A new iTouch!

[steelyman]

I might be the only one who cares, but this makes my day: Apple announces a new iPod Touch. I love these things, they’re my workhorse throughout the day at home.

One of the Apple staff told me during my last visit to an Apple Store that parents like them too because they’re phone-like without the cellular plan. I make calls through my iTouch via Ooma and it works great.

https://nr.apple.com/d2s6D667w6

 

[COcheesehead]

I had a iTouch years and years ago, but lost touch, no pun intended. How are they different than a non cellular iPad?

 

[steelyman]

I had a iTouch years and years ago, but lost touch, no pun intended. How are they different than a non cellular iPad?

I don't have an iPad (it's on my list), so can't give details. They're smaller for sure, I think the new models are the 4-inch form factor (like earlier iPhones). They're very lightweight, less than a similar iPhone. I don't think it's a good platform to do heavy reading although I seem to get along fine with things like reading NYT, e-r.org, other things that adapt well to that screen size. Kindle is way better for books.

My guess is that iPad lovers are all set with what they have.

My iTouch 6G (the latest before this refresh) has been suffering the same battery problems that many have experienced on iPhones and I think it's not as easy to replace the battery on an iTouch as on an iPhone.

I had an iTouch before an iPhone, so it's like a faithful (small) hound to me. My order's in and should arrive on Friday. I'm hoping my Otterbox case can do the job on the new one.

 

[ls99]

I have an old Itouch, it is slow, does not play high res video, slim. Like it. It is my music player in my car, via FM trasmitter.

 

[steelyman]

I have an old Itouch, it is slow, does not play high res video, slim. Like it. It is my music player in my car, via FM trasmitter.

I did/do the same thing with an old click wheel iPod (hard drive, whopping 60 GB). I still have that iPod and a Nano, both still working but unused. The Nano gets OTA radio through the earbuds which I miss.

Now I have a Bluetooth/FM dongle that I use with iPhone/iTouch (the car predates Bluetooth). It works and sounds great.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have a iPhone SE. It's an iPod Touch but with the phone.

 

[MichaelB]

I have a iPhone SE. It's an iPod Touch but with the phone.

Ditto. When I got a new phone the old one passed on to iPod Touch duty, which it carries out admirably.

 

[audreyh1]

I have that tiny 1 inch square iPod that we keep in the car plugged into the stereo and holds all our music. I sure hope we never lose it!

 

[steelyman]

I have that tiny 1 inch square iPod that we keep in the car plugged into the stereo and holds all our music. I sure hope we never lose it!

That sounds like one of the Nanos or a Shuffle (I always play my downloaded music in shuffle mode when driving and have come to prefer that).

I didn’t get a cell phone until 2001 and it was a Nokia clamshell, replaced once or twice until I finally got an iPhone in 2013 or so.

I was an early fan of what were called PDAs (personal digital assistants) and in particular Palm products (first a PalmPilot, then a Palm 3). Maybe that influences the way I view current devices.

 

[target2019]

Came close to buying one of these to replace an old itsy bitsy nano. Turn out the fake china charger adapter was the problem. She lost the original Apple usb charging adapter.

AGPTEK 16GB Clip MP3 Player with USB Flash Drive, Metal Lossless Music Player Supports FM Radio Recording, Black(U2)

 

[Midpack]

We still have an iPod Touch for music. I didn’t realize they were still selling them, or maybe they’re just back on the line up. The market would seem very small now without a cellular connection.

And I see the “new” Touch has a headphone jack.

 

[steelyman]

And I see the “new” Touch has a headphone jack.

Yes, I noticed that too! But with Bluetooth earbuds I never use the jack anymore. I guess that decision by Apple was the right one to make.

It also uses the processor from the iPhone 7 (I think, definitely not the latest) and doesn’t support wireless charging [emoji20]

I’d assumed the Touch was a dead product line until this announcement and expected the age of existing devices would soon prevent iOS updates but apparently it’s undead for at least a while.

 

[jwkde]

I have that tiny 1 inch square iPod that we keep in the car plugged into the stereo and holds all our music. I sure hope we never lose it![/QUOTE

I have the same I inch square ipod I keep plugged into the usb jack in my car for music - audio books. Works great.

I know most people use their phones and Bluetooth or car play. But this way I do not need to fumble to plug it in

 

[frayne]

Ditto. When I got a new phone the old one passed on to iPod Touch duty, which it carries out admirably.

Ditto +1

 

[COcheesehead]

That sounds like one of the Nanos or a Shuffle (I always play my downloaded music in shuffle mode when driving and have come to prefer that).

I didn’t get a cell phone until 2001 and it was a Nokia clamshell, replaced once or twice until I finally got an iPhone in 2013 or so.

I was an early fan of what were called PDAs (personal digital assistants) and in particular Palm products (first a PalmPilot, then a Palm 3). Maybe that influences the way I view current devices.

I had a palm pilot. I think that’s what lead me to buy an iTouch all those years ago. Now I use an iPad and my music is on my phone/iPad.

 

[steelyman]

I had a palm pilot. I think that’s what lead me to buy an iTouch all those years ago. Now I use an iPad and my music is on my phone/iPad.

They were great devices (Palm) at the time (late 90s, I think?). I recall being amazed that I could receive email on a handheld, very “freeing”.

These days, text messages seem to make up the bulk of my person-to-person electronic communication on a daily, normal (not traveling) basis.

[ADDED] Don’t know if this is still the case but text messages from non-Apple users are a problem on the iTouch. Most of my friends are with Apple but some are Android.

 

[COcheesehead]

They were great devices (Palm) at the time (late 90s, I think?). I recall being amazed that I could receive email on a handheld, very “freeing”.

These days, text messages seem to make up the bulk of my person-to-person electronic communication on a daily, normal (not traveling) basis.

[ADDED] Don’t know if this is still the case but text messages from non-Apple users are a problem on the iTouch. Most of my friends are with Apple but some are Android.

My wife uses an Android and I get her texts, but they never "bing" Still haven't figured out why.

 

[mpeirce]

Yes, I noticed that too! But with Bluetooth earbuds I never use the jack anymore. I guess that decision by Apple was the right one to make.

It also uses the processor from the iPhone 7 (I think, definitely not the latest) and doesn’t support wireless charging [emoji20]

I’d assumed the Touch was a dead product line until this announcement and expected the age of existing devices would soon prevent iOS updates but apparently it’s undead for at least a while.

It's literally just a processor upgrade. Nothing else has changed. OK, it also added a 256GB storage option for lots of music, video, or apps/games.

But basically it keeps it alive at a low price point ($200) for mostly use by kids too young for a phone and a few other people.

For the kids it'll actually run the coming Apple Arcade games pretty well.

 

[athena53]

My son still uses my old one!

I'd be very interested in a new one but ONLY if I can get the music I have stored on my iPod nano onto it without running it through iTunes. At some point iTunes "ate" most of the music I had stored on-line, including songs I had purchased through iTunes and music I had ripped from CDs I own. (I've since read that this is common. Some people lost music they themselves created and stored on iTunes.) The nano is the only device that still has it all.

 

[target2019]

My son still uses my old one!

I'd be very interested in a new one but ONLY if I can get the music I have stored on my iPod nano onto it without running it through iTunes. At some point iTunes "ate" most of the music I had stored on-line, including songs I had purchased through iTunes and music I had ripped from CDs I own. (I've since read that this is common. Some people lost music they themselves created and stored on iTunes.) The nano is the only device that still has it all.

Any PC should see this a device with folders. Then you'd copy the music folder to desktop, etc. Maybe there is something else which would prevent this?

 

[explanade]

My son still uses my old one!

I'd be very interested in a new one but ONLY if I can get the music I have stored on my iPod nano onto it without running it through iTunes. At some point iTunes "ate" most of the music I had stored on-line, including songs I had purchased through iTunes and music I had ripped from CDs I own. (I've since read that this is common. Some people lost music they themselves created and stored on iTunes.) The nano is the only device that still has it all.

Any PC should see this a device with folders. Then you'd copy the music folder to desktop, etc. Maybe there is something else which would prevent this?

iPods don't store the music in a straightforward manner, at least when you mount iPods on a Mac. That is, it's not like Artist>Album>Song. It's way more convoluted IIRC.

Best chance is if the iTunes which the iPod sync'd to have playlists that sync'd to the old iPod and then you can sync it back.

Now if you're saying somehow, songs on your computer were erased and they only exist on iPod, then it's problematic. Though one of the different music plans they had was to copy up your songs to iCloud or something like that and you'd be able to download them again to any other devices or even stream them.

However, now they're pushing Apple Music streaming so the idea is you subscribe and you get access to any song as long as you have a connection.


Honestly I think it would be better just to get a new iPhone if you have a phone that's 2 years or older. That way you get an upgrade for the phone and for music.

 

[athena53]

Any PC should see this a device with folders. Then you'd copy the music folder to desktop, etc. Maybe there is something else which would prevent this?

I'm not sure you can see an iPod or similar device in Windows although I understand what you're saying- it's just another hard drive. It's something I'll investigate if I decide to buy an iTouch. Right now I'm on an economy kick as far as discretionary purchases; all my discretionary money is being channeled into paying for an expensive trip I've booked to the Galapagos next March!

 

[mpeirce]

iOS devices use APFS these days. I honestly don't know if Windows can view that file system. I doubt it. (iOS devices originally used HFS+)

 

[Peter]

Any PC should see this a device with folders. Then you'd copy the music folder to desktop, etc. Maybe there is something else which would prevent this?

I just tried this. You can transfer pictures this way from an iPhone, but I don't see music showing up.

 

[travelover]

I have an old, like Gen2, iTouch. I loved it but Apple made it into a paperweight with no updates, so it doesn't do much anymore.