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An iPod Touch is a decent portable media player, internet, and gaming device that has access to (most of) the same apps as an iPhone, for a fraction of a price and no mobile service plan to worry about. I don't see why it's surprising that people might still be interested in it. Think teenagers, for example, who can't afford or their parents simply don't want to get them a smartphone.

Maybe a few years ago, but you'd think now that the market is so saturated with older phones like the 4/4S which you can buy second hand for a similar price, plus you get the phone functionality.
 
Maybe a few years ago, but you'd think now that the market is so saturated with older phones like the 4/4S which you can buy second hand for a similar price, plus you get the phone functionality.
Getting the phone functionality usually means having to pay for cellular service and data. Not everyone wants that. I also know people with Android smart phones and tablets, who want to have access to iOS apps as well. The iPod Touch is still the cheapest, simplest way to access the iOS ecosystem.
 
Well the iPod touch is basically a small iPad right? Why not call it 'iPad Nano', and get rid of the iPod brand entirely... ? Its time...
The Watch will replace the shuffle in many ways... So that's also solved...

Hey, that's a good idea.

As for this new iPod....the price will determine whether or not I get one. Always liked the iPod touch. I have a nano now but would upgrade.
 
Might as well put in an A8 at least, if they are going to do what they did with this A5 version and leave it in the lineup untouched for years.

It is certain that the A6 cannot support Apple Pay and the A8 can. It's not clear how convenient it might be for Apple to support Apply Pay with an A7 if it's even possible at all.
 
No Apple Pay

No Apply Pay on the iPod Touch.

While WiFi is pretty much everywhere, it's almost never a direct sign-on, almost always requiring a ToS agreement and/or a password.

People won't understand.
 
iphones cost about $2500
Only if you include the cost of 2 years of service. One can buy an iPhone without a contract for much less. I don't know if it is still true, but neither of the iPhone 4 devices that I use as media players ever had phone service activated on them and they work fine.
 
I have had 2 iPod touch and both have had the same problem, significantly reduced battery life after about a year and a half just enough to be outside the Apple one year warranty and not worth paying for apple care to replace a part that shouldn't die that quickly. The battery meter on the touch is messed up, it will go down to 20% indicating that it needs to be charged if you open a single app for 5 min, then shoot back up to 70-80% a few min later which is extremely annoying. You never know how much battery life you have left since there is no battery % (and the fact that it basically jumps all over the place while you are using it) and this is after it was supposedly fully charged. Doing the same task I was doing on my old 5th generation touch on my new to me iPhone 5c used approx 1% of battery on the 5c while the touch went down to 20% as soon as I opened the app. The touch is just inherently flawed. Due to this I will not be buying another touch, fool me once but fool me twice is too much. It's a useless device if I can't even open an app on it without the battery crashing to 20%. It is extremely annoying as the touch's battery cannot be replaced easily because the device is glued together. With an iPhone the battery can be replaced in about 5 min very easily. I have not seen any of these things happen with the iPhone, no erratic battery, it drains consistently and it charges consistently plus has battery %.

I will be sticking with used iPhones from now on and use them on wifi only, there are also a lot of missing features from the touch. I don't know how anyone could "talk" on a touch as the microphone and speaker are not in the same locations as they are on the iPhone. You would have to use a headset with a microphone and the touch doesn't ship with one.

I was able to call my friend in Canada when he demanded I call him using the hangouts app and wifi, it worked perfectly and I didn't pay a dime for the call, I didn't get charged for making an international call or whatever would happen if I wanted to call someone outside of the USA on a normal cell phone plan... Plus I have DSL internet so it's not like I have super fast internet and it still held up fine. A few calls a year to Canada over wifi and this device will be well worth it to me.

As far as music if I really wanted to play it separately from my main iPhone, if I am doing that and I want a very cheap music player I could simply load my music onto one of the $10 android phones (which I also run on wifi only) I picked up at target over the holidays. Considering this solution wouldn't be as elegant as the iPod touch but it would cost hundreds less and would still play my music. I would have to buy a SD card but those are like $10 these days so we are looking at $20-25 for the setup instead of $250-300 and for that price I can live with a solution that isn't as elegant. Plus it can be tossed around and I really don't have to worry about it since it costs so little.
 
which costs $450 without contract (and typically free with contract).

those phones aren't free..
contracts don't give you $450 off the price of the phone.. a $649 phone costs you (at least) $649.

200 bucks when you sign the contract but if you actually read the contract, you'll see you're being charged monthly for the other $450
 
Big Screen and Game controller for new Apple TV

There is still a good size market for an iPod touch with some of the innovations carried across from the iPad and iPhone.
And seeing as it will pair up with the new Apple Tv as the game controller - kids will need one so their parents can still talk on their phones.
 
Only if you include the cost of 2 years of service. One can buy an iPhone without a contract for much less. I don't know if it is still true, but neither of the iPhone 4 devices that I use as media players ever had phone service activated on them and they work fine.

what percentage would you guess for people buying a new iphone with no intention of hooking it up to cellular?

but yeah, they still work without.
 
No Apply Pay on the iPod Touch.

While WiFi is pretty much everywhere, it's almost never a direct sign-on, almost always requiring a ToS agreement and/or a password.

People won't understand.

Apple Pay doesn't need a data connection, it connects to the POS terminal via NFC. The POS terminal communicates with the the bank for authorization, same as if you swiped your credit card.
 
those phones aren't free..
contracts don't give you $450 off the price of the phone.. a $649 phone costs you (at least) $649.

200 bucks when you sign the contract but if you actually read the contract, you'll see you're being charged monthly for the other $450

It is a loan (not a very good interest rate, but not usury level either). most people realize this (though not everyone seemingly). This looks like those "no cash down" deal you get from car or furniture salesmen.
 
I am the guy who needs an ipod touch. I do not have a phone nor want a phone. I use my current ipod touch for music only. I find it too small to surf the web. To surf the web I carry around an Alcatel onetouch with a 5 inch screen that I picked up for $79 at London Drugs (Pay as you Go) but I have taken out the phone card as I don't use the phone.

Why would Apple not release a new ipod touch in the iphone 6 or 6plus form factor. I have been waiting to buy this new product. I thought it was Apples promise or goal to only release the "best in class" product. An update to the old model is just a piece of crap to me. Just look at the picture - looks completly out of date with that small screen. Smarten up Apple!!!
 
I have mixed feelings about this rumor.

If they're simply going to upgrade the hardware to be relative to the iPhone (spec-wise), then I say don't bother. If they're going to do some things to improve it as a portable media player, then I'm interested... very interested.

I will buy a new iPod if the only change is new internals. More ram, faster processor. I am staying on iOS7 and running the apps I do the response is ok. Not good, simply ok. Don't need a phone, the iPod PDA does it for me.
 
Why on earth would anyone buy a low end iPhone then? Deliberately crippling a 4G iPod touch by not putting in a 30 cent earpiece would look ridiculous.

I have only had cellular data service with my iPhone for the past year as it's way cheaper and give me more data. I can't send traditional SMS or make voice calls but on the rare occasion I have needed to, I just use the Skype app.

The low end iPhone and iPod touch really need to converge into one product line.

1) This was a comparison to iPad. 4G cellular iPads don't have earpieces and that doesn't seem to bother anyone (can always use headphones anyway)

2) I didn't know sending traditional SMS is a dealbraker...especially on a 4G cellular iPad

3) The low end phone retails for about the same price as 4G cellular iPad Air. Bumping up the price of the iPod touch to include cellular (though some work would need to be done) shouldn't add much more than it does on iPads ...I'm pretty sure 4G Cellular iPod would cost less than $549 U.S.

It won't be long before Apple removes the audio output (an outdated waste of space)--the Lightning port will offer better audio and many people will prefer Bluetooth. Apple takes risks cutting out aging tech--floppy disk/CD drive are examples, not to mention the latest MacBook with its essentially wireless design.
 
I don't think it's sensible to be giving people the opportunity to effectively buy an iPhone without cellular features for a fraction of the cost. I know of many people who finally give up waiting on a new iPod Touch to launch and just bought the newest iPhone instead. Personally I'd like to see the entire iPod line discontinued so Apple can focus solely on the iOS products that make most sense: iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
 
I'd enthusiastically get a A8 version with 1GB of RAM, and a 4.7" screen.

If the iPad Air 2 Cellular doesn't get Apple Pay, I don't see it coming to the iPod Touch. That's too bad. Passbook on the iPad would not be the end of the world either.

GPS is cellular triangulated on iPhone, so if it ever was to come to the iPod Touch, it would need a cellular plan. Standalone GPS on garmin devices are huge in size in comparison to cellular GPS.

Anyway, I like the touch, because it fits in my pocket, I can check my emails during meetings, use Siri and Passbook, check nearly everything I like to check on using wifi around the city, and no disruptions from calls or notifications while driving and listening to songs.

My wife graduated from a gen 5 product RED to an iPhone 5S, but I could never be bothered paying a cell phone bill on top of an $800 phone.
 
Realistically (and sadly for me), yeah, I'm thinking it will remain 4". After all, the iPod Touch is mainly meant to be a music device, right? So extreme portability is much more of a priority than screen real estate, plus a smaller display also makes the device cheaper as an Apple ecosystem gateway product. MAYBE they'll go to 4.7" if they decide to stop manufacturing 4" iPhones as well, since it's possible using the same screen size for both products would be more cost efficient.

Less realistically, I'm hoping they make a 5.5" version because I want the iPod Touch for so much more than music. I want more screen! Some may say that's where iPad Mini comes in, but for me it's just too big. I can't palm it easily, nor put it in any of my pants pockets. (Very unrealistically, I actually wish they'd make a 6.3" iPad Nano [4:3]. Perfect size for max screen real estate while still being easily palm-able and also pocket-able when needed.)

Or some might say I should get me an iPhone 6 Plus. No, thank you. I'm very happy with my extremely portable, one-handed, forget-it's-in-my-pocket iPhone 5s. I just want a second bigger device for when I'm home.
 
many parents are willing to give their kids an iPod Touch but not willing to pay for an iPhone for them (and that is a good thing)

I've yet to meet a child with an iPod Touch, and I work in a school.

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RIIIIGGGHHHHT! And just pay a monthly recurring charge for cellular service when the consumer may not want a phone. Besides even with the iPod Touch you can make Skype and FaceTime audio/video calls.

Or just buy the phone without a monthly plan - that's what most people in the world do.
 
I don't think so, they're not going to give the iPhone 5 a shorter life span than the 4s. If the 4S gets 9 then the 5 and 5c get 10. Also the 5c is more futureproof simply by being more powerful.

I don't share your view. In my opinion, Apple will move a bit more quickly than usual to obsolete iOS devices which do not support Apple Pay. Encouraging the adoption of Apple Pay has to be among Apple's highest priorities, if not the highest priority, with regard to iOS devices.

I believe Apple Pay is the number one motivation for Apple to release a new iPod Touch.
 
With this dwindling (thank you spell check) on the horizon, i'm wondering if this could go the same way as the iPad 2... (minus the comeback)

What more can u do to a music and video player ? add Touch ID.

WHo plays games on their Touch anyway ? :apple:
 
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