It’s been 3 years since the last iPod Touch launched and boy, aren’t we glad that the iPod line is back? Yesterday, Apple just introduced the best iPod Touch yet and unveiled new colour options for all iPod models like the Shuffle and the Nano, including space gray, silver, gold, pink and blue. The updated iPod Touch features a new 8 megapixel iSight camera which is quite an improvement from the previous 5 megapixel shooter carried over from the iPhone 4. There is also an improved FaceTime HD camera for even better selfies. The 4 inch retina display remains unchanged.
Camera matters aside the most important update is the new chipset. The new iPod touch is powered by the Apple-designed 64-bit A8 CPU which was introduced last year on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The chip allows 10 times faster graphics performance for a more immersive gaming experience. The M8 motion co-processor also contains sensors that measure your steps, distance and elevation changes which in turn makes the new iPod touch quite the fitness tracker. It also has 1GB ram which is double what it had previously and is the current RAM configuration across all newer generation iPhones.
The new iPod Touch does not include the wrist strap ‘Loop’ that the previous generation incorporated into its design but the internal changes outweigh the need of the loop. I would have personally loved to have Touch ID on the iPod Touch but it seems that it is a reserve of the iPhone and iPad line-up.
The iPod Touch will launch running iOS 8.4 which includes pre-installed Apple Music and the vast array of Apple’s built in apps.
The new iPod Touch also benefits in terms of storage in the higher end with the availability of a 128GB option. This makes it the first iPod Touch to come in all popular size variants of 16, 32, 64 and of course 128 GB. It will cost $199, $249, $299 and $399 respectively.
As for the iPod Shuffle and Nano this might be the final stroke. The mere cosmetic update to these two and the fact that only a press release was issued to showcase the new iPods proves that Apple may be focusing on the other products in their line-up. In previous times iPod refreshes had their own event and now on the Apple website one has to dig deep to find the iPods (their old spot has since been taken up by the Apple Watch). Declining iPod sales can be attributed to the great success of the iPhone and that isn’t really a bad thing.
All we can now do is wait on Apple’s next move. Will the Shuffle and Nano die off like the iPod Classic or will there be a new range of portable music players in the future?
We appreciate the fact that Apple chose to give a new lease of life to the iPod Touch just when everyone was predicting doom and hope that the 32GB storage option will be available later in the year when the new line-up of iPhones is finally unveiled.
