How Long before a bigger capacity ipod touch?

[smiduri]

That´s it, as suimple as that.
I´m just curious to know what people think s about it, how long will it be before apple release a, ket´s say 30 Gigs iPod Touch?

[Aluminum]

not untill this time next year, next year the models will probably hace at least double the storage, the price will drop, and the wifi will be much better



8 and 16gigs for an Ipod are really small sizes, especially when you factor in the videos

[tonyclifton]

I will have to wait :(

[homeboy]

32GB iPod Touch will probably be launched sometime in the first half of next year, before March is my guess.

[marinelayer]

My guess - this time next year. Having it by Macworld in January is overly optimistic given the flash memory market. To make it work the wholesale cost would need to drop by at least 50% or else Apple would either see lower margins or be forced to change the price, neither of which we can expect. They might be able to realize additional cost savings from other different components, but flash is the real wildcard.

[manders4001]

How rapidly has flash been developing? How long do you think it'll take them to get something in the 60-100GB range at a reasonable thickness and price? I'm guessing that to give an educated guess you'd have to figure out how quickly it has been developing in that way in the past, but I have no idea where to find that info. Ideas?

[Mr. E.]

I could have this wrong, but I think the theoretical limit to how information-dense the memory can be makes it unlikely that iPhones will reach the 100 GB capacity-range unless Apple decides to make them bigger, which does not seem to be their trend. Maybe someone with more knowledge can speak to that, but I've heard it mentioned elsewhere that the science involved will hit a limit as far as gigabytes per space goes. This article (http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36841) shows some higher capacity flash drive, but the bigger ones look like they may be bigger already than any iPod on the market.

As far as expanding beyond 16GB, I think they already can, but pricing needs to come down. I expect we'll see a 16GB iPhone before too long, and I wouldn't be surprised if the iTouch doubled a year from now, but I'm guessing it'll be a while before we see really high-capacity flash iPods (on par with the iPod Classic) any time in the next year or two.

But like I said, I'm not talking from actual knowledge, just bits and pieces of things I've heard/read in this or that tech podcast or blog.

[homeboy]

How rapidly has flash been developing? How long do you think it'll take them to get something in the 60-100GB range at a reasonable thickness and price? I'm guessing that to give an educated guess you'd have to figure out how quickly it has been developing in that way in the past, but I have no idea where to find that info. Ideas?

Flash capacity is doubled every year.

2007: 16GB
2008: 32GB
2009: 64GB
2010: 128GB

Off course that's a rough estimate. As times goes on the production of flash memory increases and so does the prices and the capacity will double even faster.

[IDSmoker]

Apple will probably release an increased capacity flash memory based iPod Touch sometime in the next 3-9 months depending on what happens in the worldwide flash memory market and how successful the sales are for the original Touch.

I would be very surprised to see the hard-drive based iPod Touch that I, and many others apparently are going to wait for, released anytime in the next 12 months.

[Signal to Noise]

I predict we'll see a 32GB model by December this year just in time for the xmas gift buying season. With a $100 price drop.

Don't be fooled. The higher capacity flash chips have already been created. Steve keeps them under his matress and will dole them out to the hungy I-HEART-EVERYTHING-APPLE mobs as he sees fit.

[choitoy57]

Isn't there a theoretical limit to size of the memory to the cons of producing something like this?

With hard drives, the more memory, the hotter things can get. Granted, it's mechanical also, so there's the wear and tear factor thrown in, but I don't see HDD getting above 2 tetrabytes before it isn't either cost effective, or feesible to have in your computer without a little air conditioning unit built into the case.

With flash memory, there is no mechanical parts, but theoretically, a large memory flash drive at fast sppeds would produce a lot of heat also, and without extra space for cooling, I don't see going above 64 gigs for such a small form factor as the iPod touch working. I can feel my 8 gig iPhone get a little warm to the touch while surfing some graphic intensive MySpace pages now.

Now I can be wrong, as technology tends to surprise us, but I'm not keeping my hopes up for a 160 gig flash iPod touch anytime soon. But possibly a 32 gig by the end of 2008, unless Apple will start to stick a hard drive in there

[homeboy]

Isn't there a theoretical limit to size of the memory to the cons of producing something like this?

With hard drives, the more memory, the hotter things can get. Granted, it's mechanical also, so there's the wear and tear factor thrown in, but I don't see HDD getting above 2 tetrabytes before it isn't either cost effective, or feesible to have in your computer without a little air conditioning unit built into the case.

With flash memory, there is no mechanical parts, but theoretically, a large memory flash drive at fast sppeds would produce a lot of heat also, and without extra space for cooling, I don't see going above 64 gigs for such a small form factor as the iPod touch working. I can feel my 8 gig iPhone get a little warm to the touch while surfing some graphic intensive MySpace pages now.

Now I can be wrong, as technology tends to surprise us, but I'm not keeping my hopes up for a 160 gig flash iPod touch anytime soon. But possibly a 32 gig by the end of 2008, unless Apple will start to stick a hard drive in there

The heat generated by is a result of the backlit display and battery. Memory chips generate more or less no heat at all. Just like there is a 160GB iPod Classic Apple will launch a 128GB iPod Touch in 2-3 years.

Evolution is the word. With each year the memory chip become smaller, more energy efficient and increase in capacity.

[tintin]

With each passing year having large capacity storage on your iPod will become less and less important.

With WiFi continuing to roll out along with other ubiquitous wireless broadband technologies on the wireless phone networks, having huge, expensive, heavy, battery-sucking storage in your hand will become moot.

The storage is in the network - streaming is where it's at. Think the video-on-demand model. Small local storage for buffering etc., and maybe some local storage to save some content for future or off-line use.

I'm taking the plunge and dropping my 80GB 5.5 (sold today for $250) and buying an 8GB Touch. 8GB is plenty for me to carry some music and movies around with me. WiFi gives me access to all sorts of content wirelessly, with more to come.

Its the new model. Don't hold your breath for a 160GB iPod Touch or iPhone. Capacity will grow over time naturally, as memory gets cheaper, but as has been pointed out, the idea of carrying around 160GB of flash memory anytime soon is just not in the cards.

[shafe5858]

Hopefully soon!!! It seems like Apple has forgotten (although by the sounds of some of the technical data of Flash vs. HD, not intentionally) about a large sum of us who are in the middle of needing ALL 40,000 songs/videos/photos of our library and those who change/update their iPods on a daily basis. Our new choices are 8/16GB or 80/160GB. What about us in the 30 to 60 range???

[Gunner]

64GB definitely will be a ways off.

I would expect 32GB by next year though, as others have said, flash memory prices are volatile and Apple has to see the real savings to deliver 32GB Touch for the $399 that the 16GB launched for.

So, say you buy $399 16GB iPod touch now to 'get you by' and they release a 32GB in March for $399.

You sell your 16GB for $225'ish and buy the bigger one. The 'rental' for the six-eight months is about $175.

If that seems bad, think about those who paid $600 for an 8GB iPhone 9 weeks ago! :)

[jeremy3721]

Well I know I'll be regretting my purchase as soon as a 32+gb model comes out but I'm not waiting. I'll just have to ebay this one as soon as they are able to increase the storage capacity.

[marinelayer]

Apple's introduction of the new flash iPods and the aggressive price drop of the iPhone will only stabilize if not raise flash prices, thanks to Apple's dominant market position. Some analysts figure that after a small price drop that has already occurred, prices won't have another chance to drop for 2-3 quarters as the manufacturers have to change gears from DRAM to Flash. Flash was actually cheaper in January than it is now because no device manufacturer had any new products to sell. Apple actually missed an opportunity since they didn't have the iPhone available until 6 months later.

It's no coincidence that Apple didn't raise capacity on the nano and shuffle, and it replaced the 4 GB iPhone with the 16 GB iPod touch. That ensures that Apple will use the same components throughout a broad range of their flash-based product line. As Apple introduces the iPhone in other countries those sales could replace the demand that will taper off in America. The best hope for us consumers is that the Flash makers really crank up production in order to flood the market and drive the price down. Unfortunately that move isn't in their best interests. I don't expect a refresh with a 32 MB touch until next summer or fall.

[suedehead77]

this is what I've been saying all along. I'm glad somebody else out there understands the new web-based paradigm.

[QUOTE]With each passing year having large capacity storage on your iPod will become less and less important.

With WiFi continuing to roll out along with other ubiquitous wireless broadband technologies on the wireless phone networks, having huge, expensive, heavy, battery-sucking storage in your hand will become moot.

The storage is in the network - streaming is where it's at. Think the video-on-demand model. Small local storage for buffering etc., and maybe some local storage to save some content for future or off-line use.

[canadan]

Apple is obviously in an awkward phase of transition at the moment. They're trying to eventually phase out (or focus less on) HD players while trying to keep up with the latest technology and phase in Flash devices. They've advanced their technology with the amazing touch interface but have to wait for flash advancements to catch up for increased capacity which we've become accustomed to (and well, kinda spoiled with I guess). We can't expect Apple to just sit around and wait for technology to allow large capacity iPod touch devices. If the touch devices work best with flash (wich is most likely why they haven't opted for the HD), then they have to use it with the capacities that are currently made available. Strike while the iron is hot pretty much. If they were to wait until they could boost it to current HD ranges, then their innovative touch technology would be put on hold and other companies could pretty well catch up to them with something similar or all together different, who knows. It's simply a work in progress and we have to be patient for technology to catch up. That's how I see it anyway. The flash chips work great for their smaller capacity players like the nano's and shuffles where there is no issue. For us other size queens (for memory that is), it'll come. We waited from the first iPod to the current HD ones, we just kinda have to expect to go through a similar type of waiting game again for these flash ones. I know I'll wait for the next upgrade which is bound to happen sometime soon and I'll be happy with what I'll get at that time, I'll survive. :)

[Prinny]

What are the competitors out there for iPod Touch? I don't think any other 16GB flash drive mp3 players even exist yet, so we're getting the latest technology available for maximum price -- can't really complain if I choose to flush my money into it.

I think the price will drop after the holiday seasons if the iPod Touch doesn't do as well as expected. Otherwise, I think new, bigger capacities will be out around Summer '08. Even then I think it's too early to update with a new iPod Touch, I'd expect an iPod Touch 1.5 gen or something.

[tazfan5040]

Can flash memory be added together? For example... could Apple make a 24 GB touch with an 8 GB drive and a 16 GB drive?