Neil Hughes
Apple's newly leaked iPod colors may arrive sooner than expected, on Tuesday, July 14, if the company's carefully designed marketing materials once again prove accurate.
The newly released iTunes 12.2 update includes a number of images of the iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle in a trio of new colors — a darker blue, a brighter pink, and a new gold color. But the images also include another strong hint at a release date, as the iPod touch calendar is set to Tuesday the 14th.
The 14th day of July also falls on a Tuesday this year — Â not likely a coincidence, based on Apple's well-established marketing strategies.
Take, for example, the Apple Watch. In all of its promotional images, it is shown with the date Monday the 9th. The Apple Watch event this year was held on Monday, March 9.
The same goes for the iPhone 6, which features a calendar set to Monday the 9th. The iPhone 6 event was held on Monday, Sept. 9, 2014. Apple's current iPod touch marketing also has the same Monday the 14th on its calendar, updated to reflect iOS 9.
AppleInsider exclusively reported in April that the iPod lineup would be updated this year.
Lending even more support to an impending launch for the new iPod touch colors is the fact that the iPod touch is shown running iOS 8. Specifically, the iPod touch features the iOS 8 Passbook and Newsstand branding and icons, which will be updated and renamed to Wallet and News, respectively, in iOS 9.
Currently in beta, iOS 9 is expected to launch to the public this September, which is usually when Apple updates its iPhone hardware. If Apple were holding new iPods for a September event, then the iPod touch would likely ship with iOS 9 instead of iOS 8.
Of course, it's also possible that the new colors, the date and the operating system are all the result of a mockup mixup in Apple's marketing department. But given how carefully and deliberately Apple rolls out new products, that seems highly unlikely.
It's also worth noting that the iPod touch pictured does not feature a Touch ID sensor in the home button, which would also suggest that Apple Pay support will not be included in the new model.
As for the iPod nano, the images found in iTunes 12.2 appear to show the same iOS 6-inspired design, implying the diminutive touchscreen media player will not feature a software refresh.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
25 Comments
That's exactly one week before Apple earnings. I'm not surprised that the new iPod Touches will not have Touch ID though, which is kind of ironic, since they're called iPod Touch afterall.
So much for the iPod abandonment rumors and the outrage that followed.
[quote name="Apple ][" url="/t/187008/promotional-images-suggest-apples-new-ipod-colors-will-launch-july-14#post_2743027"]That's exactly one week before Apple earnings. I'm not surprised that the new iPod Touches will not have Touch ID though, which is kind of ironic, since they're called iPod Touch afterall.:lol: [/quote] At times it appears that Apple is hell bent on making sure iPod Touch fails. I waited for years to see a decent upgrade come to the machine and have given up on it happening. For one thing the platform should have gone 64 bit a year ago so that it would support the growing raft of 64 bit only apps. As you note Touch ID would be valuable also. Instead we seem to have a whole line of iPods coming that are focused on colors. I hope this isn't true but the leaks aren't encouraging. Rumors have iPod sales in the tank, basically a dead product line, the only way to breath new life into such a line is via useful improvements and real gains in performance.
[quote name="jungmark" url="/t/187008/promotional-images-suggest-apples-new-ipod-colors-will-launch-july-14#post_2743067"]So much for the iPod abandonment rumors and the outrage that followed.[/quote] Adding colors to existing products isn't exactly a sign of life. IPods, especially the Touch, need real overhauls to address performance and feature issues. Gaming for example is an important activity on Touch but the SoC hasn't been updated in years so many titles can't even run properly on the platform.
Hopefully we'll see full upgrades across the entire line, including charging via lightning jacks instead of usb