Prototype Third-Gen iPod Touch With Rear Camera Shown Off in New Photos

[MacRumors]

Prior to when Apple released the third-generation iPod touch in September of 2009, it explored a prototype version that had a centered rear camera, a feature the iPod touch ultimately did not launch with.

Giulio Zompetti, a developer who collects Apple device prototypes, today shared some photos of the third-generation iPod touch with rear camera, giving us a clear look at the design variation that Apple tested.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1265730433402187782

Back in August 2009, prior to when the third-generation iPod touch launched, MacRumors received photos of the prototype model with camera, sparking rumors that the upcoming device could launch with a camera.

At the time, it was believed that Apple scrapped the camera from the iPod touch late in the design process. Final versions of the iPod touch had an empty space where a camera might have been positioned.

After leaking in 2009, a prototype version of the third-gen iPod touch was spotted in a video in May 2010, and ahead of that, in April 2020, a couple of prototype models with camera showed up on eBay.


The eBay seller at the time said that he purchased the models at a flea market from someone who had bought them from a live auction in the Bay Area. Prototype devices like the third-generation iPod touch are hotly desired by collectors and surface on auction sites. Zompetti has in the past said that some of his devices are surfaced from device recycling facilities.

While the third-generation iPod touch didn't end up with a camera, Apple added it in the fourth-generation model along with a microphone. The fourth-generation iPod touch featured a 0.7-megapixel rear camera alongside its 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

Article Link: Prototype Third-Gen iPod Touch With Rear Camera Shown Off in New Photos

 

[gpat]

I would have killed for an iPod Touch with cellular connectivity back then.

 

[itsmilo]

I would have killed for an iPod Touch with cellular connectivity back then.

so an iPhone?

 

[AngerDanger]

I remember being so disappointed that the 5th generation nano got a camera, but the more expensive iPod touch had to wait yet another year.

Still, there's just something about this that doesn't look quite right…

There we go!

 

[Rychiar]

never could comprehend how that stupid wireless bean passed apples designers. I would never have imagined they'd release such an ugly product. the original iPhones plastic bottom and aluminum top made so much more sense

 

[Sirious]

I like to think they didn't go ahead with it because they like the camera to be on the left. Maybe thats just me though lol

 

[Pearple]

Wow, no bump ...

 

[Mdracer]

Flush!

 

[Andres Cantu]

The iPod touch was such a special little device. And it was so much thinner than the iPhone. Nice memories...

 

[GeoStructural]

The iPod touch was such a special little device. And it was so much thinner than the iPhone. Nice memories...

Those were the days. iPod shuffle, iPod nano and iPod touch were my first Apple devices, I didn't own an iPhone until the iPhone 5 came out.

Was ?

Apple still sells them.

They hardly work on it, Apple sells whatever they have in there. I wished for an iPod ultimate edition with almost no bezels, fast processor and huge storage for all my multimedia content... but it never happened. Ever since Tim Cook said at the beginning of 2014 that "iPod is a declining business" I lost any hope of seeing another of these iconic devices.

I still own the nano, it works perfect after 7 years. My father inherited the touch, it also works although not as well.

 

[Plutonius]

The iPod touch was such a special little device. And it was so much thinner than the iPhone. Nice memories...

Was ?

Apple still sells them.

 

[-DMN-]

so an iPhone?

Got em'!!!

 

[themikedshaffer]

Pretty sure the feature was axed because there wouldn't be room for the front facing camera if the rear was in this position. They waited for the next generation Touch to free up the off-center spot for the rear, and then the front facing one fit in. They 'had' to have front facing for FaceTime....

 

[fs454]

I remember being so disappointed that the 5th generation nano got a camera, but the more expensive iPod touch had to wait yet another year.

Still, there's just something about this that doesn't look quite right…

View attachment 919234

There we go!

I bet the hardware wouldn't fit in the thinner upper edge area of the case. Looks better, but probably not physically doable back then.

 

[kiensoy]

I remember being so disappointed that the 5th generation nano got a camera, but the more expensive iPod touch had to wait yet another year.

Still, there's just something about this that doesn't look quite right…

View attachment 919234

There we go!

The curve on the back would make the camera angle to point in a different direction. If anything the antenna cutout is the one that could be lowered or extended down.

 

[roar08]

I would have killed for an iPod Touch with cellular connectivity back then.

"A wide-screen iPod with touch controls. A revolutionary mobile phone. A breakthrough internet-communication device."

"Are you getting it?!?!"

 

[AngerDanger]

I bet the hardware wouldn't fit in the thinner upper edge area of the case. Looks better, but probably not physically doable back then.

Yeah, I suspect you're right. I'll bet they could've fit a lower res camera in the edge given the camera on the nano released that year, but the quality was terrible.

The curve on the back would make the camera angle to point in a different direction. If anything the antenna cutout is the one that could be lowered or extended down.

It was really more of a visual gag than a legitimate suggestion, but for what it's worth, the camera pictured isn't tangent to the hole in the iPod. It's actually inset and parallel with the screen. They ended up doing this with the fifth generation iPod nano; the hole for the camera is on a curve, but the camera behind it is flat:

 

[Prof.]

I wonder if apple will update the current iPod touch...

 

[dannyyankou]

The iPod touch is still a great gift for someone who’s not old enough for a phone yet.

 

[Slix]

I remember when this rumor was circulating. I bet it was mostly a proof of concept and then with FaceTime likely in the works by that point, they wanted to get it just right with the 4th gen iPod touch. So many people bought those, myself included, and despite the cameras on it being basically the worst camera ever, it was nice to have quick access to a camera in my pocket all the time. FaceTime just sealed the deal!

 

[jezbd1997]

I’d already seen plenty of photos of this back in the day? Isn’t this old news

 

[MoreRumors?]

I like the camera in the middle which seems more natural instead of offset which seems awkward.

 

[ignatius345]

Off topic, but I miss that polished metal body. It got scratched up in a way that added character, like an old Zippo lighter.

 

[840quadra]

I still have and use my 3rd gen. Camera would have been neat for sure, but not even the iPhone 3G camera of the day was really that special.

 

[2010mini]

I would have killed for an iPod Touch with cellular connectivity back then.

ummm...isn't that an iPhone?