You can tell not many are buying them. I went to the store Saturday, and looked at the iPods, in a small shred of hope that they had a couple classics left. (Shocker: no luck) And i saw a couple iPod touches that still had iOS 6 pre-installed. Its outrageous.
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iPod touch The Future of the iPod touch
- Thread starter Yebubbleman
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You can tell not many are buying them. I went to the store Saturday, and looked at the iPods, in a small shred of hope that they had a couple classics left. (Shocker: no luck) And i saw a couple iPod touches that still had iOS 6 pre-installed. Its outrageous.
There are cheaper alternatives to the touch and imo it's too expensive for what it is especially at this point. I bet most touch sales are of the 16gb model at this point. But I can assure you that people here are buying them even if sales of the product are slow. I am sure the touch has lost a lot of sales to all the cheap and good android phones out there though.
I paid $295 for a 32gb touch in 2012 with a $50 gift card and now the same touch is still the same price give or take a small amout at some retailers.. Ridiculous..
You also don't see them because they are often stuck in iPhone style cases so they look just like iPhones from a distance.
I paid $295 for a 32gb touch in 2012 with a $50 gift card and now the same touch is still the same price give or take a small amout at some retailers.. Ridiculous..
You also don't see them because they are often stuck in iPhone style cases so they look just like iPhones from a distance.
If true, that's the stupidest effing thing I've ever heard of in my entire life,
So you're saying to listen to music, people'd rather:
* Need a cellular or wifi net connection
* Pay a neverending, ungodly celldata fee
* Pay a neverending music service subscription fee
* Wait until the song they want to finally get around to playing
* Only have the opportunity to hear a song when they play it
... instead of:
* Listening whenever they want
* Not needing a net connection to play a song
* Paying $1 only one time for a song
* Play the song they want immediately & infinitely
* Owning the song
If that's true, then people are the biggest marketing suckers of all time.
I thought iPods got everyone away from radio.
You mean that all they had to do was change the name of "radio"
to "streaming service" and people went for it?
It's as if the radio business, in revenge for the iPod killing thier industry, said:
"OK, let's make 'em still not only hafta wait for a song they want to get around to playing,
but we'll make 'em pay for it, too!" and these dopes went right along with it ....
What if you're out in the woods, connectionless but with a solar charger,
and you want to listen to classical music while taking a walk.
What then?
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Well Apple doesn't care about your needs. I would love a new iPod Touch, but I don't think it's happening.
Apple has a sentimental attachment with music and while iTunes+iPhone (based on marketing) seems to be poised to replace the iTunes+iPod power combo of the past decade, I think they're uneasy at the implications that their most iconic music product/service is being phased out. As, in nearly all other ways of Apple's philosophy (and as was evidenced by Tim Cook's commentary of the iPod classic's discontinuation), it makes practical sense TO discontinue the rest of the iPods, touch sadly included.
If I had to guess, the iPod touch is being kept on life support simply because it does still have a place (albeit a limited one while it is currently maxed out with a 2011 [A5] processor in tow) in the iOS ecosystem. Very soon, it won't anymore. The iPod shuffle is more accessory than standalone product at this point; it's even priced as such.
Really, if I were Apple, I would've discontinued the entire line of iPods (touch, Classic, Shuffle, and nano), taken another crap-ton of orders for the 3.5" Retina displays that were in the iPhone 4S phones, put that into a single 256GB flash memory powered iPod. Have it run a heavily stripped down version of iOS (a la the software that originally shipped on the first generation iPod touch) or another proprietary firmware/OS that JUST has the music player, the videos player, the contacts app, the calendars app, the calculator app, the podcasts app, the clock app, the photos app, and that's it. Give it Bluetooth and FM radio capability and that's it. I'd call the resulting device the 'iPod' (perhaps they'd call it the 7th Generation iPod.) It'd still be touch screen and it'd be able to do all of those things fantastically and with the most storage ever put into a portable music player.
Sell it for 2 years and then maybe add a 512GB option to replace it for 2 years thereafter. If it's a declining market, then they should consolidate and concentrate it while it's still semi-viable. But maybe that's just me.
Look, I'm not saying I agree with that sentiment.
I, like you, prefer there be an iPod and prefer that I not be forced to use my phone to serve that function (especially when it barely has the battery life to serve the other functions it already serves).
I'm not at all stoked on the idea of NOT owning my music and/or paying for it through both a subscription service, a radio service, and/or a data plan. That being said, I think that somehow you and I are in the minority. I agree with you that people going about it in this way that we find stupid are sort of short-sighted for doing so. I agree that a world where the phone has replaced the dedicated music player (or even the dedicated smartphone OS enabled music player) is a world where music is further removed and made more annoying to play and acquire than it should be. For those reasons, the likely future demise of the iPod touch and the rest of the iPod line sets a fairly nasty precedent. But, that being said, that seems to be the trajectory that we're headed for and the lack of movement on Apple's part would seem to suggest that they're (a) prepared for it and (b) okay with it. Again, crossing out the word "iPod" from iTunes+iPod and changing it to iTunes+iPhone.
Not sure how reliable this site is
http://www.stableytimes.com/news/ip...generation-new-years-2015-release-date/23149/
http://www.stableytimes.com/news/ip...generation-new-years-2015-release-date/23149/
Yeah, it doesn't seem to cite any of its sources. I wouldn't be upset if it turned out to be true, but I'd definitely be surprised as it seems highly unlikely.
I think the iPod shuffle holds a place and so does the nano. I think the nano will get much improved storage. The touch won't die out, I think it's Apples way of making sure that the A5 continues to get support. I don't think sub 16 year olds need iPhones and this is something that many parents would agree with. An iPod touch serves as something that kids can save up for and learn to be responsible for instead of getting an old and scratched iPhone that (from my observations anyway) kids seem to think are disposable.
Maybe I'm wrong but that's just how I see it
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I wish they would keep it at 4 inches. Also a8 and 4.7 inch screens are going to make this thing expensive especially with th iPad mini around.
I'd say 4 inches and A7 and would be good as long as update it semi regularly to prevent it from getting stale.
I think the iPod shuffle holds a place and so does the nano. I think the nano will get much improved storage. The touch won't die out, I think it's Apples way of making sure that the A5 continues to get support. I don't think sub 16 year olds need iPhones and this is something that many parents would agree with. An iPod touch serves as something that kids can save up for and learn to be responsible for instead of getting an old and scratched iPhone that (from my observations anyway) kids seem to think are disposable.
Maybe I'm wrong but that's just how I see it
The A5 runs iOS 8 so slowly, that the odds of Apple continuing to support it past iOS 8.x.x is extremely unlikely. Given the "iPod is a declining business" mentality that Apple has, and given their position in all of their marketing materials to essentially replace the iPod with the iPhone, I'd say that a resurgence of the iPod touch in the form of an update is unlikely.
As for kids, add me to the pile of people that have never seen kids with one. I see lower-income people their mid 20's-30's with them, but I also see them with very low-end/old Android phones on MetroPCS, US Cellular and the like. For those people, I understand that an iPod touch running a modern version of iOS beats a 3.5" Android phone running Gingerbread and often allows for more modern apps. Otherwise, I think I'm the only person I've seen with a 5th gen iPod touch in the wild.
Frankly, the likelihood that the touch will be getting ANY kind of update isn't great, let alone one that has either A7 or A8, let alone one that has the 4.7" screen, so I'd say that's moot. That being said, I'd imagine that Apple could get the cost down to the point where the price could still fit in the line. That being said, things don't look great for the iPad mini either. This past update was the first time in the iPad mini's history, since its original launch, where it wasn't given a processor bump. So, I don't know that I'd be all that concerned about a fictitious and highly unlikely iPod touch update conflicting with an ailing outdated iPad mini line that is only likely to follow suit with the former anyway.
Most kids here seemed to have switched to the iPad mini and they don't seem to mind carrying it under their arm in big bulky cases. If they don't have the mini then it's some android tablet again in a huge bulky case. I literately see every other kid here in the mall doing that. If anything has cannibalized the touch market for kids it's the iPad mini.
There have been ZERO rumors here on macrumors about any sort of an iPod update, at this point I think it's a totally forgotten product line. They are more likely to keep the current iPod line until it just dies out, not sure about the touch (the other iPods could just exist as they are) but they will have to do something this year because it's either stop selling it or update it.
There have been ZERO rumors here on macrumors about any sort of an iPod update, at this point I think it's a totally forgotten product line. They are more likely to keep the current iPod line until it just dies out, not sure about the touch (the other iPods could just exist as they are) but they will have to do something this year because it's either stop selling it or update it.
Apple would have NEVER kept not one but two A5 devices without the intention of supporting them. They have never discontinued iOS support for a premium iOS device (Aka touch 5) within a year of discontinuing it.
iOS 8 isn't that terrible on A5 devices. On a clean instal on an iPad 2 it's slower but not hugely slow. Also the 4S is also not that bad...
http://youtu.be/znzdgdGQx5o
Given the combined 64 ish percent A5 market share they're not going to drop support. Apple has never dropped support for a platform with that percentage of users.
No reason they can't focus upon stability and performance with iOS 9... It's about time they cut the bloat.
Oh and I see kids on iPod touches almost every day on the bus to uni. My younger cousins have them along with my younger siblings and their friends.
Maybe it will be called the iPad nano but the concept of the iPod touch is still very much important and applicable.
The whole iPad Mini on the chopping block thing is hilarious. There has only been 3 iPad minis, and 2 out of 3 were released with last years processor technology. In fact the mini 1 had a 1.5 year old processor. So I can't see the iPad 3 being released with last years tech being a sign of it being discontinued as it's happened before. It's also happened with the iPhone - the 3G had the same processor as th original iPhone. The iPad 3 had the same processor with a different graphics core - that provided no performance benefit over the iPad 2.
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Perhaps from a sales perspective, but I join the many in this thread who still prefer an IpT over an Iph.
Don't want a contract! I just want an IpT to play my games. I already use my Samsung Galaxy s4 for cell, GPS, internet, etc.
I also have an Ipod Classic. The IpT5 doesn't replace it because...
1) a physical scroll wheel lets me use it without having to look at it (provides feedback you don't get with just a screen)
2) 80 GB capacity. I've used up around 13GB of it so far. I want my IpT5 for games and documents. Without expandable memory, they really need to be kept separate.
Agreed. When I was still on my IpT4 back in summer 2013, I didn't bother updating it from ios5 to ios6. I knew the IpT5 would come with ios6. As far as ios8 goes... I'll wait if there is an IpT6 which will be much better up to the task.
Definitely need to add my ballot to the box here... the Ipad Mini does NOT fit in your pants pocket! Plus, when it was just the Ipad Mini 1, no Retina was a stinging point for many folks.
Ironically enough, the whole point of the Ipad Mini was because for some folks, the Ipad was too big for their uses.
Given how underwhelming the Ipad Mini 3 is vs. its predecessor, I really hope the IpT6 does NOT follow suit!
If there will be an IpT6, I hope they can keep the 32 GB at $300. $350 for some reason will make me think twice.
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I would be nice if Apple can maintain more produce lines, but profitability is always the factor.
Ipod Shuffle - good for workouts and short runs
Ipod Nano - bigger screen without the cost of in IpT?
Ipod Classic - superior music player with high capacity
Ipod Touch - cheapest way to get into iOS games and apps
Iph6/p - large screen phones
Iph4/5 - smaller phones for those who want 'em (although more susceptible to getting outdated)
Ipad M - Wasn't even in the works, but made to meet demand and compete with And tablets of equivalent sizes
Ipad - good stuff
Ipad Mega? - laptop replacement? Dunno if they can pull this off.
Is there really enough interest in the iWatch? Even though (AFAIK) sales of the Samsung's watches aren't doing to great, it doesn't mean Apple will fall short too. However, the atmosphere concerning smart watches just seems "meh".
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I would be nice if Apple can maintain more produce lines, but profitability is always the factor.
Ipod Shuffle - good for workouts and short runs
Ipod Nano - bigger screen without the cost of in IpT?
Ipod Classic - superior music player with high capacity
Ipod Touch - cheapest way to get into iOS games and apps
Iph6/p - large screen phones
Iph4/5 - smaller phones for those who want 'em (although more susceptible to getting outdated)
Ipad M - Wasn't even in the works, but made to meet demand and compete with And tablets of equivalent sizes
Ipad - good stuff
Ipad Mega? - laptop replacement? Dunno if they can pull this off.
Is there really enough interest in the iWatch? Even though (AFAIK) sales of the Samsung's watches aren't doing to great, it doesn't mean Apple will fall short too. However, the atmosphere concerning smart watches just seems "meh".
The fifth generation iPod touch is far from a premium iOS device. It's the most recent in its line, which, if anything, should be indicative of how little Apple cares about it.
The fourth generation iPod touch was discontinued when it was the age that the fifth generation iPod touch is now and only months away from the WWDC announcement where Apple announced the first major release of iOS that wouldn't run on it. It's not all that unlikely that they'll follow suit here.
I use multiple fifth generation iPod touches on the daily, two of which are running the latest version of iOS 8. For music playback (and mind you, I'm solely speaking of general usage of the "Music" app [which you'd think is the primary use of an iPod]), the controls are BARELY responsive. It's still usable, but the experience is not great by any means. Natural for an iOS device with a three-year old CPU.
They can and they will drop support for the A5 devices and my guess is sooner rather than later. The iPad 2 with an A5 is really slow, as is the first generation iPad mini (mind you, I have used iOS 8 on both of these extensively). No one I know with an iPhone 4S with iOS 8 installed is happy with the experience, even after 8.1.1's attempted improvement. Odds are not great that Apple is going to pump more life into A5 devices (and even if they did, trends would suggest that the experience would be absolutely horrendous).
While I completely agree with you, I'd like to point out a single word that makes your argument the incorrect one to be making. You're right that there's no reason why they CAN'T or COULDN'T focus of stability and performance and make it a Snow Leopard release. I think many would love that, myself included. That being said, I think that there are many reasons why they WON'T or WOULDN'T do that. The A7 and A8 and A8X have so much untapped power that Apple is going to want to tap into that the odds of them streamlining things for their 32-bit (A6 and earlier) processors, especially when they're all on the verge of discontinuation (being the last of their lines and only kept around as low budget options), is really unlikely and would be very unlike them.
I'm not saying that they don't exist in the wild, I'm saying that they're extremely uncommon. I'm the only person I know who uses a version newer than the third generation model (as they treat it like an iPod and not an iOS-enabled pocket computer) and I know a LOT of people. Believe me when I say that the frequency at which you're seeing them is uncommon and not the norm.
I agree that a standalone music player is an important product and that they should not die out. That being said, the trends and the facts would suggest that they are still, much like optical disc drives in computers, in the process of dying out and becoming obscure and uncommon.
Again, I think the solution to a lot of this would be for Apple to put in another large order for the 3.5" retina screens that were in the iPhone 4S and build a touch screen iPod (that either had a simplified version of iOS that doesn't necessarily require it to be kept up to date or its own custom OS), for them to give it Bluetooth and WiFi and a basic set of apps and 256GB of solid state storage, simply call it the "iPod" or "seventh generation iPod", discontinue what is currently known as the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod touch, and then they should ride that out for a few years. Give music lovers what they want, keep the iPod market going, but running more minimally to reflect market demand until it finally fades away completely.
Do I think that will happen? I'm not at all sure. I think it should. But the game with predictions isn't predicting what Apple will do based on the facts and the reactions that we have to the facts. It's based on predicting what Apple will do based on those facts and APPLE'S REACTION to them. If Tim Cook suggests that the iPod is a declining market, then, give or take the company's love of music and sentimentality with the "iPod" line, it is on the way out, because that's what Apple does with products they don't see a point in selling anymore.
It's not hilarious if you consider all of the elements at play. Introducing the original iPad mini with last year's technology didn't matter because it was a brand new product and therefore reception to it wasn't negatively affected by the fact that it had no predecessor to be negatively compared to. It was a lesser version of the full-sized iPad and that was what it was billed as.
The second generation iPad upped the ante and it became established that it wasn't to be treated as a lesser iOS citizen as it was as powerful as the flagship iPhone and only a barely-worth-mentioning difference slower than the iPad Air. Critical reception was great as the iPad mini was now a first class iOS device.
Now, with the iPad mini 3, you will not find a single review that recommends buying the iPad mini 3 over the iPad mini 2/second generation iPad mini (unless you are wanting 64GB or more or you HAVE to have TouchID and/or a gold iPad mini). Again, this is an iOS device that has a universal do-not-recommend recommendation from EVERY reviewer. Furthermore, ANYONE could've predicted that an iPad mini refresh that only included the gold color and TouchID would've been poorly reviewed and not well recommended. Which is to say that Apple had to have seen this coming and did such a lackluster update intentionally. This doesn't speak well to how THEY feel about this product.
The 7.0-8.4" tablet market IS shrinking and is quickly being cannibalized by the phablet market. The iPad mini's chief competitor product, the Nexus 7 was discontinued in favor of a phablet (and one day before the iPad mini 3 was even announced).
Yes, they are selling all three generations of iPad mini right now, but you can't tell me that the outlook for that product is at all bright (compared to the outlook that the iPhones and the iPad Air has going for them right now).
The 3G's processor was slightly faster. Not enough to make a huge difference, and certainly not enough to make it even slightly fit to run iOS 4 in any capacity, but it was faster.
Similarly, the third generation iPad, while having the same processor core, does have, as you said, the better graphics and 1GB of RAM vs. the 512MB that every other non-A5X A5 device has. While you may balk at that, the 1GB of RAM really makes all the difference. The third generation iPad doesn't run iOS 8 amazingly by any stretch, but the difference in usability between it running iOS 8 and the iPad 2 running iOS 8 is definitely noticeable. That being said, A5 to A5X still had some under-the-hood changes. The A7 in the second generation mini and the A7 in the iPad mini 3 are identical. It's the same exact processor with no difference whatsoever.
It's definitely more economical, but I think that we, in this thread, are a minority and that, at least, Apple feels as though the need for a device that is essentially the iPhone without the cellular hardware is unnecessary.
I went to Mexico over the weekend and to not incur roaming charges, I turned off my phone when I crossed the border. My iPod touch became my phone as there was WiFi where I was staying. There is no other product out there that would've suit this specific need for me and wouldn't have been an out-of-contract Android phone with no plan. Still, I think Apple's perception of their customers is that if they are buying their brand (which they see as premium), then they are likely to afford such roaming fees with ease. Sadly, they're probably right about that on average.
The iPod classic is a dedicated media player and not a standalone computer. The iPod touch is a pocket computer. The needs for the former are more prevalent than the needs of the latter, but both are pretty much on their way out in favor of being replaced by a phone with the necessary capacity. I agree that 64GB isn't enough for the touch. I don't think physical buttons are as important to people on average even though they are to you (and for understandable reasons).
The fifth gen iPod touch is usable with iOS 8, it's just not a good experience. If you don't care about apps, then absolutely, you should not update. If you care about apps, you're sort of incentivized by Apple and the developers to update. Otherwise, I'd still be rocking my third generation iPod touch.
The A5 is far more of a deal breaker than the non-retina display. Though, iOS 7 and is a true eyesore on anything that isn't retina. Though, it's not great on the iPad mini's retina display for having weaker color gamut than the Third Generation, Fourth Generation, iPad Air, and iPad Air 2. Again, processor is the most important element here, especially since a processor upgrade to the iPad mini would've made the difference between the poor critical reception the mini 3 is getting versus an actually favorable review.
Womp-womp! Yeah, it's funny to see the phablet market cannibalize the 7.0-8.4" tablet market and make the 8.9-10.4" tablet market, once again, the more favored size to go for.
Given how underwhelming the Ipad Mini 3 is vs. its predecessor, I really hope the IpT6 does NOT follow suit!
It already has. See the updates done in 2013 and 2014 (all minor and nothing to write home about).
Yeah, as iOS stops running as well on the fifth generation iPod touch, Apple is in a very ****-or-get-off-the-pot situation. I do think that the shuffle and the nano can continue as is with no issue; but the iPod touch being an iOS device sort of needs something as people can't be buying a device that can't get security updates for its OS.
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iOS 8.2 will greatly improve the experience of using the 5th generation iPod touch on iOS 8. This touch absolutely still has life and is definitely usable.
Also, I think Apple will introduce a new 6th gen touch in 3-10 months, and phase out the 5th gen in 10-15 months.
Also, I think Apple will introduce a new 6th gen touch in 3-10 months, and phase out the 5th gen in 10-15 months.
It is however the most September 9, 2008 iPod Touch they sell and they've NEVER discontinued support for a premium iPod Touch within a year of discontinuing it.
iPod Touch 1st gen - Discontinued September 9, 2008, lost support on June 21, 2010.
iPod Touch 2nd gen - Discontinued as a premium device September 9, 2009, lost support May 4, 2011.
iPod Touch 3rd gen - Discontinued September 1, 2010, lost support October 12, 2011.
iPod Touch 4th gen - Discontinued as a premium device September 12, 2012, lost support September 18, 2013.
The only two iPod touches to loose support within 1 year of last being sold were the iPod Touch 2nd gen which at that point was a non-premium device (Sold alongside the iPod Touch 3rd gen) and the iPod Touch 4 (Sold alongside the iPod Touch 5th gen).
In addition to that, when the iPod Touch 4th gen had its support dropped, it was the only A4 device with 256MB of ram that was supported, making it a bit of an outlier. The same with the iPod Touch 2nd gen, only it and the iPhone 3G shared simmer internals. There are three other 512 MB ram A5 devices that are still supported and with massive user bases.
PU.
YOu're exaegrating on how slow A5 devices are with iOS 8. The 4S is barely slower at all, and the iPad 2 is perfectly usable. I've used it as my only computing device (besides my iPhone) for 2 weeks while I've been on holidays and its fast enough. Sure not as fast as iOS 7.1.2 but in no means "really slow".
Odds are, Apple does not want to leave behind a huge chunk of its iPad users. The Odds are actually that
1. Apple only twice discontinued iOS for a device it has sold in the past year, and that has been for non premium iPod Touches.
2. Apple has never dropped support for a processor that holds over 50% of its iPad user share.
3. Apple has never dropped support for an iPad within a year of selling it.
4. Apple has never dropped support for a whole generation of processors at the same time.
5. Apple would have never kept two A5 devices in its lineup without the intention of supporting them.
6. The whole iPhone and iPads get x. number of updates argument no longer holds.
7. Apple has never dropped support for more than 2 devices in an iOS update (I think). Dropping the A5 would mean dropping the iPad 2, Mini 1, 4S, iPad 3 and iPod Touch 5. Also the Apple TV is A5, and also runs iOS.
Thats funny, because the A7 devices seem to struggle with iOS 8. The iPad Air lags and jerks, as does the 5S and 6. It seems to be more of an iOS problem. I can't think of one person who would not improve of Apple doing a Snow Leopard release (With some new features of course) and speeding up their phones. Designing iOS for 512 MB ram A5 devices would make it fly on newer devices, and that can only be an advantage.
They're not extremely uncommon... I see them all the time. I could name 20 or so people I know who own them. They're hugely popular with people who buy android phones but want to keep their apps, music and movies. They're also popular with teenagers and children.
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iOS 8.2 apparently improves performance on all A5 devices. Hopefully iOS 8.3 brings it back to 7.1.2 speeds. 7.1.2 was almost flawless on my iPad 2.
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Yes.
I've noticed Apple has updated the iPod touch less and less. From 1 year, to 2 years, to 2+ years. I think they have done that because they only update the touch when they have to (i.e. to support the current iOS). And they do that because they put development effort into the products that sell the most (obviously), and the iPod touch accounts for 1% of their revenue.
So, from this, I conclude that iOS 9 will, without any doubt, support A5 devices. If iOS 10 does not support A5 devices, a 6th generation touch must be released this year. If iOS 10 does support A5 devices (probably unlikely), then Apple does not have to release a new touch this year and they would release it next year.
Exactly. If they were really planning to drop A5 devices from iOS 9, there would have been a new iPod Touch in October last year, and the iPad Mini 1st gen would have been discontinued.
I highly doubt iOS 10 will support A5 but lol it would be great
I highly doubt iOS 10 will support A5 but lol it would be great
I doubt it too. But hey, OS X Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite all support the same devices. It is absolutely plausible that iOS 8, 9, and 10 support the same devices as well.
Put frankly, Apple hasn't dropped support for any Macs in the last 2.5 years, and hasn't dropped support for any iOS device but the iPhone 4 in the last 1.5 years. Amazing! I expect more of the same level of support from Apple in the years to come.
Yeah and given how people reacted to the instability of iOS 8, I can see iOS 9 as very performance oriented.
I would be over the moon if the iPad 2 got iOS 9, it would being able to keep my iPad 2 for another year
Yeah and given how people reacted to the instability of iOS 8, I can see iOS 9 as very performance oriented.
I would be over the moon if the iPad 2 got iOS 9, it would being able to keep my iPad 2 for another year
Not just iOS... I'd be happy if I can buy any electronic device and keep it for 5 to 10 years at a time. I've been doing that with my Windows desktop PCs. Everything else, when you get new hardware that runs blazingly fast, it gets put down eventually by a new OS that requires even more resources. Annoyingly enough, the flipside of Apple being good about updates is you're more so forced to do them, otherwise get left behind (which conspiracy theory pushes you to buy new devices)
The fifth generation iPod touch is not a "premium iOS device", nor was it one when it originally launched. It was premium only over its predecessor which Apple still sold. Calling it "the premium iPod touch" also doesn't do anything as it is a device with a three and a half year old ARM processor when those typically start to lose out on the ability to run the OS in a responsive fashion (as is evidenced by the numerous warnings on the Internet to not update your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to iOS 8). It's the most recent device of its category, and you're right, that would mean something if its category got regular updates. Given that it does not, then whatever safety that guaranteed is thrown out the window, especially with Tim Cook deeming the entire iPod line a declining market, which it sadly IS.
PowerPC had a massive user base still when Apple released Snow Leopard. I assure you, the fact that 2011 and 2012 were the years that they pimped out the A5 (to the "premium devices" in 2011 and the secondary devices not cool enough to get the A6/A6X in 2012), will have no bearing on the fact that in 2015, we will see support for it dropped. Apple would rather these customers upgrade their iPhone 4S and iPad 2/3 as it makes them more money. Customers like Apple and make no mistake, they WILL upgrade. That's how their business works. They don't care that you're clinging to your iPad 2 in hopes that you'll be able to run every modern version of iOS on it. They stopped selling it in 2013 because the general public knew it was too old and would not get the same kind of support going forward that the iPad two generations newer than it would.
A5 has a massive user base, sure. The iPhone 4S users are going to, very soon, become iPhone 5s/6/6 Plus users if not iPhone 5c users. The iPad 2 users are already upgrading to the Air 2, and that trend is only starting for the third generation iPad. Anyone buying a first generation iPad mini at this point either doesn't care about using it or is tech-illiterate and only focuses on the price tag. I no longer use my first generation iPad mini because iOS 7 and 8 both sucked to use on it. I sold my iPad 2 because iOS 7 and 8 sucked on it. You're blind if you don't see that happening both in these forums and elsewhere.
I've owned or heavily used ALL of the A5-based iOS devices at one point in time and with both versions of iOS. The iPad 2 is sluggish at best. It was passable on iOS 7, but by no means great. It sucks on iOS 8. The first generation mini, despite still being sold, has the same mileage. You go to an Apple Store and they don't even have them on display anymore! What does that tell you?!
Back to the topic of the fifth generation iPod touch, I have two of them that I use with iOS 8. Is it usable. Yes. Is the experience less than stellar, you betcha. Just because you have a high tolerance for the lack of speed that old products have, doesn't mean that (a) Apple will still support it going forward, (b) that Apple should support it going forward, and [c) that users will still use it going forward in spite of said slowness.
Are you kidding?! Apple has been looking for an excuse to leave behind the older iPad and iPad mini models for a while. There are numerous articles that detail that Apple is less than pleased at how long people keep these devices around for. The A5 got a way better run than the A4 ever did, but make no mistake, that run is nearing its conclusion and it should be. 512MB of RAM is way too slow for these OSes and the A5 itself just isn't keeping up well with iOS 8. It faired better on the iPhone 4S and fifth generation iPod touch with iOS 7, to be fair, than the iPad 2 and first generation iPad mini did, but all four of them are really lackluster on iOS 8. I know, I own and use them myself on the regular. Eye-witness accounts over here!
For the last freakin' time, there's no such thing as a "premium iPod touch". Discontinuation for OS support is never a marketing thing, it's ALWAYS a technical thing. The fourth generation iPod touch had three OSes; 4, 5, and 6 before losing support. The fifth generation iPod touch has had three so far; 6, 7, and 8 and it's running iOS 8 about as well as the fourth generation iPod touch ran iOS 6, which, on top of the plethora of other doomsday signs, seems indicative of the fact that this is the end of the line for the fifth generation iPod touch. If you want to argue that the first generation iPad mini will get some kind of mercy support that IS fueled by the marketing department, I might be able to buy that, but the other three A5 devices won't.
Umm A4 (first generation) iPad in 2012? Marketshare doesn't matter here anyway; the device is almost four years old, which for non-computer consumer electronics is old. They stopped selling it because people stopped buying it and those that own one now are looking to sell them and buy the iPad Air 2. Look around you.
And you're convinced they won't set that precedent? The first generation iPad mini is only being sold to compete with low-end Android tablets that are also capped for OS updates and also won't be getting any higher of an OS than what they have. It's no more "premium" of an iOS device than the fourth generation iPod touch was in 2013 when it was finally discontinued.
PowerPC G3s all lost support with Leopard, but I know you meant for iOS devices. That being said, there has never been a whole generation of iOS processors that were as close in specs (RAM, clock speed, etc.) as the A5 generation. All A5s have 512MB of RAM (save for the A5X in the third generation iPad) and the 4S/5th gen touch have 800MHz where the iPad 2 and first generation mini are clocked at 1GHz (this evens out due to the bigger canvases of the iPads).
I'm not sure why you say that. It's not like they haven't set that precedent in the past with A4 devices and it's not like the A5 devices that they still do sell are priced in such a way to indicate a long lasting support cycle.
It's been pretty consistent as far as iPod touches are concerned. Each one has gotten three OSes (the one they were given, one thereafter, and then their final one). The degree of performance decreases from iOS 6 to 7 and then from 7 to 8 would indicate that the fifth generation iPod touch is still staying true to this.
iPads lose support when the OS stops working well or when they can't do what Apple wants them to be able to do with it. This is similar to how they drop support for Macs. This is why the first generation iPad had its support dropped three years ago when its immediate successor is still going. The iPad 2 has enjoyed some great longevity, but its time is nearing its end, and it should be that way. Apple's ability to make that OS better shouldn't be hindered by supporting an iPad that people (a) lost interest in years ago and (b) are already looking to get rid of now. The first generation iPad mini is in the same boat, only it arrived to the party a year late, just like the fifth generation iPod touch.
The AppleTV's usage requirements of iOS are different and substantially less than the others. It's not inconceivable that support for it will stick around. Similarly, the third generation iPad's A5X has 1GB of RAM versus the 512MB in the other devices. Apple could easily give it one more year of support (though its performance with iOS 9 is bound to be terrible). The iPhone 4S, as repeatedly stated a bunch of times, is being abandoned by its users en masse as is the iPad 2. The fifth generation iPod touch, except where you are apparently, was never that widespread to begin with. They might have an issue with the first generation iPad mini, but given that it is now solely being targeted to people who already don't care about extended support for their OS anyway, that's probably very unlikely.
Now I'm convinced that you live in the twilight zone. I own an iPad Air and it runs iOS 8 just fine. It's not at all as zippy as it was with iOS 7, but that's how iOS devices age with iOS releases. The fourth generation iPad before it was no different last year. Are there glitches? Absolutely, but that's more iOS 8 being a terrible iOS version than the A7. The jerkiness doesn't change on any non-A7/A8 devices.
You don't seem to grasp the distinction between the customers and the business. You're right, no one using iOS would disapprove of a Snow Leopard release for iOS. It'd be a universally good thing for all of us. However, we're not talking about us, we're talking about Apple and what Apple's apt to do.
Snow Leopard came at a time when Microsoft's flagship OS was ignored in favor of its immediate predecessor which was seven years old at the time. Apple was able to do that kind of a release because competition was nowhere near catching up. That is not the case with Android. Furthermore, given how frequently devices are replaced anyway, an OS release that focuses solely on internal improvements (which iOS 8 was billed to be doing anyway) doesn't make sense FOR APPLE. It would be universally loved among their customers, but not for them and they are not in it to solely please their customers.
A. Most non-game apps are cross-platform and free, so that doesn't really hold.
B. The people that buy an iPod touch to stay within the iOS ecosystem while owning an Android phone are few and far between. It's great that you know of a sizable pocket of them, but I assure you, that's not a common practice and it's DEFINITELY not enough to motivate Apple to pour more development into that product line.
You have your facts all wrong here. iOS 8.2 is solely designed to further do bug fixes and add app support for Apple Watch integration. That's it. I'm running the most recent beta for it right now and I can confirm to you that it does nothing to improve speed over 8.1.2.
That logic makes no sense. There's absolutely nothing stopping them from discontinuing it flat out. The iPod touch doesn't account for enough revenue to keep it going (and that number is only decreasing), especially when people who own an iPhone are not likely to own an iPod touch and vice versa. It's sapping them away and Apple cares more about people buying iPhones.
Again, I wish I knew what compelled the logic of "there must be an iPod touch in existence for Apple to support and if this one doesn't do it, then they will release one that does". It makes absolutely no sense. They could pretty much discontinue it and a few of us (myself included) would be very bummed and then life will go on. At this point, that really does seem like the most likely scenario and there are TONS of facts to support this hypothesis.
Again, neither of you have mentioned how that logic follows. Apple has discontinued iPod touches within the same calendar year as they have released the iOS update that drops their support. The first generation iPad mini very well may meet that fate as well given that it is no more "premium" a product than said iPod touch
I highly doubt iOS 10 will support A5 but lol it would be great
Oh good. Here I was thinking your fountain-of-youth theories for the A5 would go on forever.
Possible, yes. Plausible, no.
That's a bit naive. Apple's support policies are dictated by the technologies and not based on an internal memo where Tim Cook says "Team, let's slow down the increase of minimum system requirements".
No, Apple will make sure that the final version isn't buggy given said backlash. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll give us a Snow Leopard release and that doesn't mean that they'll optimize performance beyond making sure that it isn't buggy.
I would be over the moon if the iPad 2 got iOS 9, it would being able to keep my iPad 2 for another year
I wouldn't, an iOS device's final iOS version always runs poorly on it. There has never been an exception to this and I'm not seeing anything to suggest that they'll change this trend in the future.
That would be fantastic. Sadly, that's not at all how it works with the world of smartphones and tablets. Or iPod touches that are based on either.
Do you have any links to those articles? I'm rather curious to hear more details on this.
It's "premium enough" to me. Especially given its cost.
One of the more prominent ones: http://gizmodo.com/dont-put-ios-8-on-your-iphone-4s-1635763610
Your opinion alone does not matter to Apple. It is not a premium device by any means save for it costing more than it is worth. Though, given that a competing product doesn't really exist. It is not premium in terms of its comparison to other iOS devices, nor in terms of its refresh frequency, nor in terms of anything save for it being the newest iPod touch. Period. End of story.