With a 50% improvement in battery life to 12 hours (attributed to better power conservation, not a heavier battery), an iPod mini-like click wheel, one millimeter thinner dimensions, new menus that are “more efficient,” the ability to create multiple playlists and edit them, and the new variable speed control for playing content faster or slower, simply put, these new 4G iPods nuke the competition. And the new iPod still comes in your choice of color: white, white, or white.
“Veteran Podsters understand that at least once a year Apple performs a feat that at once infuses them with dread and delight: an iPod upgrade. The delight comes from a new look and new capabilities. The dread comes from the realization that you’re a step behind the cutting edge and must consider whether to buy your way back on it,” Steven Levy writes for Newsweek.
“And here it goes again. The considerably tweaked fourth-generation iPod will roll out this week, and NEWSWEEK got an advance peek. It looks a bit different, operates more efficiently, has a few more features and costs less. Here are the highlights,” Levy writes.
It’s all here.
MacDailyNews Take: The biggest news? No 60GB model, yet. But, much better prices – $100 price drops for each of the two models in the iPod line. Levy reports, “The top-of-the-line iPod, holding 10,000 songs (40 gigs, as geeks will tell you), now costs $399. The lower-capacity model, with room for 5,000 songs (20 gigs), costs $299.
well, thats my ipod on ebay then!
Clicking on the “here” link results in…
Network Error (gateway_error)
An error occurred attempting to communicate with an HTTP or SOCKS gateway.
The gateway may be temporarily unavailable, or there could be a network problem.
For assistance, contact your network support team.
This is great news, but my 1G 5GB iPod still holds more than enough music for my commute to work and the battery works fine.
Hum… Maybe I could subconsciously drop it?
-DaMacGuy
Nice to see Apple back at the 12-hour mark of the original 1G iPod!
Am I buying? Fsck yeah!!!
Simon, Apple never promoted 12 hours for ANY iPod. THe highest was 10 hours. This new 4G iPod EXCEEDS the 10 hour promise that the orginal 1G and 2G had.
It’s all good
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Oh, yeah – 10 hours for the original. You’re right. Hey, looks like we iPodders have broken MSNBC’s Newsweek site!
Fsck you, Steve Jobs! You screw it all up for me. I see you in hell!!!
Double Super Fsck you, Steve Jobs! You screw it all up for me bigtime. I see you in hell first!!!
Up to 12 hours is what they’ll say. The 60 GB will come when Toshiba ramps up production. Perhaps in August or September for last minute Xmas shopping for those who absolutely must listen to 20,000 songs every day!
“For assistance, contact your network support team.”
Hello? Is there anybody there?
NO! I knew this would happen…must fight the urge to buy one…so powerful…current iPod only 6 months old…need new DVD drive and battery for Pismo…must sell personal belongings or maybe soul…I neeeed one…
To whomever posted the “You screw it all up for me” posts – LOL!
FYI everyone, for those that don’t know:
Nobuyuki Idei = CEO of Sony
Sim Wong Hoo = CEO of Creative
Why would Apple update the line without upgrading the disc capacities? I think that these new iPods are utilising the same basic components as the last generation except for the outer-shell. Apple must be stocking up on the true next-generation iPods’ drives for a massive retail assault at the end of the year. If they do this right Apple can sell more iPods in December than the rest of the year combined.
Oh how I regret getting my 3g, 30gb iPod engraved on the back. Damn! I can’t justify a new one if I can’t sell the old one.
Extended battery life based on increased power efficiency – is that through firmware or hardware or both? Will we see new firmware for older versions that increase efficiency?
We didn’t break the site, but I bet Pamela Bennett is VERY peeved at Newsweek this morning.
It looks like Newsweek pulled the story for now. The article date was for the July 26th issue of Newsweek.
I got a few pages into it and it was a very well written series of articles.
-DaMacGuy
The site is back up with all the story (as well as the rest of the news). The article date: July 26 is for Monday’s issue. News magazines use the following week’s date on their covers. Have done so since they first started publishing. Monthly mags use the following month’s date on their covers. Again this has always been the case.
My 2g,10gb iPod still works fine but this one looks good especially the price. Had to pay double that for the one I got. Price of technology always goes down & gets better.
No, the full story is still there on the Newsweek site. I’m sure Apple was aware that it would post a day or two early to their website as this is pretty much standard practice these days.
If the variable speed playback rumor is correct, this will be killer for those that want to dj and mix tunes from their ipods. Once again, in one fell swoop, Apple will have addressed the needs of the creative (dj) community.
Interesting that anouncement of a new iPod conicide with expected delivery the the hPod. (give or take a month).
With the mini and a new iPod out, the HP deal starts to make more sense to me now. Apple’s not giving up much to HP by letting them sell yesterday’s iPod. If we look back at the 3rd generation model it made the 2nd generation one almost worthless. Expect the 4th generation iPod to make the hPod look old and clunky (keeping the only design flaw in iPods: the awkwardly located touch pad buttons). Fortunately for HP they will probably be allowed to sell hPods for much less than the old iPods and have a good jump on the rest of the competition (which has not even caught up with the 1st gen iPod usability wise)
Do us 3G owners get the “new menus that are “more efficient,” the ability to create multiple playlists and edit them?”
Hope so. Seems it would only be a software update… but what do I know
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Don’t get your hopes up Randy. They didn’t retrofit software features from the 3G iPod to the 2G. They probably won’t do it this time either even if it is (and was) only a software thing.
My 2G 20gb iPod is still longing for the 3G features (actually I am).
Altos: But wasn’t the main thing with the 3G and the 2G the dock connector and all that it can do? The 4G is closer to the 3G than the 3G is to the 2G. Shall know tomorrow.
HP will be selling the new version of the iPod, not the old 3G models. This I know for a fact.
I heard they were going to release an iPod software update though wouldn’t that include the new features? Maybe? Please??
Also it would be really really really cool if this new energy efficiency could be gained (at least somewhat) from the software upgrade.
(Well, I can dream, can’t I?)