“Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone in the U.S. (and Canada), Christmas magic is in the air,” E. Werner Reschke writes for T-GAAP. “Cyber Monday is today. Many retailers very survival often depends on sales during the next four weeks — although I highly doubt this is what the wise men had in mind when bringing gifts to the Christ child.”
“Nevertheless, the world we live in is full of anticipation — for the next big thing. And Apple fans are no different,” Reschke writes. “While we have seen new versions of most of our favorites, only the new Mac Pro broke the mold and gave us something truly new and exciting. Everything else — iPhones, iPads, Macs — have all been improvements on the same theme. Arguably the iPad Air could be considered an exception as it really did make some big advancements.”
Reschke writes, “That said, our question at Three Guys and a Podcast is ‘What will Apple’s next big thing be?'”
Read more in the full article here.
I just want an updated mini.
I want mini with different color
Krylon…… You can even mix up your own patterns.
Do remember to mask off the display, home button, switches and port though……
I really hope Apple surprises everyone by making iTV a home console upgrade to the AppleTV. With an A7 processor and a little extra memory it would be a wicked Wii U contender. Also I imagine Apple could sell it for as little as $200
Considering an iPhone 5S on contract is $199, I highly doubt the iTV will be that price, especially if it does as expected (HD TV with cool features).
I assume that being the first to market (and the world not knowing about it first) with a 64-bit A7 chip and iOS was just nothing. Anyone could do it. It is like putting a smart phone under a plate of glass with multi-touch, anyone can do it (AND KEEP RIPPING OFF APPLE’S IT).
64-bit A7 chip and iOS, anyone can do that. However, 76% of Japan isn’t going to use old school 32-bit crap for 2 years while they work out how to do what Apple did again. Japan is just the tip of the tsunami that Apple created.
Really, 64-bit and no mention as the core of the “big advancements”? Is the idiot typing on a 32-bit or 16-bit computer? This changes everything. AGAIN!
I’d like to know what the future is for the iPod. It seems as though that whole lineup has lost its purpose. Will Apple be able to put an A7 into the Touch without raising the price at all? Will the Classic ever get flash memory in place of a spinning hard drive? Are music players even relevant anymore for most consumers? It would appear Apple needs to start from scratch in order to revive the iPod lineup if it doesn’t toss the whole thing away. I’m getting tired of hearing about dwindling iPod sales every quarter because it seems so negative to let analysts to sink their teeth into.
I think the iPod has played its role, and will continue to dwindle. The MaxiPod is an iPhone without the phone; the majority of people will go for the phone. All of the ‘tweeners are pointless. Only the miniPod still has a place, imo. And not for me. My only iPod has been and will remain my iPhone. If I were one to work out is such a way that the phone didn’t make sense, the iPod Mini would be my MP3 player of choice, but that isn’t me.
What do the analysts like for an MP3 player? Certainly nothing better than the iPod. Just because it is falling off doesn’t mean there is anything better out there.
The “smartphone revolution” killed the iPod. Who needs a standalone music player when you have one on your phone that works just as well, has the same amount of memory, and is already with you anyway?
Frankly, Apple doesn’t really need to do anything to the iPod, unless they can figure out a way to make the device truly useful on its own (i.e. a smart watch, advanced health sensor capabilities, etc., etc.). If not, they may as well push out the occasional minor update, but not do anything major other than eventually reducing the price as the costs go down. It’s a line of product that is no longer truly important for their overall lineup.
Actually, doc, I’d like a light long-battery life 5 inch iPod touch to carry in my top pocket to read books and do other non-phone stuff. I lost my old one while on a bushwalk a few months ago and now miss it even though I thought I’d just use the iPhone for those things.
True, and everyone is different. And maybe Apple will design an iPod Touch that fits into the “iPad Nano” category, large enough to function as a mini-tablet but designed more to be an oversized iPod. Who knows?
Frankly, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Who needs a standalone music player when you have one on your phone that works just as well”
All the kids whose parents are not going to get them an expensive phone plan. Not just theory. I see plenty of them in my social circles.
But that’s a shrinking niche market as more and more (idiot and irresponsible) parents get their kids smartphones (way too young).
Not to mention, that doesn’t answer the larger point of why Apple should invest significant time and resources UPDATING a product that serves an ever-shrinking niche market.
Now, growing the iPod Touch into a device that is a step down from an iPad Mini for people who aren’t ready to take that leap? That would make sense. But the iPod market is slowly dying, and unless Apple has a way to shake it up and make it must-have, there isn’t much point in making major updates the way they do with main product lines like iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.
Well, my IPhone 5S now won’t play my Exercise Music playlist because I’d some conflict with iCloud that I can’t figure out. At least I still have it on my iPod.
Maybe… just maybe… this iWatch everyone talks about could be an iPod in a watch form, like the 6th gen took a completely different concept than the 5th.
The iPod is a specialized device. Most iPod models are intended primarily (or solely) for music playback. The smaller models are particularly useful for active people who like to exercise to music. I really like the small, square, clip-on shuffle. It is a simple device with long battery life.
The iPod touch is a bridge device to the iPhone. The iPhone-sized display of the iPod touch supports video playback, web browsing and gaming like the iPhone, but does not have the cellphone connectivity circuitry, GPS, etc. For those who want the portability of an iPhone without the cell phone/data capabilities, it is still a great option (although I wish that GPS were included on the touch and on all iPads, even those without cellular capabilities). In terms of functionality, the iPod touch should probably be classified as the “iPad micro.” It fits nicely into that slot in terms of size, functionality, and price.
I recently checked out the latest iteration of the iPod touch and, like the iPhone and the iPad, it is amazingly refined and light compared to past models.Even though sales of iPod touches and other iPod models continue to decline in the face of increased sales of iPhones and iPads, Apple is still selling quite a lot of them. In the near term, I don’t expect any revolutionary changes in the designs of the iPad lineup. I am surprised that Apple has not EOL’ed the classic with its 160GB HDD given the increasing capacity of solid state storage.
I use my 160 GB iPod Classic as
a) a backup for all my music;
b) a backup for all my full-resolution photo files;
c) my primary music source for my car … I leave the iPod in place in the car all the time (except if it will freeze). I don’t drive far locally, but Radio where I live is limited, so I’d rather listen to songs I like instead of surfing the stations. And on long trips you can’t beat it. Some people may like Pandora or satellite radio, and I do too … but for how I listen to music the iPod just works.
The next big thing could be the Pono Player. It’s a super high quality music player developed by Neil Young. The model is in place for Apple to facilitate this player to market.
Thank you one and all for not bringing up the “W” word.
You mean the iWatch?
I think it should be a 4G LTE iPod touch. It should already be here, dammit. Is it the greed? Can you imagine TextFree on Sprint, 2 GB for $15/month? THAT would be a very BIG thing, plus the iTouch is just plain AWESOME as a device.
So the next big thing is a data plan without a voice plan or Vice Versa!!!!
If I could put a Text and Web or just Web SIM in an iPod Touch, I would literally ditch my iPhone and go straight to the Apple Store! I have NEVER called on my iPhone!!