New A8 iPod Touch Clocks in at 1.10GHz, Includes 1GB RAM and Bluetooth 4.1

[iKoopa]

Nice... but why run OS X at all? It seems like it would be much easier to run Windows on it, and Windows 10 really is great. Then again, I also had no problem with 8 or 8.1, so there's that.



Interesting. All of the apps I use on a regular basis require either iOS 7 or 8- about half and half. It's a good thing you're still able to use all of your apps, but developers are beginning to drop iOS 6 in large numbers. Not to mention, control center, widgets, and security updates are all great reasons to update. But hey- if what you have works great for you now, more power to you.

Stuff like all the social media apps, and most games are still working. I like the Notification Center and the new look, but with all of the forum posts I sort through of apps crashing because of low RAM, slow laggy apps, decreased battery life etc... I'll hold off on.

When I get this new Touch, I won't have to worry about that since it'll have double the RAM and a processor designed for the OS. I couldn't justify spending $250 just to upgrade it at the moment since I didn't update to 8.4, but I'll be getting it as a birthday gift.

To those who've already updated, how are you liking it so far?

 

[bladerunner2000]

Nice... but why run OS X at all? It seems like it would be much easier to run Windows on it, and Windows 10 really is great. Then again, I also had no problem with 8 or 8.1, so there's that.

Well...

I started out using a Mac on the PowerMac G4 dual 866mhz MDD back in 2002. Since then I've had a Mac Pro 1,1, Mac Pro 3,1, MacBook Pro 2010, 2011 and 2012 (which I still have and intend to keep for as long as possible).

I've grown VERY accustomed to OS X and really really like it; it's REALLY fast, clean and the ability to use hot corners to show all open windows (mission control, formerly expose), the desktop and all windows within an app I'm currently working in (Adobe software), is the main reason why I stick to OS X. I'm a graphic designer.

But....

Since the introduction of the iPhone, Apple has basically ignored the prosumer; terrible choices in desktops where you either pay a lot of the iMac albeit have a crippled soldered mobile GPU (in a desktop? WTF?) AND have the CPU throttled due to poor cooling or a pay WAY TOO much for a Mac Pro but be forced with pretty mediocre GPUs that you can't swap for something else anyway.

Ideally, Apple should release a Mac with some regular PCIE slots for swapping out the GPU, but every product they're releasing is becoming more and more disposable, which is a shameful practice.

I need to keep using OS X, but have no desire to use the bad hardware that Apple releases. Windows I have installed for gaming with a GTX 960. I absolutely love this machine.

 

[Shirasaki]

Honestly, it depends on how you're listening to your music. I can't imagine that battery life would be the same for streaming as it would be for listening to music locally. It has to keep cellular data/WiFi up at all times to accommodate it.

I think the published time of listening to music in a single charge is based on local music playback.

 

[Mrballerman]

I think the published time of listening to music in a single charge is based on local music playback.

Are you planning on buying this?

 

[Solomani]

So the physical details. The Retina screen is the same 4-inch retina as the older iPod Touch 5th Gen? I take it that existing screen protectors from iTouch 5G will work.

But the back body is not exactly the same, since they removed the loop which is a physical feature. Hence there must be new cases made specifically for this new 2015 Touch?

 

[Jon the Heretic]

Significantly faster?
I use my iPod for mostly music and light media (I don't really use iOS games on my iPod because the screen is too cramped for that now, I use the iPad for that)

My iPod Touch 5th Gen on iOS 6 loads most of the stock apps around second or less.
Specific apps I use on a daily basis...

I was thinking "this guy has a point!" until I noticed it says iOS 6. Put the latest iOS on a 5th gen, and you can see why that gen is such a dog, essentially obsolete on the day it was released. Really shameful.

With the latest iOS, the 5th gen is even a dog as a dedicated music player. Pokey navigation.

Why do you need the most recent iOS? Apps. Games. He doesn't play games so not sure he'd care but playing games is a major use case for an iPod Touch. Music is secondary.

Second reason to upgrade is bullying. Apple bullies you into upgrading by wasting 1.6 gigs of space for an upgrade you may never want. Storage space on iOS devices is dear. The only way to reclaim that huge amount of wasted space is to install the latest OS upgrade.

 

[Jon the Heretic]

A friend was convinced by her husband to buy their kids a couple Gen-5 iPod Touches this year for their birthdays. The husband even convinced her to sell 2 iPhone 5 devices and buy iPod Touches instead. They now have multiple $300 devices that are immediately 3 years old and will likely be unsupported when iOS 10 (or whatever they call it) releases in 2016.

My wife and I explained to them why they should just give them the phones instead or wait for a while longer.

I understand your recommendation but buying all of your kids iPhones may not be an option for working families. The extra cost of a data plan is too much of a burden when all they want is a better Game Boy. I make what I used to think would be a nice income, but here on the east coast, unless your spouse also has a nice income (mine has none and at the present rate, will never have one...I wish I had that kind of choice, personally...), then data plans will eat a big hole in your credit card. I wish I could dump MY iPhone and replace it with an iPod Touch, but I need it for work. I design mobile apps.

I personally think the 5th gen iPod Touches were shamefully dated on the day they were released and am very happy Apple changed their position on the iPod Touch threat by releasing a great update (minus Touch ID...still threatened it'd hurt iPhone sales.) My response to families who wanted to buy a 5th gen iPod Touch was: Don't buy one! Don't buy an iPhone either unless you are rich. Living on credit card debt is NOT being rich. Apple didn't make -- until now -- the product they were looking for. It should have been a lost sale, simple as that.

 

[richwoodrocket]

Meh. iPod touch is dead. Everybody I know has an iPhone.

 

[marty1980]

I understand your recommendation but buying all of your kids iPhones may not be an option for working families. The extra cost of a data plan is too much of a burden when all they want is a better Game Boy. I make what I used to think would be a nice income, but here on the east coast, unless your spouse also has a nice income (mine has none and at the present rate, will never have one...I wish I had that kind of choice, personally...), then data plans will eat a big hole in your credit card. I wish I could dump MY iPhone and replace it with an iPod Touch, but I need it for work. I design mobile apps.

I personally think the 5th gen iPod Touches were shamefully dated on the day they were released and am very happy Apple changed their position on the iPod Touch threat by releasing a great update (minus Touch ID...still threatened it'd hurt iPhone sales.) My response to families who wanted to buy a 5th gen iPod Touch was: Don't buy one! Don't buy an iPhone either unless you are rich. Living on credit card debt is NOT being rich. Apple didn't make -- until now -- the product they were looking for. It should have been a lost sale, simple as that.

You maybe misunderstand. The family already had 2 iPhone 5's that were theirs to keep and did not require attaching to a phone plan. Our recommendation was to turn those into iPod Touches - switch them into Airplane mode. The iPhone 5 would have been better than wasting the money on multiple iTouch devices and likely be supported for a year longer. There was no need for a data plan or phone service.

 

[Shirasaki]

I don't take care much about iPod any longer since I will need to use iPhone to not only make a phone call but also listening to music, watching video, playing games, etc.

However, I don't think iPod is obsolete since music playback is still necessary for many customers. Simple like that.

If, I didn't upgrade my iPhone 4, I would probably purchase this iPod touch for a better spec and larger storage, plus the ability to use new music player (no place for Apple music).

I have a quarter of my phone storage filled with music. Current library is relatively small, and I hope I can increase it drastically because I have in fact 1.5TB of music ripped from CD. I do listen to music much more than watching videos. I think, if Apple still has plan to release another iPod, iPod touch, I would buy one, with the highest capacity, to throw more inside it. Yes. Simply more.

 

[jonnyb098]

LOL, you missed it. I’m not too up on Android phones and hence made no comment on it. There is a significant difference between not supporting something and actively preventing it.  actively prevent it.
Experience is in the eye of the beholder BTW, and seriously, you bought that, ‘might actually want users to have a decent experience’? No sir, it’s about making money first and having happy-ish users second.
They make a product and with the OS stop supporting it a lot earlier than that. Go ahead and try and buy 10.9 would ya. No? Oh. Wonder why.
Users are everybody from individuals to enterprise.

This is it, if you want to - meaning I have the choice. There is someone on this board with a sig that sums it up.
Apple should make more use of the option key and less of the command key.
I guarantee you 10.10.4 runs absolutely fine on a gen 1 Mac Pro with minimal, (and I really do mean minimal), mods. Oh it runs El Capitan too.

So quickly people forget Apple was the underdog for many many years up until about 5 years ago when they started dominating the smart phone/tablet/laptop market. So yes....they didn't come from being an underdog to a industry leader and most valuable company by giving users crummy experiences. People buy the products because for the most part, they just work well and are more reliable. Thats been the staple of their success.

Now Apple is a different beast of course. But your argument about planned obsolescence has been made well before Tim Cook took over.

 

[Shirasaki]

You maybe misunderstand. The family already had 2 iPhone 5's that were theirs to keep and did not require attaching to a phone plan. Our recommendation was to turn those into iPod Touches - switch them into Airplane mode. The iPhone 5 would have been better than wasting the money on multiple iTouch devices and likely be supported for a year longer. There was no need for a data plan or phone service.

And there would even be no need to pick a sim card to put inside, just preventing endless "no sim card installed" pop up.

 

[jonnyb098]

Well...

I started out using a Mac on the PowerMac G4 dual 866mhz MDD back in 2002. Since then I've had a Mac Pro 1,1, Mac Pro 3,1, MacBook Pro 2010, 2011 and 2012 (which I still have and intend to keep for as long as possible).

I've grown VERY accustomed to OS X and really really like it; it's REALLY fast, clean and the ability to use hot corners to show all open windows (mission control, formerly expose), the desktop and all windows within an app I'm currently working in (Adobe software), is the main reason why I stick to OS X. I'm a graphic designer.

But....

Since the introduction of the iPhone, Apple has basically ignored the prosumer; terrible choices in desktops where you either pay a lot of the iMac albeit have a crippled soldered mobile GPU (in a desktop? WTF?) AND have the CPU throttled due to poor cooling or a pay WAY TOO much for a Mac Pro but be forced with pretty mediocre GPUs that you can't swap for something else anyway.

Ideally, Apple should release a Mac with some regular PCIE slots for swapping out the GPU, but every product they're releasing is becoming more and more disposable, which is a shameful practice.

I need to keep using OS X, but have no desire to use the bad hardware that Apple releases. Windows I have installed for gaming with a GTX 960. I absolutely love this machine.

You're in the 1% of mac users. They're catering to the other 99% Even as a professional graphic designer the 27 inch iMac I have at work is maxed out and runs beautifully for design and even video editing.

 

[bladerunner2000]

You're in the 1% of mac users. They're catering to the other 99% Even as a professional graphic designer the 27 inch iMac I have at work is maxed out and runs beautifully for design and even video editing.

Yeah and I'm a graphic designer too but the iMac is gimped due to its poor air flow, the CPU overheats and gets throttled down. It's also overpriced for what your getting. I built my 4790k hackintosh with WAY better components for half the price. Considering that it's a custom build with the 4790k, I can actually overclock it, which begs the question; why did they go with the Devils Canyon processor when there's no BIOS to overclock it?

What your getting for the money your paying is pretty crap for performance, there's no debating that. What the price tag REALLY reflects is the OS (debatable considering its now free and hackintoshes are an option) but definitely the aesthetics of the machine, which is NOT debatable that its easily the best AIO desktop on the market.

But value for performance on the iMacs is truly dreadful.

 

[marty1980]

And there would even be no need to pick a sim card to put inside, just preventing endless "no sim card installed" pop up.

Correct. In this case, the parents got new phones with new SIM cards. Most carriers don't force you to use the SIM card from your previous phone when buying a new one. I think maybe the SIM cards are different between the iPhone 5 and 6 anyway (micro vs nano?)... So, SIM cards wouldn't have been a problem and shouldn't be for anyone else thinking of doing something similar for their family.

 

[loon3y]

Nice... but why run OS X at all? It seems like it would be much easier to run Windows on it, and Windows 10 really is great. Then again, I also had no problem with 8 or 8.1, so there's that.

Enthusiasts, I was thinking about doing this and but it takes too much time.

Wouldn't make sense for work because i would need to update to the newest OS, Xcode, Etc etc immediately. And I know theres issues with that and tedious maintenance.


If you like to do that type of stuff then yeah its fun, i would love to but if its too complicated and too time consuming, I just don't have the time. With going out, work, gym, watching tv shows, games, watching sports, playing sports. Its just crazy, not to mention if theres problems with it you're going to spend A LOT of time resolving those issues.


But if you have all the necessary skills and knowledge then i think it would be a lot smoother. Otherwise X_X

 

[loon3y]

Since the new iPod has the A8 Processor and 1 GB of ram,

is it safe to say that i can test my app on an iPhone 5 or 5S and it would work fine on the new iPods?

 

[marty1980]

Since the new iPod has the A8 Processor and 1 GB of ram,

is it safe to say that i can test my app on an iPhone 5 or 5S and it would work fine on the new iPods?

The iPhone 5 runs an A6, 32bit processor. The iPhone 5s runs an A7, 64bit processor. Neither would be a good comparison for an A8 device. While it is likely you app would run, it may not work as expected on the device. Your UI may not even behave the same, but that's the best comparison you'll get between those devices.

If you're using Xcode to build, you have the emulators to switch through for testing. Not sure about Unity or other IDEs since I have so far used Xcode exclusively.

 

[apolloa]

Is it the same size as the old one?

I got an OtterBox case for real cheap. But anyway...

Should be I guess? It seems to have the exact same dimensions as the 5th gen Touch, but it doesn't have that little pop

Yeah its not, What processor does it have? How much Ram? Network chip? Can it use a 5GHZ connection? Battery Life with heavy processing and memory usage? Whats the storage space? Is it capable of handling local databases?

Can it Handle syncing thousands of items or viewing?




Yeah have fun trying to sync over 7,000 products/items on to that MP3 player and saving it to its local database.

There are cut down versions of android lol, that MP3 player isn't going to have full features like a Samsung S5 or whatever is the standard android device.



As what you said about calling an iPod just an MP3 player, thats what you initially implied.

You didn't mention ANYTHING else. Hard to believe you were thinking it was anything else after reading that statement

Not sure what you mean by I didn't mention anything else? I never implied the iPod Touch is just an MP3 player. I think you just assumed I did?

Anyway, have you ever used Android? And no, you don't get cut down versions, you get versions with custom interfaces and skins.
As for all the programming questions how would I know? I don't code on that MP3 player. Also Sony don't post the specs, but this is a pointless argument.

 

[jonnyb098]

Yeah and I'm a graphic designer too but the iMac is gimped due to its poor air flow, the CPU overheats and gets throttled down. It's also overpriced for what your getting. I built my 4790k hackintosh with WAY better components for half the price. Considering that it's a custom build with the 4790k, I can actually overclock it, which begs the question; why did they go with the Devils Canyon processor when there's no BIOS to overclock it?

What your getting for the money your paying is pretty crap for performance, there's no debating that. What the price tag REALLY reflects is the OS (debatable considering its now free and hackintoshes are an option) but definitely the aesthetics of the machine, which is NOT debatable that its easily the best AIO desktop on the market.

But value for performance on the iMacs is truly dreadful.

Maybe for some. But considering my company maxed out my iMac from processor to video card, it works great so far.

 

[garylapointe]

You guys are extremely too over the top with that argument. Apple has a gun to your head? Then in no way they are FORCING you to get 64GB. I get by with 16GB just fine, thanks.

When I want more than 16GB and the next step is 64GB (like with the phones), then Apple is "forcing" me to get 64GB (because they offer no option in between). I was actually complimenting Apple on the way they are doing this, this was not a complaint).

I think you're the one looking for arguments and a bit over the top....

Happy with they way they are offering this product!
Gary

 

[moderately]

Prediction: New iPod means iOS 9 is the last for the current one.

I felt iOS 7 was the last for the Touch 5g! Very glad to have this machine.

 

[s2mikey]

Meh. iPod touch is dead. Everybody I know has an iPhone.

Well, the phone costs a LOT more though and lots of people IMO can get what they need from the iPod. It's a nifty device that Apple feels is worth upgrading so it has a future.

If they would just add cellular support to the iPod like the iPad....imagine that? I don't mean being able to make calls with it but make just like the iPad cell data. That'd be sweet!

 

[Ethosik]

When I want more than 16GB and the next step is 64GB (like with the phones), then Apple is "forcing" me to get 64GB (because they offer no option in between). I was actually complimenting Apple on the way they are doing this, this was not a complaint).

I think you're the one looking for arguments and a bit over the top....

Happy with they way they are offering this product!
Gary

Sigh, you can say that about ANYTHING. Samsung is FORCING me to buy 256GB of SSD. When I want more than 128GB and the next step up is 256GB, then Samsung is forcing me to get the 256GB model. There is no model in between.

You can really say that about anything.

 

[loon3y]

The iPhone 5 runs an A6, 32bit processor. The iPhone 5s runs an A7, 64bit processor. Neither would be a good comparison for an A8 device. While it is likely you app would run, it may not work as expected on the device. Your UI may not even behave the same, but that's the best comparison you'll get between those devices.

If you're using Xcode to build, you have the emulators to switch through for testing. Not sure about Unity or other IDEs since I have so far used Xcode exclusively.

The thing about the simulator it doesn't react the same as the actual device.


I need an actual device, the most important thing I'm worried about is memory management.

If the memory is OK on the iPhone5/5s it SHOULD be ok since they have the same amount of ram, but i noticed between devices it does varies when it crashes. (regarding memory)