The sixth generation

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a musi ...

(marketed as the iPod touch) is a mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-based

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

. It is the successor to the

iPod Touch (5th generation) The fifth generation iPod Touch (stylized and marketed as the iPod touch, and colloquially known as the iPod Touch 5G, iPod Touch 5, or iPod 5) was unveiled at Apple's media event alongside the iPhone 5 on September 12, 2012, and was released ...

, becoming the first major update to the

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...

lineup in more than two and a half years. It was released on the online Apple Store on July 15, 2015, along with minor upgrades to the

iPod Nano The iPod Nano (stylised and marketed as iPod nano) is a discontinued portable media player designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. The first generation model was introduced on September 7, 2005, as a replacement for the iPod Mini, usin ...

and iPod Shuffle. This generation of iPod Touch was officially discontinued by Apple on May 28, 2019, with the release of its next-generation successor. It supports up to iOS 12.5.6, released on August 31, 2022.

Features

Software

The sixth-generation iPod Touch features iOS, Apple's

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablet computer, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal computing, personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobi ...

. The device originally shipped with iOS 8.4, which was released on June 30, 2015, along with the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Appl ...

streaming service. It can play music, movies, television shows, audiobooks, and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

s and can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos,

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sev ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

s, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen. Alternatively, headset controls can be used to pause, play, skip, and repeat tracks. However, the

EarPods Apple Inc. has produced and sold headphones since 2001, available for standalone purchase and bundled with iPhone (until 2020) and iPod (until 2022) products. Apple's current product line consists of EarPods (wired earbuds available with a 3.5m ...

that come with the sixth-generation iPod touch do not include a remote or microphone. The sixth-generation iPod Touch supports iOS 9 through iOS 12. The latest version of iOS that this device can run is 12.5.6, which is a security update to iOS 12 only for devices that cannot run iOS 13.

Hardware

The sixth-generation iPod Touch features the Apple A8 and

Apple M8 The Apple M-series coprocessors are motion coprocessors used by Apple Inc. in their mobile devices. First released in 2013, their function is to collect sensor data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses and offload the collect ...

motion co-processor chipset with

64-bit architecture In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A compu ...

which is the same chip on iPad Mini 4, Apple TV 4th Gen, iPhone 6, and the HomePod, but it is slightly underclocked at 1.1 GHz (the iPhone 6 series was clocked at 1.4 GHz while the iPad Mini 4 was clocked at 1.5 GHz) because of its small battery. It has 1 GB of

LPDDR3 Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR), also known as LPDDR SDRAM, is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory that consumes less power and is targeted for mobile computers and devices such as mobile phones. Older variants are also known as ...

RAM, twice the amount as the previous-generation iPod touch. Apple's

Metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

graphics technology is also compatible with this generation of iPod touch. With regard to battery life, this device is powered by a non-removable 1,043

mAh ''Mångha'' (') is the Avestan for "Moon, month", equivalent to Persian ''Māh'' (; Old Persian ). It is the name of the lunar deity in Zoroastrianism. The Iranian word is masculine. Although Mah is not a prominent deity in the Avestan scrip ...

lithium-ion polymer battery. Based on tests conducted by Apple, the device can provide up to 40 hours of audio playback or 8 hours of video playback. The iPod touch features an 8 MP rear iSight camera with video which can record in

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...

at 30 fps, or 120 fps in slow-motion mode that records at

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...

. The camera also supports a burst mode and has an

LED flash A flash is a device used in photography that produces a brief burst of light (typically lasting 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a ...

. Unlike the previous-generation version, the rear camera on the sixth-generation iPod Touch lacks a sapphire crystal lens. The front camera is unchanged from the previous generation, a 1.2 MP sensor and can record video up to 720p. It is the first iPod touch that is available with 128 GB of storage, partially filling the void left behind by the

iPod Classic The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and formerly iPod Video or just iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a sp ...

which offered 160 GB of storage at the time it was discontinued.

Design

The exterior design of the sixth-generation iPod touch is largely identical to that of its predecessor, with the exception of the iPod Touch Loop button, which was removed.

Accessories

The sixth-generation iPod touch comes with a

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

Charging cable. This model also comes with the

without Remote and Mic. This iPod touch is compatible with Apple's

AirPods AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple Inc. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. The most recent model, AirPods (3rd generatio ...

wireless headphones, which were announced at the September 7, 2016, Apple Special Event along with the iPhone 7, and released in late December 2016. It is also compatible with the EarPods with Lightning Connector which launched concurrently with the iPhone 7, and the remote functions are active.

Reception

Nate Ralph from

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

praised the device's camera quality and noted the iPod Touch's exceptional performance, but criticized it for its middling battery life and small display, and stated that he considered it "largely redundant" due to smartphones and tablets. Sascha Segan from ''PCMag'' has also noted the poor battery life, but stated that the iPod Touch is still the best option for anyone who would prefer a handheld media player that does not require an intimate relationship with a cellular carrier.

References

External links

* – official site {{Apple IPod IOS Computer-related introductions in 2015 Touchscreen portable media players Products and services discontinued in 2019 Digital audio players