2GB Mini iPods in Colors!
MacRumors Page 2 has the "scoop".
"According to a new report, Apple has been demoing a new product to select insiders. The new device is reportedly a 2GB "mini" iPod, and has been noted to come in a variety of colors. Expected introduction of the new low-end iPods are in January 2004.
Some recent rumors have hinted at low end iPods coming from Apple, with subsequent corroboration.
While Apple presently uses Toshiba's 1.8" hard drives in existing iPod devices, Toshiba will be introducing 1" hard drives at the Consumer Electronics Show, also in January 2004."
Does this imply a new, smaller form factor allowed by those 1" Toshiba drives? If so, what happens to screen and scrollwheel size? It doesn't seem they could be much reduced without hampering use.
2GB is only good for about 500 songs, so it had better be cheap. $99 would be AWESOME.
Same colors as the billboard ads? Women will love them if so.
P.S. Started a new thread since the other one is for discussion of 4th gen, "full-sized" iPods. It's seems we have a new beast here that deserves its own thread.
"According to a new report, Apple has been demoing a new product to select insiders. The new device is reportedly a 2GB "mini" iPod, and has been noted to come in a variety of colors. Expected introduction of the new low-end iPods are in January 2004.
Some recent rumors have hinted at low end iPods coming from Apple, with subsequent corroboration.
While Apple presently uses Toshiba's 1.8" hard drives in existing iPod devices, Toshiba will be introducing 1" hard drives at the Consumer Electronics Show, also in January 2004."
Does this imply a new, smaller form factor allowed by those 1" Toshiba drives? If so, what happens to screen and scrollwheel size? It doesn't seem they could be much reduced without hampering use.
2GB is only good for about 500 songs, so it had better be cheap. $99 would be AWESOME.
Same colors as the billboard ads? Women will love them if so.
P.S. Started a new thread since the other one is for discussion of 4th gen, "full-sized" iPods. It's seems we have a new beast here that deserves its own thread.
Comments
As I understand it, the costs of making a hard drive are generally fixed and are physical size, not capacity, driven. This is why low end drives tend to always be around the $100-150 mark to end buyers, no matter what the capacity. A 1" or 1.8" drive is presumably going to cost several times what it costs to make a 3.5" disk.
I'm not saying it's impossible, for all I know Toshiba/etc has done just that and found a way to make stunningly cheap 1.8" drives.
I hope I'm wrong. I know a lot of friends who'd pick up a $99 multi-gig-capacity iPod in a heartbeat.
1) This is a "page 2" report. That is, there isn't much evidence.
2) Apple's fascination with colour ended about three years ago.
I think a $99 iPod would be great, even if it was only 2GB, but I can't see any reason to make it smaller. Thinner, maybe. Of course, when was the last time Apple sold any hardware for $99?
"Toshiba aims to start shipping samples if its HDD to makers of cellular phones next summer and begin full-fledged production in early 2005 at its Ome, Tokyo, plant. After order volume rises, production will be moved to its HDD plant in the Philippines."
and
"The company [Toshiba] expects each drive to cost about 30,000 yen (US$280) initially, but projects that mass production will push down the price to less than 10,000 yen within a few years."
I would certainly buy such a mini iPod if they will be cheaper than the current iPods.
However, microdrive size HDD's aren't exactly cheap (at retail), even at the 1-4GB range they currently occupy, and there's no guarantee that such a device would be any cheaper than the current 10GB unit.
4GB units should be about 400-500 dollars (in a CF type 2 carrier)
Magicstor has 2.2GB microdrives for 179, I dunno'bout 1GB and 2GB Hitachi units. So even then, it won't exactly be easy to build down to a lower price than a 10GB unit. Not that the 10GB shouldn't be cheaper, but you get the sense that it is probably easier to build a cheaper device around the larger 1.8" HDD.
If, Apple were to build a smaller iPod, as mentioned, I rather see them build it around a CF slot.
At what point does its small size become a hindrance rather than a convenience? Tiny screen, tiny buttons, tiny niches...will a miniPod win over more customers or just take profits away from the higher margin iPods?
pcmag says ipods in short supply what are the most popular 10,20,40? i bought a 20g
Originally posted by cubist
The $99 price is not part of the original report. I'd expect a price more like $200. If there are colors, they will be sleeves such as those available today from third parties.
agree, but i feel with the huge popularity, pcmag is reporting short supply of the larger capacity ipods, so if so popular maybe apple will wait for cheaper units, it can be a slight price reduction for the 10-20 and maybe a price of 179 for 5g. hey if they sell them so well maybe they should "raise" prices (ha ha) just lower some and increase capacity and push "home in ipod" i don't know if apple needs a 100$ ipod yet, if they can get it to the sub-200 level for 5g that would sell well.
A set up consisting of maybe two CF cards that work as one logical volume. About 2 gig total? I would see a future for these, and although I was a sceptic a long time ago, I would seriously consider buying one if they were were affordable (i.e. about 150 dollars), and did constitute some space saving (in the depth dimension rather than height or width) and longer battery life than current iPods.
As for the abandoned colours. Not so the iPod adverts...leaving behind the sterile white backgrounds.
Some form of lower priced iPod is important for Apple to keep applying maximum pressure to competitors before the Wintel mob get in the game.
25 million songs sold on the iTunes store. Quite a milestone.
The iPod isn't quite priced affordably enough to reach the same milestone in iPods. And for Apple to keep up the iPod momentum in the next year? That's gotta be addressed soon.
A Dell busting iPod? Next round of iPod 'bumps'? Lower the price of the current hard drive models with steep price cuts. I still think £250 is alot to pay for a portable stereo
Some funky kind of colourful iPods. Yes. I can see that. I haven't lost hope of this gadjet that changes the colour of its case. A kind of white iPod that is psycadelic in the dark...like an iTunes visualisation that plays through a white-lucent skin... If there's one device that screams 'give me colour', it's an iPod.
Nightclub Blue, funky green, fruity pink...tangerine fizz...bring it on, Apple!
Lemon Bon Bon
If you think about it $199 is a good deal. 512 Mb USB flash drives cost about $199. Sure they are not the same product, but there is overlap and I would rather have a small iPod than just a flash drive. I also remember when the Sony Walkman came out and was a BIG hit. It was quite some time ago and the magic price I remember at the time was $129. That was the price my old brain associates with these things hitting mass appeal. I think, taking inflation into account, it is quite reasonable to assume that $199 iPods would fly off the shelf (I beleive they are already flying nicely at $299).
Originally posted by flossie
Toshiba has developed a 0.85 inch hard disk (see link) with a capacity of 2 to 3 GB. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/EL16Dh02.html
I don't understand why Toshiba is bothering with a 2GB HDD when you can get shock-proof Compact Flash cards that size. Consequently, I don't see why Apple would bother with these smaller drives either.
Originally posted by Matsu
If, Apple were to build a smaller iPod, as mentioned, I rather see them build it around a CF slot.
Didn't read far enough to see Matsu address my concern. CF memory is cheap these days. IMO, tiny HDDs have no real future. But aside from cost, flash memory has no moving parts, and is thus infinitely more shock-resistant than silly mini-HDDs. The fact that the iPod uses an HDD is one of the factors holding me back from buying one.
Escher
It seems now that "mini" means merely capacity, not physical size. Anyone have info on the availability and price of a 2GB 1.8" drive. Do they even exist? Would there be enough cost savings for Apple to do it at $199.
And what about the colors? If the form factor for the mini (capacity) iPod is the same, then the 10/20/40 models will be stuck in white only? You have to buy a 2GB MiniPod to get a color option? (MiniPod, that's actually a great name, you heard it here first!)
Oh and you guys can forget the flash memory pipe dream, especially if you're thinking it's going to be removable. The whole point of the iPod's design is that it's a sealed box. Music magically flows in and out, that's all the consumer needs to know.
Would 2-8GB be enough. CF is already in the 2-6GB range -- it's hideously expensive though. But it won't always be. There are people who would rather have <5GB of solid state music and recording than 80-160GB of HDD based storage. Outdoorsy types, for one.
It kinda becomes two seperate markets at that point, when costs allow it. Digital vault or digital player?