Apple announces new iPod Touch: iPhone 7's brains in old iPod Touch's body

Apple’s iOS devices generally aren’t cheap for most people, but there have been a few exceptions in the past. Devices like the iPad Mini, iPhone SE, and iPod Touch delivered a more affordable iOS experience for many users.

Though the latter device was consigned to the history books? Apple has decided to resurrect it, announcing the 2019 iPod Touch today. The Cupertino company is positioning the device as an affordable way to get into augmented reality, Group Facetime, the Apple Arcade platform, and other Apple services.

The refreshed gadget offers a 2016-era Apple A10 Fusion chipset, which debuted in the iPhone 7 series. In other words, it’s less powerful than the last crop of iPhones and even the 2017 models. Heck, I’d wager that you can find mid-range Android phones that offer similar horsepower.

Apple’s 2019 iPod Touch also differs from the firm’s recent phones by offering a 4-inch LCD screen (1,136 x 640) instead of a large OLED screen, a 3.5mm port, no cellular connectivity or biometric authentication, and a physical home button. In other words, you’re pretty much looking at the previous iPod Touch with a power boost. Other notable specs include a 1.2MP selfie camera and an 8MP rear shooter.

The 2019 iPod Touch is available at a starting price of $199 for the 32GB model, $299 for the 128GB variant, and $399 for the 256GB version.

You have to wonder how many of these Apple will be able to sell though, as the mobile industry is a very different place compared to 2015 (when the previous model launched). There’s no doubt the company will sell plenty to people wanting a gift for their children at the very least, but it’s now possible to get fantastic budget phones for $200 to $400. I guess you have to be really devoted to Apple’s ecosystem to opt for this device over the likes of the Google Pixel 3a and Xiaomi POCOphone F1.

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