$9.99 Ain't bad

[Touchmyipod]

The last charge didn't bother me, and this time $9.99 isnt that bad. Adds some function if you need it.

Reactions? I myself, won't update. No need with the iPhone and all, and iPhone or not, I would still have kep mine jailbroken 1.1.4

Thoughts?

[DerekVOF]

I'm gonna update -- some of those applications looked pretty nice. Of course, I'll jailbreak it as well :D

[kornchild2002]

$9.99 isn't a bad price but I think it sucks that iPod touch users are getting screwed yet again. The iPod touch is more expensive than an iPhone when it comes to the initial purchase. I know that the iPhone supplies Apple money over a period of time but that doesn't mean that they should abandon the iPod touch and make people pay more for their flagship iPod. I will probably pay the price as I didn't pay for the January software package. I still won't be happy about it but $9.99 will be a lot easier to swallow.

I just don't like the idea of paying for a firmware upgrade whenever iPhone users get it for free and firmware updates have always been free.

[AndyT4097]

Yeah, I hear ya!! I think I still will upgrade even for the $10. Some of those apps look pretty sweet.

[p3ezi]

I paid for the Jan.Software Update and it didnt do anything but put 5 weak apps. I'm going to keep my touch jailbroken. Bc apple seems like it isn't trying to anything for me and my touch except help Pres. Bush get money out of me. Keep the JAILBREAK ALIVE. Thanks all dev squads and I will start donating money for the real cause that's going on.

[IknewIwasright]

Not to sound stupid, but does anyone have a link to this information? Where do you go for the upgrade?

[kornchild2002]

The upgrade isn't out yet. WWDC (or whatever it is called) was held earlier this morning about 3 hours ago. This information came from Steve Jobs' statement while he was on stage. So they gave us some information about the update including price and features but they didn't specify when it is coming out.

[ipodlover29]

They said it would come out early July.

[DerekVOF]

Actually, they said early July during today's keynote. You should be able to watch it (probably later tonight), if you want. Should be available here - http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/appleevents/

Both Engadget & Gizmodo should have summaries of all the announcements as well as live blogs of the keynote...

[Digital Crack]

$9.95 for a FIRMWARE UPDATE?

Apple can kiss my ####ing ###.

[anypats]

A firmware update typically fixes bugs and stability. Software updates add functionality to current software. The $9.99 is a software update and not a firmware update.

This is common in a lot of products, not just Apple. I can upgrade the firmware on my Pioneer DVD burner for free to improve burn speeds and stability. However, if I want to upgrade the burning software I have to shell out the $$ for it.

Operating systems are the same way whether it is OS X or Windows. Bug fixes and security fixes are free. Upgrades to a whole new OS requires a bit of cash. Rarely do people ever complain about these things. But ask for $10 and people get all bent out of shape. This leads me to believe that it really does come down to the fact that it is free for iPhone users.

If you don't want access to the software store then don't upgrade. I can bet however that most Touch users are going to wish they had the App store when it's available next month.

Just remember if you want mobileme support you will need an extra $99 per year both Touch and iPhone users.

[kornchild2002]

Isn't Apple calling it Firmware 2.0? The current version is 1.1.4 (or something along those lines). That sounds like a firmware update to me. It is alright that Apple wants to come out with increased functionality and charge for it but don't call it a new firmware. Apple should have kept it as firmware 1.1.4 or even allowed people to upgrade to 1.1.5 for free and then called all these new features the July App pack or something along the lines. I could see paying for an app pack but not a firmware upgrade.

[archurban]

well, it is not. if it is just firmware update, why Apple will charge from us? when you will get new OS 2.0 (I can say), you can get a lot of new features. I don't think that you will get push email, calendar, other function by just update. even App store is not will be free.

[Zimmy]

Apple will do the same BS as last time, they will allow you to upgrade to 2.0 but it will be a vanilla update to match numbers.
To get the functionality, you have to pony up the $10. Only in Apple's America.
That is what you get when the Touch is the red headed stepchild of Apple's iPhone.
iPhone, lots of revenue. Touch all the functionality but they can't bleed you dry daily.

The real question that I haven't seen an answer to:

If I never paid for the January update or never installed I should say, will this $9.95 update include those apps?

If so, I may have to actually do it.

[PG4G]

I bloody well hope not!!!

i paid good money

only to find I will have paid 3 times as much for the same functionality.

I suspect they will be separate keys, however.

[PG4G]

Ok, to clear up some obvious misunderstandings here... the firmware is a different issue to the software.

The firmware is a part of the software, but unlike the standard software, it is far more tied to the hardware, and is rarely altered (not as soft, and more hard but not rocksolid, therefore, FIRM)
The Software updates as you install them, they are all software. Software is the coding, the data, and firmware is that. The Software update, alters this firmware to boot your new OS, and installs the new version of OS X iPhone on your device.

Now... people throw around the word firmware thinking it refers to the Operating system. This is NOT the case. It refers to the code that negotiates between the hardware and the software. The Operating system is purely a software issue.

Both of these updates are tied together in one package called an ipsw file, or iPod (or iPhone) Software file.

As I stated. Firmware is a type of software, but software is not a type of firmware.

What is Apple doing?

Apple is preparing a new operating system with standardized apps and functions.

Think of it like Vista Basic and Home Premium. You buy the key for home premium and you get the features. Truth be told, it is all on the CD, everything, including Ultimate. But your key only unlocks premium.

Apple will provide OS X iPhone to you for free. This includes the Firmware, as it is needed to boot this OS. But some of the software features, like apps, will be locked away under that key. When you provide the key, the features activated by that specific key show up and work.

Apple can create any amounts of keys it likes, and just ask iTunes to boot them like they did last time.

(and no, it is the iPhone 2.0 SOFTWARE update)

[Touchmyipod]

I am a touch owner, and an iPhone owner. Personally, I dont think its a big charge. I paid for the last update, even with my jailbreak. Apple doesnt force anyone to buy it, if you dont want the charge, dont buy the key to unlock the apps. I understand people frsutrations, but undestand, iPhone owners like me signed a contract stating we get updates with our contract with AT&T through there agreement with apple. iPhoners pay 60+ dollars a month to the companies involved. Touch users have everythign my iPhone has minus camera and a constant data connection. 9.95 to add some more functionality isnt that bad considering it adds to the device. Go ahead and bash, but overall people these days expect to much to be handed to them. I myself am included, but to get in a tizzy over a 9.95 update, when youre not forced to buy it, is a tad silly in this day and age. Yes I understand the gripes, but I also understand the reality of the situation. Pardon the spelling, on my iPhone, stuck in a car pool on the 101 Freeway : )

[Bernardini]

Exactly what do you get for the $9.99?

[anypats]

well, it is not. if it is just firmware update, why Apple will charge from us? when you will get new OS 2.0 (I can say), you can get a lot of new features. I don't think that you will get push email, calendar, other function by just update. even App store is not will be free.

Push email, calendar, contacts, etc. is through the new mobileme (previously .mac). Mobileme is $99 per year whether you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch.

The App store will be loaded free on an iPhone with the update or $9.95 for touch users. The apps themselves will range in price from free to whatever the developer asks for.

[jhollington]

Let's also not forget that this is a major upgrade. If we compare the iPod touch to many similar PDA-style devices, upgradable firmware wasn't even an option.

For example, when Palm released Palm OS 5, you had to buy a new device to get it.

When Microsoft releases a major new version of Windows Mobile, you have to buy a new device to get it (sometimes even in the case of a .1 upgrade, in fact).

When Symbian releases even a new feature pack for an existing S60 device, you have to buy a new device to get it.

Most smartphones and PDAs aren't even software-upgradeable in the first place, much less for $10.

[Stay Alive 305]

I will be buying an iPhone 3G so no worries here. I don't know what I will do with my iPod Touch.

[ipodlover29]

I read with the new update we will finally be able to store email attachment photos to our iPod touch.

[fynebawdee]

I'm an iPod Touch owner and not an iPhone owner so I'll be purchasing the iPhone Software Update when it's released for the Touch. I loved how the gameplay and functionality looked during the SDK demonstrations for the various games/programs from all the different developers. Very Very impressed. Im gonna skip iPhone 2.0 due to the price of the service. Just too much and I would only get it if I had a job that would pay for the service and phone. :) I'm currently on a family plan and hardly pay a dime for my ATT service so I dont really care for a smart phone right now. It is nice to have the constant connectivity over the faster 3G network, but i'm just fine with being limited to WiFi connectivity with the Touch. And if I'm out, I'll just hop into a Starbucks and log into my Att.net account.

[Alpha752]

I never did the $20 update for my touch.... im sure this is a stupid question, but will the $9.99 update include the origional apps? Can you get mail, ect from the app store with the 2.0 update?

[Cameron_Talley]

I never did the $20 update for my touch.... im sure this is a stupid question, but will the $9.99 update include the origional apps? Can you get mail, ect from the app store with the 2.0 update?

At this point, no one knows, and it is a good question.

Can you even do the new update without the $20 update? It's difficult to know. We will likely just have to wait until the update comes out to find out.

[lakerboichris]

I will pay the $9.99. Not sure what I would get for it but I have an american itunes account but live in england so to me its only £5

[fynebawdee]

The old Jan software update is not really necessary if u want the iPhone update. The only problem I see is the use of mail if u want to push email with MobileMe. And u won't be using a great new feature like being able to save photo attachments in email. If u didn't care about having Google Earth (maps), stocks, weather, mail or being able to rearrange and add home screen widgets, then its not major issue if u want the new update. I'm one of the first Touch owners so I got it and using maps is awesome on it. The pq of googlemaps is pretty sweet along with the gps feature. The new tracking gps is pretty boss tho. Gotta have an iPhone for that.

[PG4G]

That remains to be seen, fynebawdee.

We don't know if all the apps are unlocked by this new key, or just the App store and the new features.

[cab1024]

...I understand people frsutrations, but undestand, iPhone owners like me signed a contract stating we get updates with our contract with AT&T through there agreement with apple. iPhoners pay 60+ dollars a month to the companies involved. Touch users have everythign my iPhone has minus camera and a constant data connection. 9.95 to add some more functionality isnt that bad considering it adds to the device. ...

Good point. iPhone owners are paying a lot of money every month to AT&T and/or Apple -- so they are paying for these new software updates. Touch owners pay a one-time price for the hardware. Someone said they paid 4 times as much for what you get now -- that does not take into consideration the $720 an iPhone owner will pay over the next two years for their data plan (plus $960 for voice).

[Prozak]

Good point. iPhone owners are paying a lot of money every month to AT&T and/or Apple -- so they are paying for these new software updates. Touch owners pay a one-time price for the hardware. Someone said they paid 4 times as much for what you get now -- that does not take into consideration the $720 an iPhone owner will pay over the next two years for their data plan (plus $960 for voice).

The point isn't so much that iPhone owners also pay for data and voice plans because those are entirely seperate than paying for software upgrades, it's that AT&T gives kickbacks to Apple every month for every iPhone on their network. Apple I believe has stated that they have taken money from these kickbacks to develop the software upgrades and that's why iPhone users get it for free.

From what I've read though, this will no longer be true. With the new 3G phone, Apple will no longer recieve kickbacks from AT&T, it will instead go to the traditional model used by most phone carriers. AT&T will subsidize the phone (offer it at a cheaper price) and recoup that lost money from the 2 year contract they make you sign and Apple will recieve money just from selling the hardware. My understanding is that this will now be the same buisness model as the iPod touch.

Will Apple still give away software upgrades? They had a good reason for charging iPod Touch users before but with the 3G phone, things don't seem so clear. I think for now we just wait though.

[jhollington]

Actually, it's not due to the kickbacks that Apple was getting from AT&T and the other carriers, but rather how they were accounting for the revenue stream from the iPhone in the first place.

The iPhone (and the Apple TV, I might add), were accounted for on a two-year "subscription" model for the realization of revenue. What this basically means is that when you buy an iPhone from Apple for, say, $480 (just to use round numbers), they only account for $20 each month on their income statements. So even though Apple receives all of the money up front, it remains in a "holding account" and is paid off on an accrual basis.

Since Apple is doing this with the iPhone and Apple TV, they can provide free software updates without getting into accounting problems, since the cost/revenue of a potential update is simply applied against the accruals for that particular accounting period. It's all very complex, but the long and short of it is that publicly-traded companies have a whole bunch of revenue rules that they have to live by these days to avoid some of the scandals and problems of the past.

The kickbacks to Apple from the carrier contracts were just gravy on top of that accounting methodology, and technically didn't have anything to do with the free software updates as far as the balance sheets are concerned.

Bear in mind also that just because you're paying $199 for an iPhone doesn't mean that Apple is only getting $199. Based on the rumours that these are now being sold through a traditional "carrier-subsidy" model, this means that the price that AT&T pays to Apple for the iPhone is still likely somewhat higher than that. The different is that this is a one-time payment to Apple for the hardware, rather than a monthly payment for the services.