Why Buy An Ipod Touch
Update: On May 10, eight days after this article was published, Apple announced the end of the iPod era. The iPod touch, the last of the legendary product line, was now discontinued. If you want to get one, they will be available from Apple while stocks last, and from plenty of other retailers.
why buy an ipod touch
That update did more than just increment the processor, which moved from 2 cores to 4 cores and nearly doubled the clock speed. It increased the RAM from 1 GB to 2 GB; it includes a better graphics chip; and it has four cores instead of two. It also ensured that the device runs with more recent versions of iOS. The 6th generation iPod touch is limited to iOS 12; the 7th generation runs the current iOS 15.
Starting at $199, it is the cheapest iOS device. It comes with 32 GB storage, and you can increase it to 128 GB ($299) or 256 GB ($399). For comparison, the low-end iPhone SE (2nd generation) costs $429 with 64GB and the 256 GB model costs $579. So if you want a portable device with a lot of storage, the iPod touch is the cheapest.
After Apple announced it is discontinuing the iPod touch (7th generation) yesterday and retiring the iPod altogether, consumers have been rushing to retailers in-store and online to buy one of these devices. The product is only being sold at retailers while supplies last.
Having reached its 7th generation, the iPod touch finally supports the Hi-Res Audio codec FLAC, as well as Apple Lossless, giving you more options than ever when it comes to accessing audiophile-quality music.
The headphones you use with the iPod touch will have a huge impact on how good your music sounds. Check out our pick of the best over-ear headphones as these will always outperform the cheap in-ears you bought from the gas station.
The iPod touch has always been popular among parents who want a smartphone-like device for their kids without the monthly service plan or all-day 4G LTE access. You can use an old iPhone for that, but the new iPod touch starts at $199. An iPhone 7, which has the same processor and thus the same power as the iPod touch, costs $449 new and starts at $279 for used models on Gazelle.
While I know a lot of people who would prefer a new iPhone SE, I think the iPod touch is what they're going to get for now. Apple wants to keep its iPhone average selling prices high for Wall Street, which means not releasing a lower-priced iPhone. But the iPod touch isn't an iPhone, so Apple can satisfy its customers without angering investors with dropping average iPhone prices.
The new iPod touch, available now, fits into a lot of little, narrow cracks in Apple's market, though, and I think it will please a lot of people. We don't have ours yet, and I'll do a full review as soon as we do. But honestly, I don't think it will disappoint. If you're not convinced why it's important, here are some key reasons.
The iPhone SE is the only device with a 4-inch screen left in Apple's lineup. So for those who want a very portable device that fits on an exercise arm strap, for example, the new iPod touch is the best bet.
The previous iPod touch's A8 processor only supported up to iOS 12. The new one will probably go up to iOS 14, which means the new iPod touch will support Apple's subscription Apple Arcade gaming service and any new iOS 13 features announced at Apple's WWDC conference next week. (Apple hasn't said which devices will support Apple Arcade; we're sure this one will, but not sure about the older iPod touch.)
The iPod touch is spectacularly popular among families with younger kids in the US, because of Apple's network of stores and Genius Bars, and iOS's easy-to-use parental control options. Yes, parents could get cheap Android phones with no SIMs, but here in the US, those often have poor or no customer and technical support, and not much of a user community around them.
Why would you want a device that plays music when you could have a device that plays music and is also, you know, a phone? Even though iPhone technology has far surpassed the iPod (which was revolutionary for its time), Apple still has the iPod touch in its product lineup(Opens in a new tab).
Whether or not Apple releases a next generation of the iPod touch, relegating the current model into retirement, or discontinues production of the iPod touch altogether remains to be seen. But either way, the iPod touch Gen 7 will be one step closer to obsolescence.
Apple's 2019 update to the iPod touch was an unexpected one; it updated a product some of us thought was just about to go the way of the dinosaur. Though rumors had been circling for months, I for one, didn't put much stock in it because, well ... why?
Low and behold though, on May 28 of 2019, just a week after Apple updated the MacBook Pro, it added the iPod touch 7 to the roster. With nothing but a processor bump and larger storage capacity (Our former EIC Rene's minimalist review is: "Now with A10 and 256GB of storage), the real question becomes, who is this for?
After putting it through its paces, I can definitely say that Apple has made a smart move here, launching an updated, but still basic iPod touch that can serve as a dedicated device for those of us already in the Apple ecosystem and a gateway device for those who want to try out Apple's services but don't want to pay the premium for an iPhone or iPad.
Apple iPod touch (7th Gen) was released in May of 2019 and was the last iPod released by Apple. You can still buy an iPod touch (7th Gen) renewed on Amazon for $288 or Walmart starting at $199 depending on the color you choose. You also might find one on Best Buy's site starting at $199 depending on color; pending your location.
The iPod touch first launched in 2007, the same year as the first iPhone. Back then, the iPod was Apple's most popular product and the iPod touch revolutionized the digital music industry (and subsequently put other MP3 players out of business). In October of 2012, the iPod touch received a design overhaul that gave us the overall look that we see today (sans the lanyard hook). That was the fifth-generation iPod touch.
Back in 2012, the iPhone and iPod touch were practically neck-in-neck in terms of specs. The iPhone always won out with a better camera and a more advanced processor chip (by one generation), but you could legitimately make side-by-side comparisons of the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch and it would make sense.
In 2015, when Apple updated the iPod touch again, things had changed significantly for Apple in terms of its iPhone lineup. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were Apple's flagship devices with Touch ID, a 12MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera, 4K video recording, and a lot of big improvements. The iPod touch didn't have any biometric login (still doesn't), didn't support 4K video (still doesn't), and had an 8MP rear camera and paltry 1.2MP front-facing camera (still does). You can see how the gap in technology grew over those three short years.
Fast forward to 2019 and we're looking at an iPod touch that is essentially the same design as the one from 2012 with nearly all the same specs as the one from 2015 with the only change being that it now has an A10 processor chip, so it supports augmented reality (AR) and you can get it in as much as 256GB storage. So we're again faced with the question of why would anyone want an iPod touch when they can get an iPhone?
When it comes to music listening, downloading or streaming, the iPod touch 7 is pretty much exactly the same as its predecessor. You're not getting a new or better listening experience. The Bluetooth connection is the same. The speakers are the same. If you have never owned an iPod touch, or like me, your last iPod touch is still running iOS 6 and doesn't even support Apple Music, a new iPod touch is a great investment.
My personal favorite use for the iPod touch is as a dedicated music player. I love loading up playlists and bringing them with me to parties, backyard BBQ, and camping trips. What I don't love is when my iPhone becomes the jukebox for the evening. It's especially bothersome when other people want to play songs on my iPhone. I love that they want to play different music. I don't love that my iPhone is the instrument. What about text messages? What about the various notifications I have set up? With a dedicated music player, I don't have to worry about any of that.
Using the iPod touch as a dedicated music player also means that I can share with my significant other. We have varying tastes in music and preferred services. I use Apple Music, he uses Spotify. I can stream my favorite playlists and albums on Apple Music and it won't affect his end of year song list in Spotify. He can create his perfect road trip playlist in Spotify and I won't get recommendations for genres I'm not interested in.
If the iPod touch isn't being used for anything but music, I can also pair it with whichever speaker I want and never have to unpair it to use a different speaker or headphones. I can set it up in one place in the house (or backyard) and never have to change that setup.
Similarly, I can do the same thing in the car. Download all the music, podcasts, and audiobooks I want while on Wi-Fi, and then drop my iPod touch in the car and I've got a world of entertainment at my fingertips. I don't have to reconnect my iPhone every time I get into the car. The iPod touch is always there. Plus, when I need my iPhone for navigation, I don't have to worry about it interrupting my listening experience.
Movies, TV shows, documentaries, YouTube videos, you can watch it all on the iPod touch. For being such a small screen, it looks pretty fantastic. No, I'm not suggesting we all throw our 5K monitors in the garbage, but if you're stuck at a boring seminar, hiding from the family on Thanksgiving, or just want to show your buddy the latest Fail videos, the iPod touch is a nice little media player.
For anyone looking to get into the Apple ecosystem that doesn't already own an iPhone or iPad, the iPod touch 7 is a great first-timer's experience. It runs the latest iOS, supports all of Apple's services, and has all the same connection features that you need (like Bluetooth and AirPlay support). 041b061a72