The iPod touch is back, but the reason for living isn't sentimentality

After nearly four years, on May 28th, U.S. time, Apple quietly launched the new generation iPod touch on its official website.

The iPod was once a very important product line for Apple, but as the iPod's primary function (playing music) has been diverted by smartphones, it's faded into a relatively minor product line for Apple.

To this day, the only iPod series still available on Apple's website is the iPod touch.

iPod touch finally updated after four years

The first iPod product was the iPod classic, which was released in October 2001. The iPod series has included the iPod mini, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod touch, and other classic products. iPod's product form has also evolved from a music player to an "iPhone lite". "In 2015, Apple last disclosed the sales of the iPod series, and up to that time, 390 million iPods had been sold.

The iPod touch was last updated in July 2015. The new iPod touch is unchanged in appearance, still featuring a 4-inch display and retaining the classic design of the Home button, and the camera is still 8 megapixels.

The main upgrades are in the system and the chip. The sixth-generation iPod touch is still powered by the A8 processor and was initially released with iOS 8. The new touch is powered by iOS 12 with the A10 bionic chip. Apple says the A10 chip brings up to twice the performance of its predecessor and three times the graphics processing power to the new iPod touch, with support for augmented reality-based games and apps.

Meanwhile, the iPod touch is available for the first time in a 256GB version, and the 16G and 64G versions have been canceled. The 32GB domestic version is priced at RMB 1,599, the 128GB is priced at RMB 2,499, and the 256GB is priced at RMB 3,399. The color scheme is available in six colors: dark sky grey, pink, gold, silver, blue and red.

Cook has repeatedly emphasized that Apple's future is to transition from products to services. Apple can stimulate revenue from Apple Music and the App Store through relatively low-priced iOS devices like the iPod touch.