iPod touch How do you think the future of the iPod touch will play out? (2021)

[Apleeseed84]

The more I think about this the more I conclude that Apple is planning something huge for an upgraded ipod platform.

Last year the MacBook Pro added:
”

• 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones”

Everyone was thinking that the macbook air would do away with the 3.5mm but then again this WWDC boom, Apple mentioned and confirmed thanks to Craig that the M2 MBA would feature:

• 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones

None of the current apple headphones/earphones lineup support this, only studio grade headphones do, this tells me Apple is finally getting into the hi-res music business thanks to Spotify doing it first And they are slowly upgrading this hardware to do so.

You can’t do any of this with the current discontinued ipod line up because it would require a decent built in DAC that would at least sample up 96khz and would murder the iPod’s battery fast, my take on this is that Apple will probably release do this on the iphone or iPad Pro hopefully in the Fall Apple events for both.

Funnily enough the first iPods before the nano’s had a nice built in DAC then it went downhill from there.

I’m just thinking outloud but apple wouldn’t invest into this if they did not have a bigger picture in mind to this and like I mentioned the iPod touch 7th gen is already limited, the Best way would be to sell current stock and hoping they release upgraded Hardware.

I want Distraction free listening so bad that I scorched earth on my stuff to find my ipod classic, ipod sold sell recently because it was Cheaper than buying iphones on monthly payments and corporations used them as cheaper than ipad inventory devices, I see them in the wild a lot in stores, I do not think apple would let go of this to say the least.

Anyways I always have low expectations when seeing the apple keynotes but seeing the one from last year about the MacBook Pro mention that and then this one gave me some hope.

I just think it’s funny how Apple started the trend to get rid of the 3.5mm and all of a sudden are slowly bringing it back in a big way.

 

[mikehalloran]

You were wrong. iPod touch does not get iOS 16.

How was I wrong? As you quoted me:

"we won’t really know till Beta is rolled out in a few months…"

And now we know. Apple giveth and Apple taketh away.

It certainly won't affect how I use mine.

 

[mikehalloran]

The more I think about this the more I conclude that Apple is planning something huge for an upgraded ipod platform.
…
I just think it’s funny how Apple started the trend to get rid of the 3.5mm and all of a sudden are slowly bringing it back in a big way.

Maybe… maybe not. We'll know only if/when Apple tells us.

The audiophile community has always been willing to spend a lot of money for what we perceive is the best sound. I include myself, BTW.

What I don't see is Apple stepping up to that plate after their bean counters figure out the cost/benefits after determining the real size of the market. For the most part (except for the earliest iPods as you pointed out) Apple hardware is capable of high quality audio but bringing that to the masses has not been the thrust of their efforts.

 

[Slix]

How was I wrong? As you quoted me:

"we won’t really know till Beta is rolled out in a few months…"

And now we know. Apple giveth and Apple taketh away.

It certainly won't affect how I use mine.

You posted like 5 posts claiming that you had an inside scoop that the 7th Gen iPod touch got iOS 16 and the iPad Pro A9X didn’t get iPadOS 16. I was just looking back and wanted to clarify since you were so sure about it.

It’s ok to be wrong about some things. This is why I said we’d see from the beginning and not to trust “rumors” too closely until something is announced.

 

[mikehalloran]

You posted like 5 posts claiming that you had an inside scoop that the 7th Gen iPod touch got iOS 16 and the iPad Pro A9X didn’t get iPadOS 16. I was just looking back and wanted to clarify since you were so sure about it.

It’s ok to be wrong about some things. This is why I said we’d see from the beginning and not to trust “rumors” too closely until something is announced.

I quoted public sources as did others. Time for you to reread this thread or change the channel.

 

[Apleeseed84]

Maybe… maybe not. We'll know only if/when Apple tells us.

The audiophile community has always been willing to spend a lot of money for what we perceive is the best sound. I include myself, BTW.

What I don't see is Apple stepping up to that plate after their bean counters figure out the cost/benefits after determining the real size of the market. For the most part (except for the earliest iPods as you pointed out) Apple hardware is capable of high quality audio but bringing that to the masses has not been the thrust of their efforts.

You are right, it’s Apple, nothing surprises anymore 😭.

It’s interesting to say the least because, I do feel they are stepping it up especially from customer complaints about the disastrous hi-res/lossless Apple Music roll out that they completely face-planted, that also ties with consumers complaining about the lack of hi-res support on their AirPods Max/pro, they did do something at least by bringing to the HomePod lineup last year.

Maybe I’m hopeful, I’m not really expecting anything out of apple just minimal software support, I just think it’s crazy that we have all this digital power and nothing to use it on, like you mentioned audiophiles will drop insane amount of money for their best sound, but at the same time I find that my outside hardware gets restricted by Apple’s software 😒.

My eyes lit up when he said High Impedance support on the MBA m2 though, all of a sudden they are throwing audiophile lingo to the masses, they usually keep this stuff on the fine print of the tech specs apple website 🤣🤣🤣

On a side note people hooked up their iPod nano’s to watch bands back then, we have an Apple Watch that’s amazing and yet Apple thought it was a good idea to restrict media storage allocation on the damn thing 😭😭😭

 

[theriddler]

If the iPod Touch is being used for POS (I believe that people have seen it, but I haven't) then there is no chance that the physical design will change. Establishments that use them will probably have cases and holders custom designed for the current design. Changing the physical design of the Touch would require them to not only buy new Touches but new cases and holders... which might not exist for the newer design.

This is the reason why the iPad Mini has retained it's physical design (with only ever so slight adjustments to button and microphone placement)

iPod Touches have been phased out for POS. Now there are purpose-made all-in-one devices that integrate a card reader with an Android device. Example: https://squareup.com/gb/en/hardware/terminal

Kids these days are also using notched iPhones (X and above) as parents are passing their old phones down to them. They're cheaper than buying a new iPod Touch.

When people still had dumb phones, Blackberry or Android (which wasn't as advanced as iOS back then), it made sense to have an iPod Touch to experience the Apple ecosystem.