Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

A Flash Based 4GB iPod mini?

How does this sound?

iPod Product Range Autumn 2005

1GB Shuffle $99
2GB Shuffle $139
4GB Shuffle $179 (w/ screen, little thicker/heavier than Shuffle)

6GB iPod Mini $199
8GB iPod Mini $249

20GB iPod $299
40GB iPod $399
80GB iPod $499

I'd expect around about a ±10% price deviation upon release - possibly the 4GB Shuffle will be $199 and have smaller size and flash memory as the differentiator against a $199 iPod Mini.
 
how about multiple 4gb flash modules inside a ipod mini case the same sizze, as the tho flash modules would take up twice as much room as a hard drive, but as flash memory needs less bttery, you could shrink the batery but mainain or sighly increase battery life. of couse you could just put a 8gb MD in the mini and save money.

personally I would innsantly buy a 4gb, thin, flash, 30h+ battery life mini, and i hope they don't increse the speed of the shuffle as otherwise the shuffle is useless.



Jesus
 
PlaceofDis said:
and even if it was slower (not that it is) it would be negligible to a the average person to notice. the benefit of having a more dependable form of disk is what matters here. Flash memory will outlast Hard Drive based simply because there are no moving parts, and it conserves more battery life too.
Click to expand...

There are technical limits to the number of read/writes you can perform on Flash memory. Those limits would tend to keep the lifetime of a Flash-based drive down to about the same length of time as the lifetime of a conventional disk drive. (Which is a vast improvement, by the way: a few years ago, Flash wouldn't have lasted as long.)
 
~loserman~ said:
Hmmm
I thought the number of read write cycles for flash memory was much higher than hardrives
Click to expand...

No. For a long time, it was much LOWER than for harddrives. Nowadays, it's becoming comparable.
 
Speaking of form factors.

The new flash mini has the 3.5mm audio on the bottom of the player.

The dock connector is the same. There is no player control socket on the top of the player.

So lots of new accessories will be required.
 
Jesus said:
personally I would innsantly buy a 4gb, thin, flash, 30h+ battery life mini, and i hope they don't increse the speed of the shuffle as otherwise the shuffle is useless.
Click to expand...

Yeah, same here. But i rather buy a 6GB version
with ipod mini dimension so i can use accessories
for that. I'd pay about 250,- Euro for such an ipod.

JD
 
podfuture said:
Speaking of form factors.

The new flash mini has the 3.5mm audio on the bottom of the player.
Click to expand...

That makes no sense to me? Why would apple do that?

The dock connector is the same. There is no player control socket on the top of the player.

So lots of new accessories will be required.
Click to expand...

Hum, where did you get those infos?
I'm a little disappointed because i want a
regular ipod mini with flash instead :confused:

JD
 
podfuture said:
Speaking of form factors.

The new flash mini has the 3.5mm audio on the bottom of the player.

The dock connector is the same. There is no player control socket on the top of the player.

So lots of new accessories will be required.
Click to expand...

What new flash mini? What do you know?

If that is true however, maybe there is an optical output too, and a dock would integrate an optical out adapter and port thing as well.
 
awesomebase said:
I can't imagine that the iPod Mini would retain its same form using a 4GB flash memory part. More likely Apple will keep the iPod mini as a hard-drive based system and up it to 8GB and introduce a "iPod Shuffle" with 4GB but have a very small LCD screen on it. They may even take the iPod Mini and flatten it out.
Click to expand...
I would surmise, same form factor initially, just swap in the flash card for the hard drive. There are large costs associated with changing an enclosure. Also, there is the issue of making a product line that is easily broken down into good/better/best. In the current lines, more space = more expensive. I'm not sure why you'd buy a 6GB mini for $50 more when you could have a 4GB with much quicker responsiveness and better battery life. A 4 GB shuffle just doesn't make much sense. True, I'm sure I'm not the only one who usually plays music on random play, and just skip a song you're not into. But every now and then you want to find a particular song or genre, and skipping songs just doesn't do it. Also, where would you put a 4gb shuffle in the lineup, especially considering the costs are the same as the HD? It'd have to be close in cost to the current 4gb mini, and battery life or none, you're going to choose the one with the screen.

My guess is that they'd have to up the high-end mini to 8GB (if this is feasible) and leave the 4GB in the same form factor with flash. But, we'll see. I'm sure marketing professionals are working feverishly on this as we speak. :)

Dave
 
Hattig said:
What new flash mini? What do you know?

If that is true however, maybe there is an optical output too, and a dock would integrate an optical out adapter and port thing as well.
Click to expand...

For months, the accessory builders in S. China have been warned to not make accessories for the top. Apple keeps the players under lock and key so only the biggest distibutors have seen it.

Imagine how many are on the production lines right now. I think they will need millions to get through Christmas.
 
What I don't understand...

What I don't understand ... Is why Toshiba and Samsung are spending big bucks on design and marketting of their own players - why not just be a supplier to Apple?

I would think that their own lackluster efforts actually increase Apple's price and therefore slightly hurt Apple's sales.

1) They compete - some people have to be buying their products

2) The marketing/design/ etc costs money - therefore raising the prices they must have for the hard drives they supply Apple.
 
freiheit said:
Maybe Apple doesn't care since they don't make iPod docks anymore
Click to expand...

They still make docks for the colour display models and the mini; these are available from the Apple web-site.

I definitely look forward to a flash based iPod with a screen, and around 4GB for workouts. The single playlist available on the shuffle is just too limiting.
 
adzoox said:
What I don't understand ... Is why Toshiba and Samsung are spending big bucks on design and marketting of their own players - why not just be a supplier to Apple?

Samsung is much bigger than its component division. But remember they are also up-and-coming supplier of MP3 CODECS. Any semiconductor supplier wants to grab an Apple contract. Samsung gets to punch out some key component competitors in the process. Flash memory prices were coming down anyway. So Samsung gets to accelarate this outcome (which is great as it gives an earlier price benefit to iPod customers).

And they are smart enough to know the Yepp is not penetrating beyond Asia with any real numbers.

Can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Click to expand...
 
If We're reading this now...

Generally what you'll find is that even if apple is buying this extra flash based memory and apple is creating flash based minis then we still wont see them for a while.. ie. after the expo
 
~Shard~ said:
Agreed - even if they make the 4 GB mini a flash-based player, they shouldn't turn it into a shuffle. As you say, for that amount of music, you need a screen to properly navigate and organize your music. Give the 4 GB iPod flash, but keep it as the mini, don't make it a shuffle. :cool:
Click to expand...

It would be bad to coexist a iPod Shuffle with 4gb, and a iPod mini with 4gb and screen, just like today, but both using flash memory instead of mini HD???

This way, those searching for an iPod smal, and with great capacity, but don't care for a LCD screen would fit their needs and save some money. (and, like some people say, will enjoy better bass quality...)

Others who think it's important to have a small screen to control things better would be pleased too.

Just my thought.
 
Great

This sounds like a fantastic thing for the Ipod. I would love to see a mini mini, and then a color egular mini
 
m4r71n1 said:
Generally what you'll find is that even if apple is buying this extra flash based memory and apple is creating flash based minis then we still wont see them for a while.. ie. after the expo
Click to expand...

Best info leaks point to a release Sept 6. I'm counting the minutes.
 
Fabio_gsilva said:
It would be bad to coexist a iPod Shuffle with 4gb, and a iPod mini with 4gb and screen, just like today, but both using flash memory instead of mini HD???

This way, those searching for an iPod smal, and with great capacity, but don't care for a LCD screen would fit their needs and save some money.
Click to expand...

I would counter that there are not many people out there who would want a 4 GB player without a screen. Managing 512 MB/1 GB without a screen - sure, okay, manageable - trying to manage 4 GB of music (over 1000 songs) without a UI? Many people would quickly become frustrated I believe.

Of course, I could be wrong... ;)
 
I'm suprised that Macrumors didn't report this when the rumor over a week ago about this. Glad to see Macrumors actually posting rumors once in awhile again.
 
Looks like apples getting a nice deal, hope samsung will not take over the states like it has Korea.

Many people in Korea call the country the Republic of Samsung, because they own EVERYTHING, from the starbucks here, to the outback steakhouse. Walmart esque stores, and even a very popular car line.
 
I'd really like to see a 4gb flash mini that looks liek the current mini but is slightly thinner and just a hair shorter. Should be easily doable, and it would be just the right size for a shirt pocket then. (It fits now, but is just a little bulky to be comfortable). Getting the 'advertised' battery life up to a full 24 hours shouldn't be hard, as flash memory uses less power than moving HDD and better batteries are available, and the 2G mini generally gets close to that anyways, from what I hear.

Also, since there shouldn't be any need for a buffer to hold cached music, they can eliminate all the memory in the mini other than what the player needs to run it's OS, etc. That should help get costs down, and coupled with always lowering component costs and lower material costs if they shrink it some I'm hoping to see a 4gb flash mini at $149 EDU and $179 regular price. I think they could do really well with something like that.

Also, since all the full sized iPods have gone color, I think it may be wise to keep the mini B&W and focus on keeping a device that is just a music player and nothing else. Getting the HDD based mini's up to 10gb's will make it a great music only portable, and I think it will help keep the product affordable and streamlined.
 
Koree said:
Looks like apples getting a nice deal, hope samsung will not take over the states like it has Korea.

Many people in Korea call the country the Republic of Samsung, because they own EVERYTHING, from the starbucks here, to the outback steakhouse. Walmart esque stores, and even a very popular car line.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, Microsoft and MobileExxon won't let that happen. Worst case is Samsung buys the other third.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back