AppleInsider Staff
A peek inside Apple's updated 16-gigabyte iPod touch has discovered that the spaces where the camera and wrist strap loop are located in other models have simply been left empty.
The repair wizards at iFixit got their hands on Apple's new low-end $229 iPod touch this week, and found that the internal design is largely the same as the premium 32- and 64-gigabyte varieties. In particular, the logic board looks nearly identical, aside from the lack of a rear-facing camera.
The teardown did discover that the ribbon cables located on the top portion of the device have been slightly rerouted because of the missing iSight camera. The lack of camera has also led to the microphone, which is rear-facing on other models, to be moved to the top of the device.
And at the bottom of the device, the space where the wrist strap loop is located on the high-end models is empty in the 16-gigabyte version.
Aside from those tweaks, the parts and design of the new low-end iPod touch are identical. Integrated circuits identified on the logic board include:
- Apple A5 dual-core processor, with 512 megabytes of Mobile DDR2 RAM.
- Toshiba THGBX2G7B2JLA01 16 gigabytes of NAND flash
- Apple 3381064 dialog power management IC
- Murata 339S0171 Wi-Fi module
- Broadcom BCM5976 touchscreen controller
- STMicroelectronics low-power, three-axis gyroscope (AGD4/2305/O2LBV)
- Apple 338S1116 and Apple 338S1077 Cirrus Audio Codecs
Apple surprised on Thursday when it unveiled the new basic iPod touch model for $229 in its online store. Previously, the fifth-generation iPod touch lineup debuted in September of 2012 without a 16-gigabyte option, as Apple instead offered the fourth-generation iPod touch with a slower processor and smaller screen for $199.
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92 Comments
That's... well.... rather lame for Apple to do.
[quote name="anantksundaram" url="/t/157804/teardown-of-apples-new-16gb-ipod-touch-finds-few-changes-from-other-5th-gen-models#post_2336724"]That's... well.... rather lame for Apple to do.[/quote] Why? It's a low end model. Redesigning costs money. Having a different manufacturing process costs money. Having different QC checks costs money. So what's lame about making a low end model by simply leaving the camera off and reducing the storage capacity and leaving everything else essentially unchanged?
[quote name="anantksundaram" url="/t/157804/teardown-of-apples-new-16gb-ipod-touch-finds-few-changes-from-other-5th-gen-models#post_2336724"]That's... well.... rather lame for Apple to do.[/quote] I agree with [B]jragosta[/B]. If they removed all other iPod Touch models from the lineup then I could see it as being lame but this is an additional 4" iPod Touch at a significantly lower price point.
[quote name="jragosta" url="/t/157804/teardown-of-apples-new-16gb-ipod-touch-finds-few-changes-from-other-5th-gen-models#post_2336725"] Why? It's a low end model. Redesigning costs money. Having a different manufacturing process costs money. Having different QC checks costs money. So what's lame about making a low end model by simply leaving the camera off and reducing the storage capacity and leaving everything else essentially unchanged?[/quote] You just killed your own argument, Rag. It would have been cheaper for them to just leave all of that in there sans the additional 16GB of memory, according to you. So why, then, did they go this route, which will require a completely separate production line and various different parts like the redesigned back shell? Seems like a lot of overhead for a product that isn't likely to do very well anyway. Like I said in the last article about this, I just bought my little girl the 32gb model, but had it not had a camera on the back, I would have gotten her something else since that is a huge part of the draw for that demo. As for the "this is great for the gym" argument, what? I go to a very expensive gym, and I've never seen a Touch. Nano's and Shuffles yes, but a Touch? If you're going to use something that size, you're better off just using your iPhone which is what people do. Typical Apple move right here, sadly. People complained when the 5th gen started at 299 and 32gb when 16 and 199/229 should have been the low end. Well cook gave us that low end, but gimped it in the process so as to make it as unattractive as possible versus the 32gb model. Awesome. Thanks.
[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/157804/teardown-of-apples-new-16gb-ipod-touch-finds-few-changes-from-other-5th-gen-models#post_2336732"] I agree with [B]jragosta[/B]. If they removed all other iPod Touch models from the lineup then I could see it as being lame but this is an additional 4" iPod Touch at a significantly lower price point.[/quote] Uh, Sol? They did remove all other Touch lines from the market. The 4th gen was 86'd to make room for this.