Out of nowhere, Apple has brought back the iPod series in India and many other countries this week. The music-centric device with a screen is making its first appearance in public after more than four years.
But unlike the previous versions, the new iPod Touch is not merely going to help you listen to music. You can also FaceTime with other people (on Apple devices), message them as well and play games via Apple’s Arcade online platform (later this year).
The company has mentioned that the upgraded iPod Touch gets its power from the A10 Fusion chipset, which was first made available with the iPhone 7 series couple of years back.
The new iPod touch starts at Rs 18,900 for the 32GB model, Rs 28,900 for the 128GB model and Rs 38,900 for the 256GB model and will be available through Apple authorised re-sellers and select carriers, Apple mentioned.
The new iPod touch also provides fun augmented reality (AR) experiences across gaming, education and web browsing, Apple said. Now if you consider what the iPod Touch is offering, it’s not very different from the iPhone, except that you can’t make voice calls (via SIM) with the iPod Touch.
It all comes down to who really feels the need to buy a music-centric device in 2019. After all, there are plenty of phones in the market that can do almost all of this and still cost much lower than the base price of the iPod Touch.
The device carries a 4-inch screen with 640 pixels resolution. You get an 8-megapixel camera at the back, for basic shooting needs (if you need one that is) and a 1.2-megapixel shooter at the front for FaceTime and quick selfies.
Oh yes, unlike the iPhones selling right now, Apple has equipped the iPod Touch with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Because it’s a music-focused device in the first place!
You can operate the iPod Touch with Apple’s Siri voice assistant too. Then again, what’s the point of launching a device which seems like just another effort from Apple to increase its coffers with the money for services from its consumers.
iPods used be ‘the’ thing that teens aspired to own a few years back. But ask anybody if they want one of these now – not sure how many would even feel the need for it. Smartphones basically do everything that the iPod Touch caters to and more.
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