iPods To Get Flash Memory And…


Why haven’t we seen the highly rumored widescreen/touch-screen video iPod, the rumor mill has been going bonkers over it for over a year now? Everyone knows that it’s the next step in the iPod evolution and yet with every Apple event we’re left wondering if it will ever emerge. Hold strong and keep the faith because there is some light at the end of this tunnel.

Word on the street is that Apple will transition the video iPod line from HDD-based storage to a solid-state NAND flash memory by the end of the year. Big deal, they did it with the nano line in 2005. Now think about this for a minute or two. The 30GB video iPod currently gets about 3.5 hours of video playback but could you imagine how much that would decrease with widescreen touch-screen functionality. You would be lucky to get 2 hours of battery life. Leopard will have Maps which employs GPS functionality and you’re going to want your new iPod to sync with your AppleTV so both features are a necessity. Now add on wifi and GPS and you would be lucky to get 5 minutes!

We know Apple loves their fanbase and they tend to look out for us when it comes to choosing between user experience and cost. A move to 32GB solid-state memory is cost-feasible but it doesn’t hold enough content. Some would say that HDD-based storage is going to be the mainstay for Apple since 120GB drives have been introduced but that would kill the battery life. After all, battery life is what most consumers are looking for and the more the merrier. A move to flash memory allows Apple to further diversify the iPod line until it’s been exhausted. Apple knows this but it seems like they have their hands tied because of the capacity limitations on NAND right now. But chances are we will see a move to NAND flash memory for the video iPod line by years end. Will we finally see the features it so desperately needs? You tell me.

Apple Insider [via Digg]