Apple’s sixth-generation iPod touch, an iPhone-like device without the phone part that came in a range of vibrant colors at a low starting price of just $199 for the 32-gigabyte version, but is it still worth it today?

That’s what our video editor Harris Craycraft set out to find out by revisiting Jeff’s original review of the sixth-generation iPod touch with a fresh pair of eyes. The sixth-generation iPod touch released on July 15, 2015. As a quick refresher, the device runs Apple’s dual-core 64-bit A8 chip from September 2014 (whose revised variant powers the fourth-generation Apple TV).

Why won’t Apple give us a pink iPhone?

It’s got a four-inch 1,136-by-640 pixel screen at 326 ppi, 800:1 contrast ratio and 500 cd/m2 max brightness. The front camera does 720p video recording but takes crappy selfies at just 1.2 megapixels. The back camera is an eight-megapixel sensor with 1080p video recording and slo-mo video capture at 120 frames per second (not bad for a 2015 device).

One of the allures of the device is its impossibly thin and light appearance along with a range of vibrant finishes on its anodized aluminium housing: Space Gray, Gold, Silver, Pink, Blue and PRODUCT(RED). Most importantly, the sixth-generation iPod touch is the most affordable iOS device that starts at the psychologically important price point of less than $200 for the 32-gigabyte edition, which climbs to $299 if you need 128 gigabytes of storage.

The same question—is it worth your money? This is, of course, something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

Envisioning a seventh-generation iPod touch with a modern appearance

Apple used to advertise iPod touch as an iPhone without the phone part, but that’s not telling the whole truth because the media player lacks some other features commonly found on iPhones. For instance, iPod touch lacks an ambient light sensor so its battery tends to deplete at a much faster clip because the display isn’t power managed (due to their very thin enclosure, iPod touches have always had a significantly smaller battery than iPhones).

The iPod touch family also lacks a hardware ringer switch (you can set it to silent via Control Center) and the GPS (Location Services are supported via Wi-Fi, but they’re not as accurate as with dedicated GPS hardware).

How an iPod touch with a 7-inch AMOLED display might fit in Apple’s iOS device lineup

As a matter of fact, a recent report from Japanese blog Mac Otakara alleged that Apple might be working on a seventh-generation iPod touch so there’s that. Coincidentally or not, iPad mini could see a refresh this year and it too has had no new version since 2015.

Should iPod touch make a comeback in 2019, it could resemble a brilliant concept from Anton Kriliov, seen above, that merges the diminutive iPad mini and iPod touch into the ultimate iOS device with a massive seven-inch screen.

Source: idb