iPod touch I don't think it's wise to suggest people to buy iPod Touch 5G anymore

[vanzantapple]

The iPT5 was released on October 11, 2012.

If they put racing stripes on it tomorrow, it will not be an upgrade.
If they put a pack of chewing gum in the box, it will not be an upgrade.
If they put a faster CPU or more RAM in it, now THAT.... IS... an upgrade.



PS. I don't expect a new iPod Touch this year either.

 

[CrownIsle]

It's unfortunate if they don't renew/refresh/update the ipod touch, I do secretly wish that the mentions of a 5.5 iphone would be their new ipod!

I lost my ipod or it was stolen and I am SOOOOOOOO hesitant to buy one because I'm just envisioning that I'll purchase the new one at Apples's lowered price pointe but will see something refreshed come out within the year or so- always ironic!

 

[raccoonboy]

Apple clearly can not sell Ipod touch. Thats why the pricing strategy is so messed up. First they offer no rear cam touch at ridiculous 225 then they replaced it with the one with rear cam at cheaper 199.

Lower price for 32 and 64 meaning they want to get rid of remaining stock.

I have a 4s, same chip A5 and playing Rayman is slow motion. How are they suppose to position Ipod touch as gaming device when it can't even play a platformer without stuttering. We need at least an A6 or should be A7 if they actually will make another one this year. This is getting embarassing.

 

[BrettApple]

Apple clearly can not sell Ipod touch. Thats why the pricing strategy is so messed up. First they offer no rear cam touch at ridiculous 225 then they replaced it with the one with rear cam at cheaper 199.

Lower price for 32 and 64 meaning they want to get rid of remaining stock.

I have a 4s, same chip A5 and playing Rayman is slow motion. How are they suppose to position Ipod touch as gaming device when it can't even play a platformer without stuttering. We need at least an A6 or should be A7 if they actually will make another one this year. This is getting embarassing.

And Bioshock is coming to iOS, and the iPod touch isn't able to play it at all due to the A5. It requires at least an A6. So here goes the first of the games not even supporting it at all.

It requires a newer iOS device -- iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, iPad 4, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C or iPhone 5 -- and straight up won't run on earlier devices (says 2K).

Source

I don't have an iPod touch 5 myself, sold my 4G a while ago. But I have a niece that would love one to communicate with the rest of the family via iMessage and Face Time, but isn't old enough to justify a phone or the cost associated with it. But I just can't go with the 5G with how dated it already is.

 

[ourmountain]

Apple clearly can not sell Ipod touch. Thats why the pricing strategy is so messed up. First they offer no rear cam touch at ridiculous 225 then they replaced it with the one with rear cam at cheaper 199.

Lower price for 32 and 64 meaning they want to get rid of remaining stock.

I have a 4s, same chip A5 and playing Rayman is slow motion. How are they suppose to position Ipod touch as gaming device when it can't even play a platformer without stuttering. We need at least an A6 or should be A7 if they actually will make another one this year. This is getting embarassing.

Almost as embarrassing as misspelling "raccoon" in your username.

 

[Plutonius]

Almost as embarrassing as misspelling "raccoon" in your username.

I always thought he was referring to the band racoon.

 

[ourmountain]

I always thought he was referring to the band racoon.

That would be an obscure and viable way for him to save face.

 

[raccoonboy]

That would be an obscure and viable way for him to save face.

hahaha mispelling all along.

 

[fewlio]

Here's where you all are missing it. IPod touch uses hand me down guts from iPhone models. Development efforts and costs are minimal. It may not get huge fanfare but I expect slow steady updates so it can run modern ios and apps.

 

[sherlockeb]

Have any facts whatsoever to back that up? Or are you just spouting off to seem like an authority?

Apple refreshed the Touch a few weeks ago, and there are zero leaks for an updated iPod touch. So the MacRumors guide is accurate.

I don't have any facts. I was just assuming that touch would get an upgrade after two years and I thought that was the general idea around here. Apparently I was wrong about that. Still it would be a shame if Apple didn't release a new touch with better CPU-GPU-ram

 

[ourmountain]

I don't have any facts. I was just assuming that touch would get an upgrade after two years and I thought that was the general idea around here. Apparently I was wrong about that. Still it would be a shame if Apple didn't release a new touch with better CPU-GPU-ram

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for a new Touch with a bigger screen and far better gaming capabilities. I just honestly don't think we're going to see it this year - maybe in another 6 months.

If that were the case, I think Apple would have waited to do the price drop, and would have done the same thing they did with the 4th generation Touch when they launched the 5th generation - lower price point and memory, with the new model carrying the premium.

Instead we saw the "new" 16GB model, and big price cuts to the higher memory models. Going from Apple's previous moves, it seems more likely that the price drops were put in place to milk the current model for another several months before releasing an updated model. Apple has zero competition in this market, so they don't have to rush or keep the edge on other brands, which means they've got the luxury of stalling to maximize iPhone and iPad sales, then release a new Touch in a lull period to get another boost.

I also wouldn't rule out seeing an Apple TV/iPod Touch event in the spring with an emphasis on gaming - though that's entirely based on speculation.

 

[Ffosse]

I liked my Touch well enough when I had it, but what I really missed, what I always missed, was its not having a GPS module. So I often used to carry the Touch plus an Android phone.

Perhaps Apple thought it might cut too much into their iPhone sales to add this feature.

 

[mangomind]

Here's where you all are missing it. IPod touch uses hand me down guts from iPhone models. Development efforts and costs are minimal. It may not get huge fanfare but I expect slow steady updates so it can run modern ios and apps.

Precisely. Apple uses minimal resources by not updating it every year, and rightly so because it accounts for less than 1% of Apple's revenue. But it is still an important device, hitting a low price point to serve as an entryway into the Apple ecosystem. It creates a halo effect to draw users to the higher profit margin iPads, iPhones, and Macs.

It also is a prime device for app developers because it is the most inexpensive iOS device. Because of this, Apple has kept the iPod touch close to other iOS devices in terms of Apple's major hardware efforts, such as the 4th gen's retina display and the 5th gen's 4 inch display and dual core processor.

There are no iPod touch 6th gen leaks or even reputable rumors, but since it accounts for less than 1% of Apple revenue, there wouldn't be as many factories reserved for making iPod touches as there are for iPhones. I predict Apple will release a 6th gen in time for the holidays in order to increase sales of the gateway device to their prime customer: kids. To help developers and in order to not have to update the touch every year, Apple will include their major hardware developments: a 64 bit processor, 4.7 inch display, and a 60 fps camera.

To conclude, Apple will most likely release a 6th gen iPod touch in Fall 2014 with the iPhone 6 display and iPhone 5s internals. It would start at $299 for 32GB, and the 5th gen would still sell at $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB. Coincidentally, this scenario ends up being exactly what happened in Fall 2012.

 

[Daniel3102]

To tell ya the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if the Touch was left behind just like the iPod classic was. I will honestly be sad if Apple stops making the Touch, because it was my first iOS device, but the iPhone 5c is doing the Touch's job. The 5c is basically an iPod Touch, with a phone, GPS, better CPU, LTE and a better camera. I do think that Apple will make another Touch this year, but I think it might be the last one for a while.

 

[Plutonius]

I liked my Touch well enough when I had it, but what I really missed, what I always missed, was its not having a GPS module. So I often used to carry the Touch plus an Android phone.

Perhaps Apple thought it might cut too much into their iPhone sales to add this feature.

The GPS in an iPhone is an integral part of the cellular circuitry.

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To conclude, Apple will most likely release a 6th gen iPod touch in Fall 2014 with the iPhone 6 display and iPhone 5s internals. It would start at $299 for 32GB, and the 5th gen would still sell at $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB. Coincidentally, this scenario ends up being exactly what happened in Fall 2012.

That's what I initially predicted at the start of this year. Unfortunately, as much as I would like a Touch 6 with those specs, I'm now pretty sure we will not see the Touch 6 till spring 2015 at the earliest.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Macrumors buyers guide suggests people should buy an iPod touch now but considering it has A5 chip in it and Apple is likely to launch a new one alongside the new iPhone I wouldn't recommend people to buy a new one and I'm pretty sure it's just a mistake at macrumors buyers guide but I don't know how to contact them from there so I'm gonna post it here and hope they'll fix it.

They considered the recent change of the 16GB model as a refresh and that's why they say to buy now. Personally, I agree with you, but I don't think the buyers guide is as premeditated as that page would suggest.

 

[mangomind]

I liked my Touch well enough when I had it, but what I really missed, what I always missed, was its not having a GPS module. So I often used to carry the Touch plus an Android phone.

Perhaps Apple thought it might cut too much into their iPhone sales to add this feature.

It is relatively easy to integrate GPS into a cellular chip because they use some of the same components. Integrating GPS into a wifi-only device would be more expensive and power consuming.

The main reason why Apple features a GPS is for its Maps navigation app. And this app requires cellular to download maps and compute directions.

Yes, there are several GPS apps like TomTom that are useful for wifi-only devices, but standalone GPS devices for that are very inexpensive. A GPS iPod touch couldn't compete with these inexpensive standalone GPS devices.

And Apple doesn't have much of a need to put in a GPS for location services such as weather and time zone: Apple uses wifi location data for that. Plus, a GPS would unnecessarily waste battery for the average user. iOS doesn't even have an option to turn the GPS off and leave the power-friendly wifi location services on.

They considered the recent change of the 16GB model as a refresh and that's why they say to buy now. Personally, I agree with you, but I don't think the buyers guide is as premeditated as that page would suggest.

I agree. That page's suggestions are based on past events. It conveys the idea that since Apple technically just refreshed the hardware, you should buy the device now because Apple probably won't update it in a while. This idea is based on Apple's history of regular updates and events, and the reasoning has worked many times. But is the page worthy of the name buyer's guide? As to the usefulness of the guide, I guess I would just emphasize "rumors" in "Macrumors buyer's guide."

The question of whether or not the A5-powered 5th gen iPod touch is worth buying now depends on the usage scenario and the iOS version. With iOS 7, it is great for one task at a time for everything but graphic intensive games. But it doesn't work well for switching apps and multiple internet tabs, and graphic intensive games. So it doesn't work well for research or for a main pocket computing device. However, with iOS 6, switching apps and internet tabs is excellent. Intuitively, as Apple adds features, major iOS versions use more resources.