The latest and greatest device to bear the same name as the revolutionary “1000 songs in your pocket” was a spec-bumped version of the 6th Generation iPod touch. Featuring double the ram, and base storage of its predecessor as well as other iterations. This device can officially run all the way up to iOS 15.8.4, shipping with iOS 12.3 upon it’s debut.
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The exterior design of the iPod touch 7th Generation remained largely (if not at all) changed since the original 5th generation design, so it can be easy to mistake one for another. The original design dates back to October 11th 2012, so there are some major differences under the hood.
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Where the design comes from
The 5th generation was the first to carry this design and obviously had some fanfare as a result. It was touted as thin and light on a whole new level, a level which lasted a whole decade.
Devices which haven’t been upgraded beyond iOS 6 are also valuable on their own, as they cannot be downgraded without blobs, coolbooter, or tethered booting: (plugging it into a computer every time you need to boot up the iPod touch).
- New screen is taller but not wider, intended for one-handed use.
. - The camera now gains Panorama mode
. - Siri is added to the iPod Touch
. - 30-pin connector is changed out for the lightning connector
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The Original iPod
The original iPod was a product of its era – a portable MP3 music player with lots of storage. Being much smaller than a CD player and storing much more than a cassette player in similar sizes, it took the market by storm. The directionality of tech at the time was to keep improving, adding new features, making things better.
The end of an era?
Even before the 2020s, smartphones saw increased adoption as well as having features integrated to the point devices like iPods were becoming obsolete. In 5th-gen iPod touch reviews like CNET’s, for example, “the bad” has things listed like “..lacks any phone functions“, as well as comparing it to being an undersized yet overpriced tablet.
The iPod touch is certainly more akin to a smartphone than it is a dedicated music player, until you don’t have any wifi. Even still, the Touch was an iteration on the iPod lineup which released alongside the iPhone. When they first came out in 2007 and 2008, it was more exciting to have one as it was a more affordable iPhone OS device at a time when smartphones were brand-brand new.
In 2019 it was easier to see how a device like this was completely out of place in the market – going back to my earlier point about smartphones. More recently, however, there has been a resurgence in interest in standalone and/or dedicated devices with specific functions that aren’t always necessarily connected to the internet.
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More Recently
With a growing societal frustration toward a hyper-connected, always-on, always-accessible life, I’ve been seeing things here and there which fit the profile of this zeitgeist – aftermarket classic iPod mods, “smart” devices that help with tasks but don’t blast their eyes with social media, custom device projects, as well as people adopting older tech that isn’t as interconnected.
As people also contend with streaming but-not-owning media when making purchases (such as movies, shows, etc;) we could see a resurgence in downloaded media to be viewed and stored offline as well as media piracy. Why pay money at the risk of something being randomly unavailable and not in your possession in the future, when you can have a copy for yourself after paying for it once?
Does this mean we’ll see something akin to the iPod in the future? Maybe, but I don’t think it’ll come from Apple. There are companies and individuals out there designing standalone smart and/or unplugged devices that are already entering/potentially will enter the market. I think it’s telling, though – people liked the iPod, some still do, but most importantly, people like their peace of mind.
