are the exception rather than the rule.

    Few people are carrying a smartphone and an MP3 player these days.

    That iPhone 6 battery case I mentioned earlier has 2000+ reviews.

    Only a small % of people leave reviews and that is just one of the many battery cases available.

    Apple is selling so few iPods they don't even have it at the top of their homepage anymore or release sales figures each quarter.


    Wrong on all counts.  Many people have a dedicated iPod in their car, one that is high capacity for all their music.  Did you know Apple has the AppleTV and Apple Watch lumped in the 'other' category on their financial reports, along with the iPod?  Did you know Apple sold over 14M iPods in 2014?  Apple sold 2M AppleTVs in 2013, and only 20M units total since 2007.  So Apple does consider the iPod an important product even if they moved the sales figures to the 'other' category.  Apple changed the homepage to Music.  After the stupid animation goes away, the iPod is proudly displayed right under iTunes as you scroll the page.  Go to the Apple Store and iPod is a front page category.  So instead of having the homepage with 'iTunes', 'iPod', and 'Apple Music', they bundled them all together under 'Music', which makes sense.  AI tried to claim the iPod was going away because the homepage caption changed from iPod to Music.

  • Reply 129 of 173
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    
    
    

    Thank you for your insightful analysis. :rolleyes:

    Glad you liked it, the comment was dumbed down for the slower members of this forum.
  • Reply 130 of 173
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post





    GPS is a Maps feature but certainly not necessary.

     

    For an activity tracking, GPS is essential. Exercise or outdoor activity without stand-alone GPS sucks. I don't like to carry my phone with me while I'm running in neighborhood. I would say the next update, Apple watch must have it for selling point. 

  • Reply 131 of 173
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     



    iPhone 6 + iPod Touch is thinner than those ridiculous Mophie cases.




    Those Mophie cases were/are absolute garbage.  I went through three of them in a 12-month period (under warranty) because the damn microUSB connector in the case kept breaking.  Why they don't use the more durable lightning connector is beyond me.



    When the warranty is more reliable the their product, what good is it?

  • Reply 132 of 173
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member

    The new iPod touch 128GB is a step in the right direction as a replacement for the discontinued iPod classic.  The problem with the iPod classic, besides the hard drive which could fail, was the outdated software.  The iPod dedicated OS had not been updated since 2009, and it will never be updated.  New cars with USB integration, do a better job supporting iOS devices than they do the iPod OS.  Also, the flash memory is much faster too.  I ordered a 128GB iPod Touch to use as a dedicated music player in the car, vacations, business trips.  My iPhone has a mix of apps, music, video, photos, etc...so it does not have the capacity to hold my music library along with the other digital media.  So the iPod touch is a great option to replace the large capacity iPod classic.  I would have loved a 256GB option.  I will keep my iPod classic since it is now a piece of Apple history and that design is no longer made.

  • Reply 133 of 173
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    am8449 wrote: »
    At this age, does he communicate with classmates and friends much on his iPod Touch? If not, it would make sense why the iPod Touch is an ideal device for a young child.

    He doesn't communicate with anyone using his iPod Touch as of yet. He hasn't shown an interest to do so either.
  • Reply 134 of 173
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by am8449 View Post

     

    I wonder who are buying iPod Touches.

     

    Can anyone who has bought one recently chime in and say how you're using it?




    I bought one for my son years back mainly for games and he still love it. He is still not old enough for an iPhone so maybe I will buy him this upgraded iPod touch soon. I knew many people who used to non-iPhones who bought the iPod touch then switched to the iPhone because they loved it.


     

    I have always owned Touches and wifi iPads, never owned a smart phone.  iPhones are terrific but there is nothing about owning a smartphone that is a necessity for me.  As the payer of a family of 4 (including my eldest's iPhones for years, so I'm plenty experienced with them) the difference between paying for a data plan and not paying for it is enough over time.   Between my wifis at home and at work I'm nearly always capable of doing anything I need to do online.  Living in NYC is different than being in the suburbs or rural, so I can walk outside my door and get free wifi on every block, some times 3 choices, and should I be walking in Manhattan you can include all major retailers.  It would be harder to be somewhere where you *couldn't* get free wifi than where you could around here.  If someone needs to get ahold of me immediately or while I'm on the subway texting my dumbphone is plenty.  What a smart phone offers that I can't do with wifi I don't need, and I don't want the pleasure of my every move being logged even when I'm not taking advantage of it.  

     

    I periodically check with my wireless provider (Verizon) to see how to break it down better and even last month it came down to being worth it if I wanted to have it, not if I didn't.   I don't desire to be hooked up and online at all times.  When I'm driving I consider that time between being online and I value it.   I don't zombie down the street staring at a screen and I don't pull up menus of a restaurant I'm a block away from.  

     

    If one already has wifi all around them all day, to me having an iPhone is a bit like having a better home theater system with more features than what you're using now.  If that is a plus for you it's a great time to have one, it's not expensive.  But I simply have no attraction to that. The lack of GPS, which I have a fine working $75 one in my car, or taking body stats when being active, which I laugh about as it would only be a non-productive distraction for me (and the old, cheap pharmacy pulse and blood pressure devices, one trick ponies that they are, still work great four years later) are simply not factors for me.

  • Reply 135 of 173
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post





    I respectfully disagree. ?WATCH has a great deal of non-internet autonomy now and will have more so with watchOS 2 in September. While part of its functionality may be hindered without an Internet connection, most of it won't be and could seamlessly resume when a WiFi zone is entered. ?WATCH is beginning as an iPhone tethered Wrist Computer. But anyone who thinks it's just and only an iPhone accessory is failing to see the big picture watchOS 2 reveals.??????????????



    Simply put, No.

     

    Its Not "part of its functionality".

     

    You don't understand the product. It its not a standalone product. Apple Watch is an extension of iPhone. Not just any iOS device. iPhone. Without iPhone, Apple Watch is a poor product. Just because, in your limited thought process, you imagine being OK with an Apple Watch that works so poorly as you desire it to...but actual customers (including you after a week), and Apple alike, would never want such a poor product on the market.

  • Reply 136 of 173
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post

    There's no GPS requirement for ?WATCH pairing. I believe the Apple Maps app still works using WiFi tower proximity calculations. Correct me if I'm mistaken. Yes, you can see on the desktop of the new IPod touch in the Apple Store that Maps is an included app.



    I'm imagining all watchOS 2 and iOS 9 devices might be allowed to pair with one another. I'm not spreading a rumor. I'm fantasizing it will be allowed by Apple in September. It seems like the most logical way to massively expand the ?WATCH market. If I'm mistaken, then I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen with watchOS 3 and iOS 10. But I doubt Apple would want to wait for another year to make this logical evolutionary step to widen the ?WATCH appeal all over the world. Sure some ?WATCH features would be limited or not present outside of iPhone pairing. But they won't be deal breakers for a lot of folks.

    I would be very surprised if Apple introduced any pairing of Apple Watch to a non-cellular device.  You bring up WatchOS 2, but one of the key features is that it enables the Apple Watch to have Internet connectivity for applications, provided it is on known WiFi networks.  Applications will get real-time updates in this fashion, without the iPhone connected to Watch.  That seems to limit the value of what an iPod (or iPad) would bring to the Apple Watch.

     

    A key value to the Apple Watch (and I have one, so can say this), is that you know you get constant updates (messages, calendar updates) in real-time as a result of cellular connectivity.  The user experience with only periodic WiFi connectivity of an iPod (which is no better than the watch on its own with WatchOS 2) is less.

     

    Also, I don't believe it is requirement to have an iPhone that is limiting Apple Watch sales.  There is estimated to be over (by end of year) 500M iPhones capable of supporting Apple Watch.  What will limit sales after the initial demand is met is that this is a new product, in release 1, that is really the first mainstream device to introduce "wearable computing".  It will take time to catch on, and for the value for larger audiences to be clear.

  • Reply 137 of 173
    woochiferwoochifer Posts: 385member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     

     

    What system is involved? Lion can be a bit cranky but if you've got a Mac that can handle more than 2GB RAM it's workable. Ideally you'll have 4GB+


     

    I have a late-2006 white Intel iMac (Core2Duo processor, maxed out to 3 GB RAM). Eight years old, replaced a failed hard drive and logic board along the way, but still in use almost 24/7 for computing and as a media server to our home theater. It can only be upgraded through Lion.

     

    I originally held out on upgrading to Lion because we still used several applications that relied on Rosetta (most notably MS Office 2004, which I kept because I had to use the VB scripts that Office 2008 disabled). We have since upgraded most of the applications (and MS restored VB scripts to Office 2011).

     

    But, Snow Leopard is such a rock solid OS that I never felt the need to tamper with it. And I'd read a lot of mixed reviews about the drastic changes that Lion introduced, and how the performance and stability are a step down compared to Snow Leopard.

     

    Still deciding on whether to switch to Lion. But, I might bite the bullet, since I have a feeling that we will likely buy at least a couple more iOS devices before we upgrade to a new Mac. The Mac/iOS compatibility has been important, because I primarily rely on local syncing rather than iCloud. Yet, I also hate to lose a great OS like Snow Leopard as my daily driver in the process. Decisions, decisions!

  • Reply 138 of 173
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by peteo View Post



    This is going to be a perfect companion to the apple watch 2. The iPod touch will be able to piggy back off the next watches cellular capabilities. With hand off you'll even be able to make phone calls using the touch. This way I will always have a phone with me on my wrist and if i want to do more than just quick things I can always grab my iPod touch.

    That is definitely an interesting scenario that could be the paradigm in a few (I say 3-5) years.  The communication is with the watch, with a companion "screen & CPU/GPU" that gives the real-estate to view, and horse power for, graphics/gaming/apps.

     

    I don't think it is happening with Apple Watch 2. There needs to be some improvements in shrinking the cellular radio chips, and some sizeable improvements in batter tech (which increases quite slowly YoY).  There are a number of other functions that I am sure Apple has planned that will require more battery as well (GPS, watch screen on more/all of the time, more sensors), before adding in cellular connectivity.  I am sure this is on the Apple roadmap though.

     

    For all those that think the Apple Watch is a small, niche side show, they need to think about this paradigm further.  And why it was so important for Apple to get into this when ready, and lead it.

  • Reply 139 of 173
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alcstarheel View Post



    Touch ID won't come to the iPod because it isn't always connected.

    What does that have to do with anything? There are iPads which aren't always connected with Touch ID.

     

    I have a 5S which does not have ?Pay and I don't know how I lived without Touch ID before it. So much so, that every time I pick up my iPad 3G, I press the home button and leave my finger there waiting for it to unlock, until I realize I have to enter my 4-digit code. It's frustrating enough that I'm contemplating upgrading to a new iPad with Touch ID even though my iPad 3G is still perfectly functional and does everything I need.



    Also, Touch ID can be used on my iPhone 5S to confirm App Store and iTunes purchases, even without ?Pay, and considering my Apple ID password is quite long and complicated for security purposes, makes my life much easier. So the secure element is still quite useful without ?Pay, especially considering the whole point of the iPod Touch is to buy music, video and apps from iTunes and the App Store.



    Moreover, there's no reason the iPad, and iPod Touch couldn't be used for ?Pay. I would expect Apple to eventually support it on all of their mobile devices, and even the Mac for online purchases. The only way to use ?Pay at Target is online purchases. So all the more reason to own an iPod Touch with Touch ID for future compatibility ... unless the iPod Touch won't be around much longer.

  • Reply 140 of 173
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hillstones View Post

     

    The new iPod touch 128GB is a step in the right direction as a replacement for the discontinued iPod classic...  I would have loved a 256GB option.


    I agree. But I guess Apple didn't want to introduce an option on the iPod Touch before they offered it on the iPhone. I doubt we'll see 256GB on the 6S now, but maybe the 7. 

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