Apple releases 7th-Generation iPod Touch*

Welcome news today: hackers have examined the latest versions of iOS and discovered a new iPod mentioned, which is evidence that Apple could be readying a new iPod Touch for release in the spring...

Apple reportedly making a 7th-gen iPod touch and new iPads

There’s also a mention of an iPod 9,1, which could be a new iPod touch since the current sixth-generation device is called iPod 7,1. All we know about the device is that it doesn’t look like it has Touch ID or Face ID.

The new model numbers add substance to rumors that Apple is planning on making a seventh-generation iPod touch, another 9.7-inch iPad, and a new iPad mini. A fifth-generation iPad mini is rumored to launch sometime this year, perhaps with an outdated A9 processor.

I'm hoping that the boys in Cupertino will finally get off their asses and give the top model 256GB capacity (at least), and also provide higher-quality A/D converters. We can only hope. Their relatively-puny 128GB models pale in comparison to many competing MP3 players out there.

Apple currently has only two iPod Touch models, a ridiculous 32GB model and a paltry 128GB model, which is (to me) not what serious music collectors want or need. Given the lower-price of flash RAM these days, I think they could easily make a 256GB model and price it no more than today's 128GB model, which is $299. My fear is that they'll screw it up somehow...

 

Let’s hope it includes native FLAC and DSD capability.

I write this as an apple fan boy. From my brand new 12.9 iPad Pro.

Cmon you guys.

 

512GB iPod and I'm sold!

 

Wouldn’t be surprised if it is primarily a streaming device with minimum storage.

 

Could this new touch be used with Apple CarPlay?

 

don't they always? ever damn IOS update has some kind of problems!

 

Will they ever release a player that supports hi-res playback?

 

Right. Their business model is for them to own the music, not the consumer.

 

Who is taking bets on whether it has a headphone jack or not?

 

I tend to doubt that they'd do DSD (which is extremely difficult to do, plus there's a license fee), but FLAC is possible. I once talked to the Apple VP in charge of iPods, and she told me that the problem with enabling FLAC and all the other lossless formats is it increases the chances for malfunction. She pointed out that we already had two lossless formats -- WAV and Apple Lossless -- and of course, Apple Lossless is open source. You could make an argument that they could support 96kHz/24-bit lossless files, which is totally doable in a portable.

It will, but it'll be a lightning headphone jack.

I think any recent Apple device with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi works with CarPlay and the upcoming CarPlay 2.

 

Oh, we can dream! I'd love to see that.

Well, you could do that now with the s****y 32GB iPod Touch, which does have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I have about 12,000 songs in the Cloud that are all encoded in 320kbps AAC, and they're fine for me for portable listening and background music use.

 

So you use an adapter ?!?!

 

Not gonna happen.

Not likely. CarPlay must support Apple Maps, and Apple Maps doesn't have an offline mode.

Apple doesn't own the music

I would think headphone jack will hang around, but this question is really the only one that has a 50/50 chance

 

Given that just about every Android phone sold in the last 5 years can play back 24-192, it seems ridiculous that Apple would release a MUSIC device that can't handle Hi-Res, but since Hi-Res is not part of the Apple ecosystem, they probably will.

As for the headphone jack, I suspect there won't be one at all. Bluetooth only, to go with the fancy new Apple over-the-ear wireless headphones.

 

I suspect so as well. Unfortunately.

It's quite odd to be seriously thinking that a new portable audio player would not have a headphone jack. But such is the new reality. I can kinda wrap my head around phones not having headphone jacks because they're general purpose devices not designed to be a portable audio device as their primary purpose. But a purpose built portable DAP without a headphone jack? Crazy.

Welcome to dongle hell.

 

Call me crazy but that little £9 lightning adaptor makes my headphones sound better on my iPhone 6 than the actual headphone socket!

 

I expect a dedicated portable DAP to do better than that.

There is a reason that I really like the PonoPlayer. Ain't no £9 dongle DAC+amp that can do what the PonoPlayer does. A good portable DAP should have a good DAC and amp in it and make headphones sound extra special good. A DAPs purpose it to be a good audio device. Make it so.

 

I think the Pioneer XDP-100R outperforms the Pono in a number of ways, plus it's a real product with a warranty that's still available. But honestly, if I want to listen to high-res audio, I'd do it from my dedicated server (just a Mac Mini with an Apogee Rosetta D/A).

Naw, I've been using the Apple AirPods lately when I do portable listening. Perfectly fine for what I want.

BTW, I forgot to mention that iPods can play three different lossless formats: WAV, ALAC, and AIFF. (I always forget about the latter.)

 

Lightning connectors are gone from the newest iPad Pros, replaced by a single USB-C port. So who knows.

 

2TB (and a flip phone for me)

 

I have one of those. USB-C made the most sense for an iPad Pro, because of the video output, faster charging, and other peripherals that you'd want to hook up to a "Pro" iPad. An iPod would need none of these things, and would be better served by taking advantage of the 1+ billion Lightning cables/accessories out there in the wild.

 

If they’d made a bigger capacity iPod a few years ago i’d have got one, but my Sony NWA45 can take a 512G micro SD card, plays FLAC, DSD (albeit transcoded to PCM), up to 192K / 24 bit, supports AptX HD and has a respectable headphone amp. Apple left a hole in the market for better quality DAPs and plenty of other people have filled the hole. That said, my nice new iPhone XS Max 256G with Foobar plays just about anything via a USB DAC, so it’s nice having lots of options to play music with.

 

I don’t get what’s hell about the adaptor. I fly a lot and I keep it attached to my head phones. I also have a second adaptor option just in case I want to recharge at the same time I’m using headphones on a plane.

No hassle at all.

 

They need to come up with something. I've read that the iPhone XR is not selling as well as they had hoped. $AAPL stock is much closer to the 52 wk low than the 52 wk high - no doubt, in some part, influenced by lackluster iPhone sales. Apple's suppliers, like Skyworks Solutions $SWKS, have also taken a beating. Trade war and tariffs on stuff from China doesn't help stock prices, either.

Anyway, back to audio...

 

Quite some time back, when Apple abandoned Mac's that had memory that could be expanded by the user, they found out that they could really screw the consumer who wanted more memory, as Apple product's generally came with really basic memory.

I've had the original 128k Mac. Every time that there was an OS upgrade, something did not work right and they system would crash.

Of course, I don't believe that I have ever seen a Microsoft product that worked as it was advertised to.