80 GB iPod?

[MacRumors]

Toshiba, maker of the 1.8" hard drives currently used in iPods, has announced that it is planning to ship an 80 GB in the 3rd quarter of 2005. The annoucement of the drive comes a year after it announced the 60 GB version currently found in the iPod photo.

Unlike the 60 GB announcement, Toshiba has chosen to not name names of who might order this upcoming 80 GB drive, but given that the sizing of the device is relatively the same as the 60 GB counterpart, it isn't unreasonable to have it incorporated into the next generation iPod.

Additionally, Toshiba announced a revision to the 40 GB model slated to ship in the 2nd quarter of 2005. This revision is thinner and lighter than the current 40 GB model, which could lead to a thinner mid-range iPod.

 

[Bozola]

Hopefully. the price will drop..........

 

[wordmunger]

If they can make an 80 gig 1.8 incher, how much capacity will we be seeing in a laptop hard drive?

 

[tny]

Maybe I should wait until next Christmas to get the iPod Photo. Or will this be used for an iPod Video?

 

[howard]

If they can make an 80 gig 1.8 incher, how much capacity will we be seeing in a laptop hard drive?

thats exactly what i was thinking

why don't we have bigger laptop drives!!!

 

[timnosenzo]

Uh oh, more iPod news... Here come the haters.

Personally, I think an 80GB iPod would rule!

 

[~Shard~]

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise - welcome to the world of technology! I'm sure by Q3 05 this will be relative and almost expected, so this announcement isn't a real big shock. Regardless, this paves the way nicely for video iPods!

 

[wdlove]

Fantastic an 80 GB iPod. Wonder if they can keep the price around $499?

 

[~Shard~]

Maybe I should wait until next Christmas to get the iPod Photo. Or will this be used for an iPod Video?

Good luck trying to forecast what will happen a year from now - no one knows - once again, welcome to the world of technology! If you play the waiting game, you'll always be waiting for the next best thing. Just get what you need, when you need it, and you'll never be disappointed.

As for the video iPod specifically, it will depend if Apple and the industry as a whole is ready for some sort of iTMS for movies - that still might be a bit premature. Until something like this is more feasible, there is really limited legal situations in which an iPod video would be able to be used. Market timing is everything, and that's why Apple released the iPod photo first, and not the iPod video.

 

[ntg]

If Apple do (and I'm sure they will) use the new form-factor drives, then I reckon they will put a bigger battery into the increased space available to extend play-time, rather than make it any thinner.

Nig

 

[yoman]

If they can make an 80 gig 1.8 incher, how much capacity will we be seeing in a laptop hard drive?

I wonder about the RPMs of this little drive, if it is low you couldn't run a computer off of it with desirable speeds. If it is high enough then bring on bigger laptop drives.

 

[ASP272]

If they can make an 80 gig 1.8 incher, how much capacity will we be seeing in a laptop hard drive?

That's an excellent question! Why haven't laptop HDs increased dramatically in size like the desktops. If you can make a 500gb hard drive at 3.5" and an 80gb at 1.8", why in the world couldn't you produce at least a 250gb at 2.5"?

 

[hayesk]

I wonder about the RPMs of this little drive, if it is low you couldn't run a computer off of it with desirable speeds. If it is high enough then bring on bigger laptop drives.

Good point. Not only that, laptop drives are spinning almost all of the time, I don't think the iPod drives are built for constant usage.

 

[wPod]

If Apple do (and I'm sure they will) use the new form-factor drives, then I reckon they will put a bigger battery into the increased space available to extend play-time, rather than make it any thinner.

Nig

they will make the 40GB the same size as the 20GB. then have a 60Gb as the larger size.

i just hope this brings prices down. . . or maybe the smaller drive will alow for wifi capabilities too hook up to AirPort Express!!!! (i can still dream cant i?)

 

[macridah]

thats exactly what i was thinking

why don't we have bigger laptop drives!!!

I too was thinking the samething. I bought a iMac G5 with a 160GB hardrive cuz the powerbook only went up to 80 (i do movies and rip all my CD's, and my friends ). Soon, we'll see powerbooks with >100 GB hardrives.

 

[AmigoMac]

it's not really a surprise here, it's not a "Big" rumor, but gives room for hope, I just got my iPod photo 40 GB and i can see the space for 80 GB with photos and backups... nice move from Toshiba, I think we will see those babies by MWSF 06 ... but some firmware update is still needed... hello steve?

 

[jxyama]

Hopefully. the price will drop..........

apple hasn't dropped the price levels of the iPod in quite some time. the capacity has gotten larger, but the prices have remained the same, $300, $400, etc.

it's highly unlikely to happen. iPod isn't supposed to be a "commodity" and using a smaller capacity HD does not reduce the cost that much anyway.

i wouldn't hold your breath for a 10 GB $200 iPod, if i were you... if you want an iPod for less than ~$300, you need to either get it used, use edu discounts, if you qualify, or get a mini. (or flash, if it comes out)

 

[~Shard~]

Hopefully. the price will drop..........

I doubt it. I would expect the price to stay the same as the 60 GB, just that you'll be getting 20 more GB for the same price, and who knows what other improved functionality. I think this is still a pretty good deal.

But who knows, maybe costs will be a lot less by the time this things rolls around and Apple will eb in a position to afford a $50 price drop or something. Probably not likely though...

 

[Chomolungma]

increase capacity

If they can make an 80 gig 1.8 incher, how much capacity will we be seeing in a laptop hard drive?

I think we'll see 100 GB+ laptop HD this coming year, however, I still prefer speed to power comsumption (ratio) over capacity in a laptop. 7200 rpm, I believe should be standard fairly soon for the PBs and hopefully in the near future for iBooks. It would be nice if they can design a HD with faster access time (~9000 rpm) in the future, and that it consumes as much as a 5400 rpm drive today. Off course to do this requires an engineering break through, and I think you may be on the right track here. What about a 1.8" HD that spin much faster than the one in the iPods? Afterall, smaller HD that spin faster won't use more power than a bigger drive with the same speed.

just a thought,
-Chomo

 

[pimentoLoaf]

I'm waiting for the sub-$150 250gb model with widescreen video capability.

 

[toughboy]

What I'm more interested in is the 40gb thinner harddrive which will replace the 20gb iPods we have now.. my entire archive has reaced upto 30gb, I need something bigger now.. 20 is of course more then enough but still

 

[cantrdr]

Maybe I should wait until next Christmas to get the iPod Photo. Or will this be used for an iPod Video?

If you look in the prospectus for the PortalPlayer IPO, it shows that there long term growth goals include making a chip with Video capabilities by 2006. Since Apple is a 85% customer of Portalplayer, my guess would be a video iPod of some form factor is not such a myth after all. But who knows Apple may ditch portalplayer in a a years time as well (that comment isn't based on any specific info, so its not even a rumour)!
Jobs said he wouldn't make the iPod a Video player, he didn't say anything about not innovating beyond iPod!!

 

[MattG]

Mmmm 80gb color WiFiPod....

 

[xtbfx]

Hmmm, this would be excellent for the "Home on the iPod" feature that is virtually nonexistent.

I hope they shove this feature in Tiger before it's release. Dang it Apple, PUT IT IN YOUR NEXT OS!!!

 

[Bad Beaver]

Ay, 80GB iPod would be nice, since it could keep at about half of my music library, should be sufficient. Or a cheaper 60GB without photo functionality. Not to speak of a 80GB "music only" one.
No need for color, just capacity