Fourth-Generation iPod Shuffle Teardown Unsurprisingly Reveals Tiny Components

[CFreymarc]

Question is, where does Apple go from here with future shuffle designs?

Simple, build the shuffle into the earphones.

 

[CFreymarc]

Empty footprint

Notice the 14-pin dual package pads next to the screw. There is nothing on it. At first I though it was a part removed but I'm thinking that, considering the pin count, that is is a JTAG interface into the ASIC. Love to know if you can reprogram the firmware of the shuffle. I'm sure someone has it hooked up and it doing a memory scan of it as I type this.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

It would run almost 2 months off of a 13 inch MacBook Pro battery if my calculation is correct.

 

[yojitani]

I thought like the iPod shuffle would be like The House of Leaves with an interior larger than the exterior. I'm actually surprised by this news.

 

[Speed8ump]

Will it Blend is just worthless and a destructive waste of money and hardware.

What are you talking about? Without this info I might not make the right choice when we get to the fight or flight part of my own personal campy 80's horror movie. Honestly, it's a public service...that guy's a hero.

 

[spillproof]

The next shuffle will be the size of that USB dongle.

 

[Hattig]

So of the two chips i guess the big one is the flash storage and the tiny tiny one on the otherside is audio decoder and controller.

It looks like the big chip also includes the decoder, as the packaging says ARM. Probably a multi-layer package with ARM SoC, RAM and Flash all integrated.

The other small chip is probably an audio codec to drive the headphones, and/or maybe also to control the battery / charging from USB.

 

[ctdonath]

Yup, just what the world needs. Another inexpensive/high demand disposable electronic gadget with a non-removeable battery going to the landfill.

Notice he was talking about "broken", not "dead battery".

Nice straw man. Here's a match.

 

[nelmat]

"[...]Tiny Components", as expected...
What else?

Edit: this (below link) mp3 player is like 4 years old or more, and gives way more than what this iShuffle can. Including music quality...
http://www.pocketables.net/2006/11/review_iriver_s.html

Oh, and that USB to iShuffle connector w/cable, well, this one looks better: http://pocketables.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/s10aboxusb.jpg

Well the player you highlight is more expensive than the shuffle, larger and has a shorter battery life, so I miss your point?

And who cares what the adapter looks like, it's small, does the job and matches the style of apple's other cables?

EDIT - and of course music quality is down to your compression and your output device, so again - no point made here.

 

[kernkraft]

It would run almost 2 months off of a 13 inch MacBook Pro battery if my calculation is correct.

Your calculations might be right (I couldn't be bothered to check them), but they are completely irrelevant.

 

[emaja]

"[...]Oh, and that USB to iShuffle connector w/cable, well, this one looks better: http://pocketables.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/s10aboxusb.jpg

I bought one like that on Amazon for something like $2.