What do people think about the iPod touch 7 (released last year) now?

So the last iPod touch is also the only iPod touch that can run iOS 14. The thing has an A10 Fusion chip which is the same as what was in the iPhone 7, released 4 years ago. The previous iPod touch was released 5 years ago, so there’s a 4-year delta between models.

iOS 14 doesn’t support the previous A9 chip. But I would kind of figure that iOS 15 will likely ship before the 4 year difference there, so it’s questionable whether or not Apple will support it with another major software revision upgrade.

Apple in Canada never puts stuff on sale, and there are very few authorized sellers. All of the independent stores have shuttered because of new purchasing requirements by Apple, and even the ones that are left – Best Buy, Staples, The Source (the remnants of the old Radio Shack stores), Walmart, and not much else – don’t see the $100-150+ off savings that you see advertised on American Apple blogs. The new M1’s haven’t even hit the authorized resellers yet. So last year’s iPod touch is still $249CAD for the 32GB model. The iPad mini, even being released earlier than the current iPads, is $600, and contains the same processor (A12 Bionic, which is still not exactly new) from the “regular” iPad, which is $429. I’d maybe consider an iPad mini, but it’s too much money. The larger iPad is too large for what I’m looking for, and I don’t want a phone.

So what are peoples opinion on the iPod touch now? If Apple is “good” I might get another software upgrade for it for the latest iOS version, but I don’t know how the oldest-supported processor right now can last another 3 years of software upgrades (going by the previous lifecycle). The sh*tty thing is that Apple doesn’t reduce the pricing on older products, given that they have continually-reducing support lifecycles.

Conversation 11 comments

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    07 December, 2020 - 12:52 am

    <p>The iPhone 6S received iOS 14, and is at this point six years old, and it runs the A9. The O.G. 6 with the A8 was left out of 14, so the 6S likely has one more year, and the 7 two more years. We should expect the iPhone 7 to get iOS 16, and thus the iPod Touch at minimum should see that same support, but it is possible it will receive the standard 6 years, as the product's release date, not the SOC is more often used, but it may not receive features of later iOS versions.</p>

    • waethorn

      07 December, 2020 - 4:31 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#598248">In reply to jimchamplin:</a></em></blockquote><p>The 6s is only 5 years old, released September 2015. If this is the last iOS update for it, being that it's the oldest model supporting iOS 14, if iOS 15 drops it, that means that the iPhone 7 and maybe the iPod touch, given that it has the same SoC, will get iOS 15. But at that point they'll be the oldest SoC supporting iOS 15, and iOS 16 might drop them. The product support cycle has been closer to 5 years, sometimes even only 4 years of updates, like the iPod touch 6th gen. It was released the same year as the iPhone 6s (just a few months earlier), but didn't get iOS 14.</p>

      • jimchamplin

        Premium Member
        10 December, 2020 - 10:50 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#598403">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Huh. Not sure how I botched the math on that so badly.</p><p><br></p><p>Re: the 6G Touch, I wasn’t aware that it was already getting the cold shoulder! I suppose that any hope of understanding the lifecycle is a fool’s errand at this point. </p><p><br></p><p>“When Tim wants you to buy a new one.” There. Accurate.</p>

  • epsjrno

    Premium Member
    07 December, 2020 - 5:05 pm

    <p>I guess it depends on what you're planning on doing with it. My first music player was a Creative Labs Nomad. Loved that thing and how simple it was to use. It was easy to load MP3s over the USB cable.</p><p><br></p><p>Then, my exfiance bought me an iPod Touch and while it was a great music player for the time, I did not like be tethered to iTunes.</p><p><br></p><p>So, if you're looking for only music, I personally feel there are better options. If you want to be able to use apps AND play music, there's nothing wrong with choosing the iPod if you're okay with the Apple ecosystem.</p>

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    11 December, 2020 - 3:35 pm

    <p>Apple has a rich history of only refreshing the Touch weeks before support for the current version ends. At this stage, it is hard to even consider this a viable product considering the little love. </p>

  • angusmatheson

    12 December, 2020 - 4:20 pm

    <p>We just bought 2 for audio streaming with FaceTime. They were great. Super thin and light. The lack of touch or Face ID are hard when you are used to turn from and android or iPhone. No telephone really isn’t really a problem how we are using them. I like it, but I am not sure who need its. But I cannot image having one instead of a smart phone. Maybe if you had an android phone and wanted to stay in iOS? A kids you want to get $200 and buy a real phone? I’m not sure I would worry about software upgrades. It will keep running apps, playing music, FaceTime. It doesn’t have any fancy features that new updates will unlock.</p>

  • MacLiam

    Premium Member
    13 December, 2020 - 3:40 am

    <p>My Gen6 iPod Touch eventually got the screen discoloration disease, but still functioned. Then the battery swelled and split the case about the same time the Gen7 came out. That left me with the choice of upgrading it, or simpling converting one of my mothballed but functioning phones (most likely a 6S+, but there were Android candidates as well) to a big SIMless media device.</p><p><br></p><p>Eventually I decided there was a reasonable case to to be made for the new one, which like its predecessor now lives 90+ percent of its existence in a charger/media/clock stand on my bedside table. I don't carry it around. I have no complaints, and I would expect it to get iOS 15 and 16. It's running the 14.3 beta right now with no problems. I would be disinclined to update it if Apple ever does release a Gen8, but if the battery suicides in this one too, I'd have the same decision to make. But I'm not sure I'd make it the same way given the new media consumption options in the house.</p>

  • damiendada

    14 December, 2020 - 12:44 pm

    <p>Personally I find that the product is useless there are no improvements, it is an iPod Touch.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.minimilitia.mobi/&quot; target="_blank"><sup>Mini Militia</sup></a><sup>&nbsp;</sup><a href="https://www.applock.ooo/&quot; target="_blank"><sup>App Lock</sup></a></p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      14 December, 2020 - 1:19 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#599849">In reply to damiendada:</a></em></blockquote><p>I presume <strong>Waethorn </strong>has a specific use case in mind that the existing iPod Touch would be useful for. </p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    14 December, 2020 - 1:25 pm

    <p>Yeah, it is a tough spot when Apple moves away from a product that can still fill a niche for you. It sounds like you're trying to balance small size, reasonably low price, and confidence about long-term support. Given that nexus, I wonder if it might make sense to try to hold out a little longer and pick up a used iPhone SE 2020. We're not that far from the one-year anniversary of its release, at which point we'll start to see more of them on places like Swappa and eBay, or maybe even <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">refurbished from Apple.</span> That product should have years of support left. </p>

  • txag

    14 December, 2020 - 2:04 pm

    <p>I have ancient iPods, even a nano; they still work, even though their OS is also ancient. </p>

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