Wow. Big surprise. The iPod Touch isn’t getting a video camera, as was widely rumored. Only the iPod nano got a camera. Bummer.
The iPod touch does have a lower price point though: $199 for an 8GB model.
“The iPod mini used to sell for $250, and when we brought it down to $199, sales doubled,” said Phil Schiller. “We learned something: $199 is the magic price point in the iPod world. We’re bringing it down today to $199 for an 8GB iPod touch.”
Plus, the middle- and higher-end models get faster processors and double the storage capacity: 32 and 64GB.
Here’s the new price points and capacities:
8GB at $199
32GB at $299
64GB at $399
The 32GB and 64GB iPod Touch will be 50% faster, Schiller said, and run OpenGL ES 2.0, the same graphics engine used in the iPhone 3GS. Schiller showed the new iPods running several games at the event, which make use of the OpenGL ES 2.0 technology. The entry-level 8GB iPod touch is still running the older processor.
Update: The new iPod’s are available for order from Apple’s website:
Nano
iPod nano with video camera, 8GB for $149, 16GB for $179
Touch
iPod touch 8GB for $199
iPod touch 32GB for $299
iPod touch 64GB for $399
Shuffle
iPod shuffle 2GB MP3 Player for $59
iPod shuffle 4GB for $79
iPod shuffle 4GB Special Edition in Stainless Steel for $99
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
