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When's the next iPod generation likely to surface?

T

Toadie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2003
6
0
Hi all,

I'm a complete noob to these forums, but after reading a few posts, I've realised I've come to the right place.

Basically, I'm just about to buy an iPod. I've weighed up all the pros and cons and I think Im gonna go for it. The only thing is, I dont really know enough about the existing iPod generations' release timeframe.

I know (or think) the latest Gen 3 iPods were released in April 2003 (was this in the UK too?); when are Apple likely to release a new generation (Gen 4, I presume?!)

Does anyone know how much time passed between the Gen 1+2 or Gen 2+3 releases?

I'm just about to buy the thing, but I don't want something thats gonna be a generation behind in a few months!

Thanks in advance for any help,

Toad
 
Go to the site's buyer's guide (https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//). The G3 iPods were released on april 28th but they have been updated with new hard drive capacities since (september 8th). The product cycle for each generation is listed to the side.

If you can wait, then wait, but their it will likely be at least several months before a new iPod. The average days between product cycle is 171 and it has only been 71 days, but this is only an estimate as the 2G ipod after a period twice as long as the others. If it were me I would buy since it is mid cycle and a new one will not come out for at least 3 months.
 
i don't think there'll be an update, not until christmas is over anyway.

ipod will sell like hotcakes this holiday season and therefore, it's highly unlikely that even the next revision will be anything more than capacity bump. ipod will have a chance to further solidify its status as the #1 mp3 player and apple would be wise not to make significant revisions so soon after this holiday season to alienate many new users.

i say go get one and start enjoying... :)
 
Great - didnt even know the site existed!

Thanks very much.

Toad
 
-Gents

Well, judging from comments from Steve Jobs, they may be focusing their efforts on cutting the price of the iPods over increasing capacity.

With those new 1" drives from Toshiba(?), that should shrink them too :O
 
When did jobs say that. I thought he was of the opinion that the iPods were at a good price and there was really no need to try to make them more attractive to the mid-level or lowe-level electronics consumer. I know he said recently that apple would not be doing anything like making flash players or low capacity players for the sub $200 market. I do not think that apple will try to make an iPod that cost anything less than $199 (assuming the current $100 stepped pricing).
 
-Vector

Q: "Some think you wouldn’t want to sell a $100 iPod because the profit margin would be so low."
A: "What are you talking about? We’d love to have a $100 iPod! We just don’t know how to do it right now. We’re constantly trying to make cheaper iPods. We’re working on the next step."

I don't feel it unreasonable to read 'cheaper iPods are being worked on' into a statement like this.

Full MSNBC (yeah I know - irony) here.
 
Bah.. that quote was all marketing bullarky. Sure, they'd love to 'make' a cheaper iPod. But the iPod's price point is where it's at for a reason. The competition is helping HD mp3 players find their niche pricings. And I'm sure Apple likes the status of being the premium player based on its price. And FURTHERMORE... someone said that Apple would not change the iPod because it wouldn't want to alienate new buyers??? Hello! This is Apple. They EXCEL at that!! Funny you can't use the voice recorder or media reader on a 1st gen. iPod. I think that alienated some folks, don't you??

But before Xmas I doubt the iPod will change. Mainly because of supply reasons in time for holiday shopping. Personally, I'm holding out for built-in in-line recording and built-in mic. The price needs to be more in line with Dell's player. And for the love of cheese, figure out how to get more use out of the battery! 8hrs twindling to 5 hours after a year is really sad.

Ok, end rant. I'm so close to getting one of those suckers but there are too many little quirks that become more and more glaringly obvious when new HD players are released for comparison. Apple has a great design and integration ability. They just need to catch up on features.
 
Yep, I definitely came to the right place :)

So now the only problem is the battery life, which I *think* i can live with...!

Is there any chance at all of a firmware/accessory/firmware+accessory combination that will allow line-in recording, though? I've heard of the voice recorder and the developer mode voice recording options, but I assume these are only mono. Is it physically possible to record stereo sound through the headphone jack on the Gen3 iPod?

Thanks for all the help,

Toad
 
Originally posted by Toadie
Yep, I definitely came to the right place :)

So now the only problem is the battery life, which I *think* i can live with...!
Click to expand...

i've never had any complaints about my battery life and o have the original, which was supposed to be the one with the worst battery from what i've been told. i know that someone makes an adaptor that plugs in to the firewire port of the older models and holds like 4 AA batteries. maybe there is something similar for the new ipod? i dont know
 
well, i think $100 iPod is possible if apple stripped the rechargeable battery (not the cheapest option), buffer RAM and the 1.8" HD. if they replaced those with the standard laptop 2.5" HD (or use the ejectable microdrive - user supplied) and put in 16 MB (instead of 32 MB, though given how cheap RAM is these days, this may be the least important factor) and run the unit on AA batteries, then I think the price can be lowered. however, whether apple wants to brand such a unit (rather "incomplete" if you ask me) as an iPod is a different question.
 
Don't worry about the battery life

Originally posted by Toadie
Yep, I definitely came to the right place :)

So now the only problem is the battery life, which I *think* i can live with...!

Is there any chance at all of a firmware/accessory/firmware+accessory combination that will allow line-in recording, though? I've heard of the voice recorder and the developer mode voice recording options, but I assume these are only mono. Is it physically possible to record stereo sound through the headphone jack on the Gen3 iPod?

Thanks for all the help,

Toad
Click to expand...

I have a 15 gig ipod and about a month later apple had the 20 gig out I thought I was cheated for that, but you know what I'm up to 1444 songs on my ipod and still not even making a dent in the space, as for the battery life I only run out once since I got it and that was my fault for not recharging the night before so buy one and enjoy!!:D :cool:
 
Thanks to everyone - just ordered one! The free engraving on the Apple Store is a nice touch.

Now for the wait... :)

Thanks again,

Toad
 
Originally posted by Toadie
Thanks to everyone - just ordered one! The free engraving on the Apple Store is a nice touch.

Now for the wait... :)

Thanks again,

Toad
Click to expand...
Cool! Which model did you order?

The iPods are great...I'm on my third one (not because they broke or anything, but because I've upgraded with every revision they've made!). You'll love it!
 
congrats toadie. Everyone I know who has every used one has loved it. My 1st gen. 5 gig ipod is still going strong after a year and a half, and isn't even close to full. I still get a *ton* of battery life too.

hopefully you'll get it soon... ship times on those are fast, aren't they?
 
I went for the 20Gb model, mainly for the free dock + remote. Im making the migration from minidisc and Im used to having a remote. Cant see me filling that with music quickly anyways!

I think the shipping time is reasonably good, but I have a 6-8 day estimated build time - I think this is because of the laser engraving.

In the meantime, Im just about managing without portable music (minidisc player broke after over 4 years of service) and I've started to rip cd's to my hard drive in anticipation!
:) (AAC, if you're wondering ;) )
 
Rock on, Toadie.. .I'm sure you'll like it. Check out ipodlounge.com if you already haven't found that site. The reviews are worthless but the pics are great.

And let us know about accessories (cases, headphones, etc) that you find.
 
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