The sixth generation of the iPod Touch has everyone confused. Most signs pointed to it being released last September, in the same month that most other iPod Touches were launched, but Apple didn't make a peep over it. So now some are speculating that the iPhone-without-the-phone may have been deemed obsolete, while others are holding on to the recent rumor that the device is still coming later in 2015.
The fact is, we're way overdue for a new iPod Touch as the last generation came out in September of 2012. Sure, we saw that upgrade in July of last year that introduced the 16 GB edition, but word on the new iPod Touch is eerily absent from recent Apple events.
But there may still be a market for the iPod Touch if Apple makes the same upgrades as it has with the iPhone 6. See, the iPod Touch has been stuck on that ancient A5 processor, but the iPhone line is now up to the A8. Apple might just be waiting for the next version of the A chips, but it's most likely that the sixth generation iPod Touch will have the A8 or even the iPad's A8X chip.
Right now, the big focus is on the Apple Watch, which some believe may replace the iPod Touch in its functionality. Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on February 10 about the Apple Watch, and he wasn't shy about stating its purpose as something he hopes will change lives.
"There are several things that are called smart watches, but I'm not sure you could name any," Cook said. "There hasn't been one that changed the way people live their lives. At Apple, that's our objective. We want to change the way you live your life."
But all those possibilities aside, the sixth-gen iPod Touch is still a real possibility, and its spec rumors are solid. The iPod Touch 6 is expected to launch in two size, like the iPhone 6, with a 4.7-inch screen and a 5.5-inch screen. Those sizes proved popular with the iPhone so far, so it would make sense.
Other shared specs would include the 1.4 GHz dual-core second-gen Cyclone CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and 16, 32, or 64 GB of storage.
The price is expected to stay very close to what the fifth-gen iPod Touches are going for, and, depending on the storage capacity, we're expecting those to start around $249 for the base model.
As for that release date, March's Mobile World Congress is out of the question, and obviously the rumored February 24th Apple event didn't happen, so we're expecting to see more information either way on the iPod Touch sometime after April's launch of the Apple Watch. Apple wouldn't taint the Apple Watch's spotlight with news that the iPod Touch line is being discontinued, so the longer the company waits to let us know, the worse the news may be for fans of the media player.
