New iPod Mini 4GB + 6GB Battery Life

[TenzoR]

How in the hell did they get from 8 hours (1st gen) to 18 hours

must be newer and more efficient chips, or better battery optmization

too bad they didnt release new colours just for the 6GB or else I might be tempted to buy

[will504]

Any other changes apart from the battery, 6GB and colour coordinated click wheel??

Accessories will still work with both the old and new ipod mini??

[allanmarcus]

One more change. Apple removed support for FireWire, unless you buy the dock. :-(

[pmhosting]

Actually if you read the specs here: http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/specs.html you will see that you can still use Firewire directly on them, you just need to buy the cable separately (or if you already have one for another iPod you are set.)

[ToadX]

Wow.... $199. There goes their sales for the 1 GB iPod shuffle. Who would pay $149 for an iPod shuffle when they can get a iPod Mini for $199. The only reason to get the 1 GB shuffle would be for the smaller size. The mini comes with the screen, 4x the space, more battery life, apple lossless, etc. for only $50 more.

omg... they don't give the ac adapter with the mini anymore...

[hotphil]

Nope, many other reasons to get a shuffle.

Glad the form factor's the same and somewhat impressed by claimed battery life - there goes Zen Micro's "edge". Wonder if I can get that battery retro-fitted to my 1st gen mini. Intrigued as to the lack of the rumoured colour screen (can't see point in a colour screen on a music player anyway).

[Commodus]

The colour screen would have been helpful if Apple included photo functionality on the mini at the same time. There are probably all kinds of photographers who'd love a $250 device that could store some of the photos they take during a long shooting session. As it stands, if Apple just wants it to be a music player, it can keep the monochrome display for a long time.

[Lone]

For those discussing the new and improved battery life, I suspect that the iPod mini now uses a 'weaker', more battery efficient processor, like the Rio Carbon does. It's certainly not a bigger battery, and since the Carbon gets 20 hours of battery life (likely the same as the new mini), I'm sure that they've done the same thing.

[toe2]

Originally posted by Lone
For those discussing the new and improved battery life, I suspect that the iPod mini now uses a 'weaker', more battery efficient processor
I doubt that the processor is 'weaker'. When loading new songs the processor already uses max clocking rate of 80 (check through _show_speed). So when playing a game while listening to music on the 1G mini the game sometimes stops for a bit...

Anyway, does the new 2G iPod mini finally displays the Album in the 'Now Playing' screen? I visited Apples website and came accross this paragraph which makes it sound as if Song + Artist + Album is displayed like on the regular iPod:

Recessed in the case to keep its surface pristine, the 1.67-inch (diagonal) backlit screen displays full song and album titles, artists’ names and more.

I'm suprised that they came up with a new iPod mini now...I consider it as an update only, because there will be 8GB hard drives in the summer and 10GB ones at the end of the year, which would mean that Apple would have to do another upgrade....maybe there will be an iPod mini photo :) I mean, Creative already released the Zen Micro Photo with a 6GB hard drive, color screen and photo ability...

Also, I guess I will be able to use my fire wire cable along with the power adaptor from the old mini for the new iPod mini...right?

[ToadX]

Originally posted by hotphil
Nope, many other reasons to get a shuffle.

Glad the form factor's the same and somewhat impressed by claimed battery life - there goes Zen Micro's "edge". Wonder if I can get that battery retro-fitted to my 1st gen mini. Intrigued as to the lack of the rumoured colour screen (can't see point in a colour screen on a music player anyway). And what other major reasons would there be to get a 1 GB shuffle besides the smaller size? The iPod mini is significantly better with the screen, clickwheel, longer battery life, etc.

[Icecool]

Originally posted by ToadX
And what other major reasons would there be to get a 1 GB shuffle besides the smaller size? The iPod mini is significantly better with the screen, clickwheel, longer battery life, etc.

1. Smaller size
2. Lack of moving parts
3. Ease of use
4. Price
5. Autofill

[ToadX]

Originally posted by Icecool
1. Smaller size
2. Lack of moving parts
3. Ease of use
4. Price
5. Autofill Lack of moving parts is a good reason, but I don't think most people know that is one of the differences. I really don't think the shuffle is much easier to use nor do I think people would buy the shuffle because of autofill... I would think all the other minor features you get with the mini like time & date, calendar, games, contacts, notes, etc. would be a much more attractive. One of the main issues people have with the shuffle is lack of screen.

I didn't really want this to turn into an argument. I don't own a shuffle or a mini, but if I was picking between the 1 GB $149 shuffle and the $199 mini, I would spend the extra $50 to get the LCD screen and space, and I think most other people would too.

[hotphil]

Ok, going a little off topic now but points that others (not you) may consider important in choosing a product don't make it a wrong choice. I own a mini and my girlfriend has a shuffle. For example here's some of our (equally valid) points of view:
I'm never going to listen to more than 1Gb before syncing
$50 is a lot
I like the size
I can use it as a memory stick with no fancy cable
I have a PDA for games, PIM etc
I have a Smartphone for games, PIM etc
I can't see a screen when it's in my pocket
Skip free
Almost skip free

People make different choices for different reasons. I didn't buy a 20Gb because they don't sit well in my pocket and I couldn't fit my whole library on anyway. I went for a mini and Smartplaylists, it suits me better.

And to answer Toe2's questions, I'm not sure that 8/10Gb drives will be around in sufficient quantities any time soon for Apple to be rolling them out in any new mini's. And if they do, hey, that's progress.

Oh, and I believe the existing cables should work with new mini's as the dock connector appears the same.

[F34R]

Well at least I wont have to buy a car charger now. I work a 12hr shift in a vehicle for most of it as well. So this should be able to last that 12 hrs with time to plug it into my puter at home.

Only thing I dislike now is the fact that you have to send it to them for battery replacement. Its $99 for gods sake. Geeze...

[adamb10]

Besides the battery life, there really is nothing else I would want that the new mini offers. I got more than enough space.

[JustinHermary]

everything they've done is good, but why did they get rid of the Ac adapter!!!!! why?? i was gonna use that a lot, i was gonna get a mini but i held off so i could get a better batt life and such. oh well u cant argue with 18 hours of batt life.

[jngrossmann]

Originally posted by ToadX
Lack of moving parts is a good reason, but I don't think most people know that is one of the differences. I really don't think the shuffle is much easier to use nor do I think people would buy the shuffle because of autofill... I would think all the other minor features you get with the mini like time & date, calendar, games, contacts, notes, etc. would be a much more attractive. One of the main issues people have with the shuffle is lack of screen.

I didn't really want this to turn into an argument. I don't own a shuffle or a mini, but if I was picking between the 1 GB $149 shuffle and the $199 mini, I would spend the extra $50 to get the LCD screen and space, and I think most other people would too.

Well, obviously, the shuffle isn't the kind of player that you would want, because you don't have special needs. Some people need players that they can take with them on a run, or out biking. In these situations, the shuffle is far, better than the mini