40GB iPods?

[MacRumors]

Newsfactor reports (http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20378.html) that Hitachi will be introducing 1.8 inch drives by second quarter:


By the second quarter, the company will offer a 20 GB 2.5-inch drive, as well as 20 GB and 40 GB 1.8-inch drives. The larger drive will target the automotive market, while the smaller drive will be geared toward mobile applications.


iPoding (http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=954&mode=thread&order=0) posts speculation that these drives will make their way into current iPods.

[gotohamish]

...with FireWire 800, I still couldn't fill this puppy with my CDs - I have 75% done now, and it's about 14GB... must buy more!

H

PS, off the topic, but check out the MSNBC review of MacWorld - put those claws away!!!
http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/fc/tech/apple_computer/news_stories/*http://www.msnbc.com/news/856134.asp?0cv=CB20

[rugby]

Firewire 800 won't make any difference with speed on hard drives unless you have a multi-drive RAID. THe iPod maxes out at 11Mbps (or somewhere around there) while firewire 400 can go up to 50Mbps. Putting Firewire 800 on an iPod would be a waste.

40gb iPod? that's quite a few songs there. I'm thinking there might be some other uses out there for a 40gb iPod like video storage.

What I would like to see now is a 802.11g iPod. completely wireless.

[oldMac]

The Hitachi press release specifies availability in April of this year.

MacWorld Tokyo is scheduled for March 21. That would seem to be the best launch event for an updated iPod.

[Tom800]

But my PB 30Gb HD is full, so give us AAC too, Apple!

[morlium]

Originally posted by oldMac
MacWorld Tokyo is scheduled for March 21. That would seem to be the best launch event for an updated iPod.

MacWorld Tokyo has been canceled.

[Tom800]

has anyone else seen that nutter on eBay selling a 23" HD Cinema Display for $0.01? And onther person is selling 30 of them for $500 each...

Must be something about eBay I don't know....

[oldMac]

Originally posted by morlium


MacWorld Tokyo has been canceled.

So it has been cancelled...
There goes that theory. :)

Any reason to believe that Apple wouldn't be the first customer for this model?

[jayscheuerle]

Now I can get my entire music collection on an iPod & sync it as another back-up. I already have 1 redundant drive because there's no way I'm ripping 500+ CDs again on a G3...

[Bear]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Now I can get my entire music collection on an iPod & sync it as another back-up. I already have 1 redundant drive because there's no way I'm ripping 500+ CDs again on a G3...

My suggestion would be to start making backups on CD-R's. Since I have a Superdrive, I plan to make DVD's of my MP3 collection.

Oh yeah, and even with a G4, you wouldn't want to rip your collection again.

[Macmaniac]

As long as Apple will bring down the price I will be happy. Now that they have 802.11g they can put into a new cough video iPod.

But first give us a faster iMac!!!!! A year is way to long!!

1000 POSTS!!!!!!!!!! And Many more to come!!!

[KLFloyd]

Originally posted by morlium


MacWorld Tokyo has been canceled.

Maybe someone can help me understand this...

Most of the rumor sites say that the iPod as well as the iMac are due for updating at the end of Jan or early Feb. I'm a little new to this so can someone tell me if there is an Apple event then (I don't think so) or how have these announcments been made in the past.

I'm itching to get an iPod but waiting for the updates. Does apple make some kind of pre-announcment that they will be holding an event? How will we know what's released unless we stumble upon it on the apple homepage?

Thanks,

[asparagui]

The current iPod drives are 5mm for the 5/10GB models and 8mm for the 20GB one.

This hitachi drives are 7 mm for the 20GB model and 9.5 mm for the 40GB one.

I'm not sure if Apple can make room for the bigger drive, but the smaller one is certainly possible.

-Brett
www.universe42.com

[morlium]

Originally posted by KLFloyd

Does apple make some kind of pre-announcment that they will be holding an event? How will we know what's released unless we stumble upon it on the apple homepage?

Thanks,

It's usually to little or no fanfare (with the exception of the rumor sites) when Apple released upgrades to their existing products. They often come out on a Tuesday, and believe me, you'll know. MacRumors won't miss it.

[Knox]

Originally posted by KLFloyd
Does apple make some kind of pre-announcment that they will be holding an event?

Yes. In the past Apple has only announced new or upgraded products at the major Macworld shows (someone correct me if i'm wrong here, but i can't remember any older products being announced non-keynote) but recently some have been announced at special one-off events which are known in advance. The XServe was annouced at one of these events for example.

Occasionally products that have small upgrades are not announced at any specific event, in which case you'd have to be checking the mac news sites or apple.com to notice it.

[Nebrie]

Apple only announces *major new products* at press events. They've only held two and I can't imagine that there are people who still think Apple is going to use press events to announce every little thing.

Anyways, Toshiba is already shipping a 30gb 1.8 drive with their new Porteges. Its been shipping for a while now.

[melchior]

but it's still all very mysterious... since they said nothing about an itunes 4 i am inclimned to think aac is not coming soon and thus a new ipod is not coming soon.

please, i am going to buy an ipod this week but if there is a price drop i will be very frustrated with myself. that kind of tears me up for weeks. (i know, i take it way too seriously)

any realistic hope of a drop in price?

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by Nebrie
Apple only announces *major new products* at press events. They've only held two and I can't imagine that there are people who still think Apple is going to use press events to announce every little thing.

Anyways, Toshiba is already shipping a 30gb 1.8 drive with their new Porteges. Its been shipping for a while now.

Apple has stated quite frankly that they want to get away from making new product releases at just MacWorld keynotes. Also there has been at least a half dozen or more released in the last 3 years that have been of the non MacWorld variety.

[gotohamish]

Originally posted by Knox


Yes. In the past Apple has only announced new or upgraded products at the major Macworld shows (someone correct me if i'm wrong here, but i can't remember any older products being announced non-keynote) but recently some have been announced at special one-off events which are known in advance. The XServe was annouced at one of these events for example.

Occasionally products that have small upgrades are not announced at any specific event, in which case you'd have to be checking the mac news sites or apple.com to notice it.

If I'm not mistaken, the first G4s were at a Seybold Keynote - correct? So still a keynote, but not ALL their press.

[snahabed]

God I need more than 40GB for music alone, never mind using the iPod also for data and backup or other functions.

I am extremely distressed by the lack of AAC support in the iPod. It is long overdue. Honestly, WHAT is the problem? I am dumbfounded that this obvious upgrade was absent among all the other iLife enhancements.

[melchior]

the demoed itunes 4 at mwny.... and it's not to be part of iLife?

i hope they are moving away from xml database. any other reason is unimportant, i could cive a rats ass about rendevous

aac...........

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by melchior
the demoed itunes 4 at mwny.... and it's not to be part of iLife?


who demoed it there? mwny was where they released itunes 3.....

[bobindashadows]

Originally posted by melchior
i hope they are moving away from xml database. any other reason is unimportant, i could cive a rats ass about rendevous

aac...........
Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean about hoping they move away from the xml database. All the system support files are based on xml! plist files, if i'm not mistaken, are a variation of it. Hundreds of support files are xml files. They are incredibly powerful to manipulate on the code level, without much difficulty at all. I don't know why you would want Apple to drop xml.. you odn't even give a reason.

[Tom800]

Does anyone have any in-depth about exactly what AAC will do for filesize/quality? I've heard it's half the size at thd same quality, so twice the number of songs as present can be stored on the iPod. And if this is the case, wouldn't this be a great incentive to "Switch" again - because Musicmatch on the PC wouldn't support AAC for a while? What's up with Apple? They'd still sell their big iPods - I'd buy 40Gb with AAC, and maybe finally be able to use some space for data transfer/backup. Must be quite a few people in the same position.

Also for me, re-ripping is not a problem, just do it one CD at a time when you would otherwise have played it with mp3... The ones I no longer have can stay in mp3 format.

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by bobindashadows

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean about hoping they move away from the xml database. All the system support files are based on xml! plist files, if i'm not mistaken, are a variation of it.

plist is a very loose variation on XML which relies upon order of tags being preserved (not guaranteed by XML standard, and in fact specifically warned against) instead of encapsulation of tags (which would have made a lot more sense and not complicated the file format at all). Oh, well. Still, plists are better than most configuration attempts (especially the Registry), so I'm not overly miffed by the fact that the guy that put them together bastardized XML to do it.

[adamcoop]

Originally posted by Tom800
Does anyone have any in-depth about exactly what AAC will do for filesize/quality? I've heard it's half the size at thd same quality, so twice the number of songs as present can be stored on the iPod.

Apple has examples on it's site.

http://www.apple.com/mpeg4/aac/

[psxndc]

XML is _great_ for standardizing on for small B2B messages. XML is _terrible_ when used as a database because it does not scale. Parsing a thousand records is "eh". Now do it for 8,000 (current 20 GB iPod claims 4,000 songs, assume double for the 40 GB drive)? This is why people have problems with thousands of images in iPhoto: the sheer size of the XML file/plist that is an index of everything. To be honest, I don't have a solution. You can't build MySQL databases into everything, but there are more efficient solutions than XML.

I was going to bitch about "why would people want 802.11g in their iPod?" Then I realized that it would be cool to have a Bluetooth headset (yes I know BT and 802.11 are completely different, just stay with me for a second) for your cell phone that could double as earphones for your iPod. When a call comes in, the music mutes out and when you hang up the music kicks back in. All without wires. That would be pretty neat.

-p

[TyleRomeo]

Originally posted by rugby


40gb iPod? that's quite a few songs there. I'm thinking there might be some other uses out there for a 40gb iPod like video storage.



well personally I don't compress my music at all. So 40GB would hold some 1,000 4 min AIFF files. And since I have somewhere around 4,000 AIFF files I need the 160GB iPod to come out.

Tyler

[Choppaface]

Originally posted by TyleRomeo


well personally I don't compress my music at all. So 40GB would hold some 1,000 4 min AIFF files. And since I have somewhere around 4,000 AIFF files I need the 160GB iPod to come out.

Tyler

what about just making 256 bitrate mp3s? I doubt anybody could notice the difference through the iPod's minijack hookup.... and 256 bitrate mp3s were shown to have fooled many audiophiles using >$30,000 equip.

[MUrhino]

Originally posted by Tom800
has anyone else seen that nutter on eBay selling a 23" HD Cinema Display for $0.01? And onther person is selling 30 of them for $500 each...

Must be something about eBay I don't know....

They're probably trying to rip you off. I've learned that when looking for Powerbooks on eBay, as with any deal, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is." There are so many Powerbook scams on eBay it's not even funny. Be careful out there:)

[pyrotoaster]

A 40 GB iPod would be anything but practical. I don't think Apple would make one.
I see a hard drive like that inside a DLD/Tablet of some sort...

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by TyleRomeo


well personally I don't compress my music at all. So 40GB would hold some 1,000 4 min AIFF files. And since I have somewhere around 4,000 AIFF files I need the 160GB iPod to come out.

Tyler

Just use 320Kb/s, VBR, Normal Stereo and smart encoding. With these options no one anywhere will be able to tell the difference between the MP3 or the original CD. At those settings you get an average of about 2-2.5MB/minute of audio.


The fact is that CDs are pretty crummy to start with so it's fairly easy to duplicate there audio quality with a much smaller file size. Now when audio goes to 96KHz/24bit then it will be hard to duplicate with MP3 quality but AAC/MPEG 4 should be able to do it.

[TyleRomeo]

Originally posted by Choppaface


what about just making 256 bitrate mp3s? I doubt anybody could notice the difference through the iPod's minijack hookup.... and 256 bitrate mp3s were shown to have fooled many audiophiles using >$30,000 equip.

I know MP3s above 192 sound very very good. But look at it this way. If I want to transfer all my songs onto my Powermac it takes a while to edit each song to my personal anal liking. And once AAC comes out then everyone will have to re-edit or re-import their music libraries and by the time that happens there will be MPEG-5 or something else.

Hard drives are huge now. Maxtor has 250GB 7200RPM drive, lacie has a 500GB 5400RMP firewire drive out. So there no reason why I need to compress my music.

Tyler

[MacFan25]

I have been waiting to buy an iPod, but decided to wait until after MWSF, but now I am wondering if I should wait longer. Any thoughts on when this new chip could be in an iPod and sold?

[scem0]

How many AAC song files would a 40 GB iPod be able to hold?
A lot....... I like it ;) :D :D

[MacKid]

Originally posted by MacFan25
I have been waiting to buy an iPod, but decided to wait until after MWSF, but now I am wondering if I should wait longer. Any thoughts on when this new chip could be in an iPod and sold?

After an upgrade to a product hasn't come out for at last 8-12 months, it's wise wait until the next major update. After the upgrade to the iBooks, I supposed that a form-factor change in either the iBooks or PowerBooks would be coming soon, and I turned out to be right, I only had to wait a few months for the new PowerBooks and now I will be the proud owner of a 12". So your best bet might be to wait just a little bit longer.:D

[MasterX (OSiX)]

Some people are crazy, not compressing music, needing more than 15,000 songs capacity. Whatever. Could someone explain how XML and parsing in general works?

As for the consumers on this thread:
160kbps is the gold standard for MP3. It provides sound most people (shut up audiophiles) can't differenciate from CD audio.

128kbps provides slightly better quality in AAC (MPEG-4 audio). Thus the iPod capacities will go from 1000/2000/4000 to something like 1250/2500/6000. Give or take, OSX calculator is too slow, i'm not gonna do the math.

[melchior]

basically, the pain of xml is that it is sequetial read. it has to start at the beginning and scan it's way to the bit you a re looking for.

i agree xml is great for config files but the itunes library is a database not a config.

and as for my reference to itunes 4 being demoed, i guess i should have thought a little more before posting. steve demoed with phil the rendevous itunes. not necessarily itunes 4, maybe itunes 3.02 (with aac!!!!!)

i would like to see a poll of who expects ipod updates within what timeframe..

what are the chances that with iLife introduction steve will surprise us with itunes 3.5 and an updated ipod?

[MasterX (OSiX)]

I expect Apple to release a new iPod, iMac, eMac, and iTunes 4 at the same time. You can appeal to a lot of people all at once that way.

[melchior]

on that thinking it will be wighty soon, right? the imacs are are due for updating.

[melchior]

hmmmm, this seems a logical scenario, pleasepoint out the flaws:

iLife comes jan 25. for the new integration features would itunes not need at seast a minor change?
apple will want to make splash at the launch right? so new itunes and ipod would be an the mark, right?

[pyrotoaster]

I could see iTunes 4 and a new iPod having a simultaneous or near-simultaneous launch, but the iMacs and the eMacs are coming too soon for that.
iTunes 4 is still over a month or two away...

[artistry]

Originally posted by Tom800
But my PB 30Gb HD is full, so give us AAC too, Apple!

Quicktime 6.1 has just appeared on my Software update - includes AAC encoding...

Significant?

[MacKid]

Originally posted by artistry


Quicktime 6.1 has just appeared on my Software update - includes AAC encoding...

Significant?

QuickTime has always been able to read AAC due to MPEG-4, I think, so I think this is probably just to help you get more audio quality out of QuickTime Broadcaster, as I don't see how this could affect iTunes.

But I could be wrong. . . . . .:)

[artistry]

Originally posted by MacKid


QuickTime has always been able to read AAC due to MPEG-4, I think, so I think this is probably just to help you get more audio quality out of QuickTime Broadcaster, as I don't see how this could affect iTunes.

But I could be wrong. . . . . .:)

We live in hope.

I installed Quicktime Broadcaster the otehr day to have a play. got a god awful feedback howl the moment I launched it which continued after restarting. Had to turn off audio through speakers to stop it. damned careless error on Apple's part... :mad:

[pyrex]

a 40 gb hardrive would fulfill my mp3 needs, while also being a nice external firewire drive:)

[MacFan25]

Originally posted by MasterX (OSiX)
I expect Apple to release a new iPod, iMac, eMac, and iTunes 4 at the same time. You can appeal to a lot of people all at once that way.

Do you think that, if you are right, those things will be released on Jan. 25?