Thoughts on the New iPod Touch 16-gig

Yesterday Apple quietly placed a new product on their website, a new model of the iPod Touch 5th gen. This one has 16-gig of space on it as opposed to the 32-gig which was the previous entry level on the 5th gen. Less storage allowed them to drop the price along with pulling out the rear facing camera and the loop lanyard. Apple also pulled the old 4th gen Touch from their product line, which it had still been offering as the entry level model.

What are my thoughts on the matter?

It's About Time:
Really the 4th gen is a great iPod and the one I still use, but it really should not be being sold new anymore. The technology is really pretty old now and it was time for it to go the way of all the older devices. I'm also happy when something like this happens because it drives down the prices of used electronics.

A Cheaper iPhone?
Many people seem to think that this signals that Apple will unveil a cheaper iPhone, but I disagree. Why? Because by doing this Apple has not made the iPod touch entry cheeper, it has made it more expensive. If by cheaper iPhone people are saying that Apple will release a lower quality iPhone than I definitely say no, what this shows is that if they release a lower cost iPhone it will be at the sacrifice of components.

That may sound like the same thing, but it isn't. Cheap quality is like a Samsung Galaxy where they make it out of plastic that will crack if you look at it sideways. Sacrificing components is what Apple has always done with the iPod touch. They've always lowered the price by saying were going to give you an older processor, or leave out the microphone, or leave off the camera, or offer less memory to give you a lower price. Which makes sense considering most people are buying these for kids.

So What Does This Mean?
Nobody can really say before WWDC but I think that Rob on Today In iOS, made a good guess when he said this may mean that iOS 7 will require the A5 processor that comes in the 5th gen iPod touch. While this would make me very sad because I would hate not to be able to update my iPod, it does seem like a likely explanation.

Another explanation could be that Apple is preparing to launch a new product, like an iWatch that would not be able to connect with a 4th gen bluetooth or processor, or that they are just going to limit it like they did Siri in which case they would need to stop offering products that wouldn't work with it.

It could also be that Apple was just running out of the 4th gen components and did not want to keep producing them when they could just lower the price point of the 5th gen. I think this is the most likely reason. The 4th gen has been around for a long time in terms of Apple products and as good as it is it was time for it to be picked off the Apple tree.

Well those are my thoughts. Let me know yours, Tweet to @halduauthor.
I guess we'll find out more next week. Here's looking forward to WWDC.


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