We’re not sure if you’ve noticed, but those Apple folks are pretty clever. When they revolutionised the music industry back in the early 2000s with the iPod, they timed it with the release of their iTunes music store.
It made perfect sense. You’ve just presented your consumers with a new way to listen to music, so it’s only right that you also provide the store where they can buy that music. Well, it looks like history is repeating itself.
Earlier this month, analysts predicted that the release of Apple Music, the tech giant’s first foray into the world of streaming, would see the release of a newly revamped version of the iPod to serve as an entry level device.
As Cruxial CIO report, while Apple have stopped including iPod sales in their revenue reports, the device is still popular among kids too young to own an iPhone and among health buffs interested in a sturdy music player they can use at the gym.
Indeed, the company have now unveiled their new iPod Touch model and tech pundits are saying it could provide younger generations and streaming-phobes with their first introduction to the world of streaming with Apple Music.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, Apple unveiled the new iPod Touch this morning. The device keeps the previous model’s 4-inch Retina screen, but is internally almost identical to the iPhone 6, sans mobile connectivity.
The Touch features the iPhone 6’s A8 chip and M8 motion co-processor, so it can easily run any games or apps from Apple’s App Store, and also comes with the iPhone’s 8MP iSight camera and a front-facing 1.2MP FaceTime camera.
Image via Apple
This is the first significant update to the iPod Touch since 2012 and while some still fail to see the point of an iPhone without the phone part, the device has its fans, with many treating it as a portable multimedia system, like a modern Game Boy.
The Touch is also the least expensive iOS device, serving as an entry into the Apple ecosystem and the cash cow that is the App Store for those who still haven’t gone the whole nine yards with an iPhone, either because they’re too young or prefer a different kind of phone.
Apple are hoping the new Touch will get that section of the market into Apple Music, which comes pre-installed on the device and according to Business Insider, will soon allow users to control an offline library of up to 100,000 songs.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on the new iPod Touch, it starts at $279 for the 16GB model, while fans of the now-defunct iPod Classic will be glad to hear the Touch now goes all the way up to a 128GB model, which is priced at $579.
