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8 & 10 GB iPod Nanos Rumored

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the on-the-horizon dept.

koweja writes "The UK based technology magazine T3 is predicting that Apple will release larger iPod Nanos in the near future. From the article, "Munster's reasoning is that, as the touchscreen iPod will likely not now appear until next year, Apple needs to launch something eye-catching in time for the lucrative run-up to Christmas - and bigger capacity nanos fit the bill nicely." Granted it's an almost completely unsubstantiated prediction from somebody outside of Apple, but it is what a lot of people have been asking for since the original Nanos came out."

51 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. In Other News by ciroknight · · Score: 5, Funny

    I rumored a 16GB iNewton is in the works. Does that make me any more credible!?

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    1. Re:In Other News by chris_eineke · · Score: 4, Funny

      iKnewIt!

      --
      "All you have to do is be fragile and grateful. So stay the underdog." Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
    2. Re:In Other News by ThatFunkyMunki · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mac "point" upgrades generally add functionality, whereas Windows update generally is only there to fix bugs.

      --
      If patriotism is racist, is racism patriotic?
    3. Re:In Other News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      They're not point upgrades in the sense that Windows 3.11 is a point upgrade to Windows 3.1. It's more like a Windows 95 to Windows 98 difference.

      The product name is "Mac OS X", and the version is 4. That gives you 10.4. So when version 5 of OS X comes out, it'll be called OS X.5.

      There are major additions to functionality, generally the OS runs much faster on the same hardware, and the under the hood stuff gets better.

      You can get the security updates for free, they're like the minor versions. So 10.4.1 was the first set of bugfixes and updates.

    4. Re: In Other News by KURAAKU+Deibiddo · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, the firewall didn't come until SP2. It was part of Microsoft's attempts to claim that they focused on security.

    5. Re: In Other News by Vasey · · Score: 3, Informative

      http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxp pro/maintain/sp2netwk.mspx "Prior to Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP shipped with Internet Connection Firewall disabled by default. The user either needed to run a wizard or navigate through the Network Connections folder to manually enable Windows Firewall. This experience proved too difficult for many users, and resulted in many computers not having any firewall protection." It's not a big deal really but seems to me that I'm right.

  2. Wow! Baseless speculation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Gosh... here's some more... Apple will eventually release a 16 gig ipod Nano! You heard it here first.

    Anyway, a 10 gig Nano makes no sense. 8? Sure, but 10? No. It can't be a single chip, and the size difference between it and an 8 gig isn't enough to justify the price difference for most people.

    1. Re:Wow! Baseless speculation! by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I've seen product tear-downs that showed the current nano had two flash chips in the 4GB version, one in the 2GB version. Some might have two 1GB chips if it was more cost-effective. So an 8GB nano would have two two 4GB chips. Of course, bare flash chips are rated in bits, not bytes, so the chips might be 8Gb, 16Gb and 32Gb for the respective sizes.

      It might be more realistic to expect to see a 6GB version (1x 4GB and 1x 2GB chip) and the 4 and 2 GB models pushed down in price $50 each.

    2. Re:Wow! Baseless speculation! by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm too lazy to actually check out the sources, but wikipedia says it's 1x1GB, 2x1GB and 1x4GB respectively. Since there's 4GB chips already, and apparently room for two I imagine it's a matter of cost. An 8GB Nano would have a quite high price point.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  3. my prediction by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that Apple will never increase the capacity of the Nano. Why would they do something as stupid as that?

    --
    This guy's the limit!
    1. Re:my prediction by Andrzej+Sawicki · · Score: 5, Funny

      You misspelled iPod Flea. ;)

  4. Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by kestasjk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nanos were made to have smaller capacity because Apple weren't selling a good balance of Minis and normal iPods, if they increase the storage capacity it gives people less incentive to buy a more expensive regular iPod.

    And does this really qualify as news?

    --
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    1. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by ozmanjusri · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Not if they bump the storage on the larger iPods as well.

      No, there's a break-even point. Even a 20GB iPod will play about music for about two weeks continuously, day and night before repeating. Every CD and vinyl record I've collected in the past 20 years will fit on a 40GB iPod, and that's close to AU$20,000 worth.

      I suspect everything I'd ever want to listen to would fit on a 100G iPod, and it would only take a 6 TB iPod to play music continuously for every waking hour of my life without repeats. I wouldn't want to buy anything bigger than that.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    2. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by radish · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right, but you forget two major factors.

      1) The fullsize ipods do video now. That needs a whole lot more space. The nano doesn't do video (does it?) and so the nano almost fits the "music only" category, which tops out around 20-40GB for most people. The HD based ipods then become more and more targetted at video customers.

      2) Lossless. I listen to my music at home via Squeezeboxes, and lots of people are starting to use HTPCs, Airport, etc to listen to the same rips at home as on the go. I know I sure as hell don't want to listen to AAC or MP3 on my nice hifi, so it's lossless all the way. Now I could (and in fact, do) keep two copies of everything - one for portable and one for home. But that's a pain to maintain. Would be easier if I didn't have to worry about space and could store all those huge files on a portable player too. My CD rips are currently around 200GB, and most of it is still lossy. When it's all reripped as lossless we'll be looking at over 0.5TB. Bring on the big portable players :)

      --

      ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

    3. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by teslar · · Score: 3, Informative
      Nanos were made to have smaller capacity because Apple weren't selling a good balance of Minis and normal iPods.
      I'd say the capacity of the Nano has more to do with the flash memory than with any marketing goals. Flash memory is expensive and doesn't come in large-capacity flavours. Once it becomes cheaper and comes in higher capacities, you can bet that there will be higher-capacity Nanos out.
      if they increase the storage capacity it gives people less incentive to buy a more expensive regular iPod.
      Precisley. Which is why the regular iPods will be phased out, save perhaps for some large-screen video iPod. After all, why would I want a hard disk based mp3 player if I can have a solid state one with the same capacity for the same price? Hard disk players are going to die out, it's inevitable. Regular iPods won't be an exception.
    4. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by plumby · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There is a point at which it would become pointless, but 60GB aint it. I've got over 100GB of (legally aquired) mp3s in my library, and although there's a limit to the amount of music that I can listen to while I'm out, I don't know when I leave the house exactly which tracks I'm going to want to listen to - greater capacity means greater choice of music when I'm in the mood.

    5. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "if they increase the storage capacity it gives people less incentive to buy a more expensive regular iPod."

      This is probably why the other iPods support video, now. In any event, yes there's less incentive to buy the more expensive regular ipod, but there's also more incentive to those (like me) who don't want to pay $300+ for that iPod. I actually never seriously considered buying an iPod until the Nano came out. $200ish price tag + really small + adequate storage == MobileTatsu friendly. (I only really need between 2 and 4 gig.) If a little more disposable income had come my way, I probalby would have bought it. From where I sit, it expanded their market. But, that's just my humble opinion. :)

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    6. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
      1) The fullsize ipods do video now. That needs a whole lot more space.
      But will portable video ever take off enough for that to matter? It's not clear to me how many are buying the video iPod for the video. Even on the plane, it surprises me how few people I see watching movies on laptops, since it's about the only place I ever do so.
    7. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by nhandler · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Okay, no, that's silly to even ponder. Apple will eventually switch over from HD-based supercapacity players to flash-based. Both harddrive and flash players are increasing in size. There is a large market for reasonably-priced, extremely small music players and HD-based players don't fit that bill. Any increase in size will only make the market more willing to purchase from Apple and if that means some cannabilization of the HD lineup, so be it. Apple can shift their production priorities to match market trends, they won't just sit there like a dummy and wonder where their HD iPod sales went.

    8. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The nanos were made with smaller capacity because those 2GB flash chips were what was available at the time. The chips are already expensive as it is, and the 4GB nano is using two of them. It has nothing to do with "balance." Apple just loves to sell iPods, and if the minis and nanos outsell the bigger versions, they're fine with that since it's more money for them. Steve Jobs predicted the nano would be the biggest selling iPod ever, so they know what models appeal to consumers.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    9. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by MonoSynth · · Score: 2, Informative

      Have you ever wondered why the new 30GB and 60GB iPods are so thin compared to the previous generations? That's because they already use perpendicular recording.....

    10. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by init100 · · Score: 2

      Have you ever wondered why the new 30GB and 60GB iPods are so thin compared to the previous generations? That's because they already use perpendicular recording.....

      They do? Oh, I didn't know, I only have a 4G iPod (20 GB) and I haven't ever seen a new (5G) iPod in real life. But I cannot see why they could not make larger (i.e. thicker) versions too. This isn't just about room to hold your music and videos, it's having room to spare even when you have all your music on the iPod, so that you can use it as an external hard drive for other data as well.

    11. Re:Nanos were made to have smaller capacity by plumby · · Score: 2, Insightful

      At an "I'm happy, I want a happy tune" level, no. At the "I'm really in the mood for a bit of Durutti Column" level, then yes.

      Also, having that volume of music really makes Random more interesting.

  5. Larger Nano by Ryz0r · · Score: 5, Funny
    >>Apple will release larger iPod Nanos in the near future

    I hear it's going to be called the iPodx10^-8

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  6. Re:Bigger? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Congrats, you're the first poster on slashdot to manage fusing a HORRIBLE joke with extreme grammar nazism!

  7. Is it even physically possible? by Evro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do 8 & 10 gig flash media drives even exist at this time (or in the near future)?

    --
    rooooar
    1. Re:Is it even physically possible? by Hatechall · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe the largest (single) commercial chips nowadays are owned by Sandisk (6GB), to be used for their up and coming beauty: The Sansa 270.

      I assume Samsung has a few tricks up their short term sleeve as well though.

  8. Just 10GB? by mobby_6kl · · Score: 5, Funny

    10GB? Lame, that's barely enough for my Frank Zappa MP3s.

    And what about wireless?

  9. Here is Why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can get a 4GB USB thumb drive for $100 (or get four 512MB and one 2GB bundled together for $108). The current crop of MicroDrives (CompactFlash-compatible miniature hard drives) of similar capacity runs even less.

    If a normal consumer can buy these things on the retail market today, Apple really needs to get its act together and start increasing capacity on its lower end or it is going to lose that market to these cheap drives and the simple add-ons that allow playback of music.

  10. Re:Does size matter? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't really want to hassle with changing what's on there when I get bored of the selection.

    You don't have to. I have my iTunes auto-rotate tracks on my 4GB nano. It's not obvious, but what you can do is sync the unit to one or more smart playlists. The smart playlists are set to randomly select a certain number of tracks that have been played less than "X" number of times. Right now, my "X" is "1". Once it has been played, it is removed and another track replaces it. With this scheme, I think I can do very well with a 1GB nano.

  11. More Music by Metabolife · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, a 10GB would let you have 2,500 songs (according to apple's rating), this is great business for apple. Now instead of just getting 1,000 dollars from people to fill it, they can bump it up to 2,500 dollars! Brilliant!

  12. Storage space isn't the only factor by achesterase · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, well one factor is the storage capacity, but let's not forget the size. At least for me, the smaller form factor of the Nano makes it much more attractive than the normal iPod and I don't think that I'm alone. These are really two distinct product lines with usually quite distinct user bases.

  13. Difference between rumor and speculation by heli_flyer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's a difference between rumor and speculation, and this is more speculation than rumor.

  14. nano replaced mini by fermion · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The nanos were clearly created to replace the minis, which were cute but had limited battery life due to the power requirements of the hard drives, and as they were so small could not have larger batteries.

    As the minis were phased out, they had a capacity of 6 gig. I have been expecting the nano to increase to 8 gig for a while. Of course the nano still has a short battery life, and perhpas the added memeory is just going to make that worse.

    The 4GB are available, and given Apple discounts are not overly expensive. I do not see a 10 gig nano, as the nanos seem to have pairs of cards. Hopefully they will come out with a 8 gig Nano in the $250 price range, and drop the other prices according. That might be enough space to make it worthwhile. I would also like to see a 2gig shuffle, though that product line also seems to be dead.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    1. Re:nano replaced mini by BenjyD · · Score: 2, Informative

      Modded 5 insightful? The battery life on the 2G minis was very good, around 15-18hrs (more than the full iPods at the time IIRC). The nano's battery life seems a little shorter, around 10-14hrs.

  15. Re:Holy **** people... by gravesb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If people are willing to purchase a larger capacity iPod, why shouldn't Apple offer it to them? Companies should never limit sizes because a few people don't understand why you need that much hard drive(or flash memory) space. When we went to Iraq, everyone who had iPods copied their entire music selection to their iPod, and those who didn't had almost no music. If you build it, they will come. Also, what are people supposed to be focused on while on public transportation? Its not like they are driving...

    --
    http://bgcommonsense.blogspot.com
  16. why? by penguin-collective · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't see the point. If you're gonna dock to your computer, then you only need memory for one battery charge, and 2G is plenty. If you're going to use a charger while traveling, 10G strikes me as too small for a regular music collection.

    I bought the 4G but discovered through use that I could have saved my money and lived just fine with the 1G or 2G model.

    1. Re:why? by matt21811 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "10G strikes me as too small for a regular music collection."

      Actually, 10 gig is almost exactly the size of average music collection when stored in 128kbit compressed format. This BBC article shows that men own, on average, 178 albums (women, on average, own less).
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/410 2786.stm

      178 (albums) * 650MB (maximum data per album) * 128 Kb/sec (good quality compression rate) / 1411.2 Kb (per sec data rate e on the CD) = 10493.5 MB. This is over just 10 GB to store the average mans music collection.

  17. Well, I'm convinced by Tim+Browse · · Score: 5, Funny
    Granted it's an almost completely unsubstantiated prediction from somebody outside of Apple, but it is what a lot of people have been asking for since the original Nanos came out.

    There are rumours that God exists. Granted it's an almost completely unsubstantiated prediction from somebody outside of Heaven, but it is what a lot of people have been wanting since the original Homo Sapiens came out.

  18. Dvorak's answer by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 4, Funny

    If Dvorak had been writing this then it would be:

    "Apple needs to allow Microsoft to run Windows on the iPod. I don't believe it either but I love to screw with your head".

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  19. It has been done already by Kryptonian+Jor-El · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hackaday.com recently had an article about converting a 4 GB iPod nano to an 8 GB. Apparently apple only uses 1 flash chip in the Nano to make up the entire 4 GBs, but in fact it has a second spot on the board to attach a second 4 GB flash chip. It wouold be pretty cool to have an 8 GB iPod Nano though. http://ipod.hackaday.com/entry/1234000233073484/

    --
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    1. Re:It has been done already by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Informative

      I saw the original article a while ago.

      What I hadn't known is that the people at hackaday said that: "The legitimacy of this hack is yet to be confirmed.

      It'd be cool if it was true, but the firmware might not be able to handle the extra space.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  20. Re:The Point here is... by edwdig · · Score: 2, Interesting
    On a conference call to discuss the results, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said iPod gross margins were above 20% during the quarter, and that according to NPD Techworld, the company now holds 78% of the U.S. market for MP3 players.


    Found the quote in this article: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?g uid=%7B96F58ECA-995C-42E4-ABAB-A3CBA070E6E1%7D&sou rce=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo

    I'd consider that to be making goood money off the main device.
  21. 8Gigs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    640k should be enough for anybody.

  22. 166 CDs is not a lot by tepples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't think that there are a lot of people around who could fill 10 GB with legal music.

    10 gigabytes * 1000000 kilobytes per gigabyte * 8 bits per byte / 160 kilobits per second / 3000 seconds per CD = 166 CDs. I know a lot of people who own two or three times that many. Given that CDs have been around for over two decades, 8 CDs a year is not that many.

    But for the iPod Nano? Flip-books?

    Google sees over 13 million slide shows available through the Web.

  23. Is Flash Memory Cheap Enough? by Nazmun · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Has flash memory become cheap enough for 8-10gb nano's to be out with a nice profit margin?

    --
    Hmmm... Pie...
  24. My iPod by EZLeeAmused · · Score: 3, Funny

    is going to have 11GB

    --
    Some see the vessel as half full; others see it as half-empty; We pour it out on the floor and laugh
  25. Apple has never competed on price by cgenman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Apple has never competed on price. The basic iPod is still the most expensive MP3 player by about 30%. And for the cost of a 4GB nano, you can get a 20GB HDD based MP3 player. Heck, you can get a 20 GB Archos Jukebox for 100 dollars if you look.

    Where Apple shines is form factor. That Archos Jukebox can be amazingly cheap, but it won't fit in your pocket. The iRiver is a powerful, fully featured player, but just try to get it to do anything without taking a course at your technical school. Even the regular iPod is big by many people's standards, leading to the popularity of the Mini and Nano.

    And if you haven't held it in your hands, the Nano is damned small. This thing could fit in a wallet. It can fit in the tiny key pocket on most jeans. You don't have to decide between taking your iPod or your PDA (or your iPod or your Compact, etc). Just take 'em both. They'll both fit.

    Besides, if you're comparing USB drives, why not compare to the Shuffle? 100 dollars for 1GB of storage, which includes the battery and playback interface out of the box. Not an amazingly low cost solution, but not bad compared to the rest of the stuff in that space.

    An MP3 player is more than just flash memory, you know.

    --
    The ______ Agenda
  26. Re:The reason I havent bought is the small size by RemovableBait · · Score: 2, Informative
    the so-called 6 gb mini doesn't really hold 6 gb, it's slightly smaller (it reports 5.6 gb on the About screen).
    .
    The drive does have a capacity of 6GB. The 0.4GB discrepancy is due to two factors:

    • The formatted capacity of any drive will be slightly less.
    • Hardware manufacturers consider 1GB to be 1,000,000,000B; whereas, the software considers 1GB to be 1,073,741,824B.

    So saying the mini holds 6GB is not incorrect at all.
  27. Still waiting for video on nano by dalmiroy2k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I know the screen it's small but believe me, it has enough resolution to play videos. I have a Rockbox on my nano and Doom really looks great, even better that the GBA version. Also the included 3d screensavers like "plasma" and "fire" are neat.
    I wish Apple includes video support in an upcoming software upgrade.

  28. Re:iPod pico by jcr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're all barking up the wrong tree. The iPod 4D will keep all of your music in a parallel dimension, giving you infinite capacity while reducing the protrusion into 3D space to whatever size you find comfortable to operate.

    -jcr

    --
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