iFixit Takes The iPod Touch Apart - Why So Thin & Cheap?

As you know, Apple released the fourth iteration of its very successful iPod touch today. And, as usual, the folks at iFixit took one apart as soon as they got their hands on it, just so we can learn all its secrets. Steve Jobs announced the iPod touch last week as the iPhone-without-a-phone. Yet, it's much cheaper (starting at $229, and no contract involved) and also much thinner than an iPhone 4. So what's the catch? Well, we wouldn't go so far as saying there really is a catch, but here is what iFixit found out. First, the new iPod touch did get a lot of features from the iPhone 4. Like:

640x960-pixel resolution retina display

Rear-facing camera with 720p video recording

Front-facing camera with VGA video recording

802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi

FaceTime video chat

Three-axis gyro

It also has a beefed up speaker. This is much better than the one included in the dock connector port of previous generations and closer to the iPhone 4's speaker. However, contrary to some previous bogus reports, it does not vibrate. Unfortunately, there are some points that are not like the iPhone 4. For example, the back camera is inferior, and can only capture 0.7MP still pictures (but it does HD video), also, it doesn't have autofocus. The front facing camera is however the same. Furthermore, the battery has a much lower capacity (3.44 watt-hours versus 5 on the iPhone 4). Yet, this device needs less energy as it doesn't have 3G connectivity. Next, the screen, as pointed out by Joe earlier, is not an IPS display so the viewing angle is not as good. It sports the Apple A4 chip, just like the iPhone 4 and the iPad. However, it only has 256MB of RAM, just like the iPad and not 512MB like the iPhone 4. This means you'll be able to run fewer apps "in the background" via App Switching before they start closing. Finally, and you probably know this already: It doesn't have 3G connectivity nor a GPS. Yep, so that's how Apple managed to make it so cheap and thin. Nevertheless, it's still an amazing device that you'll enjoy very much. It's not an iPhone 4, but it still has some great features, and without a doubt, it will be a hit. You can check out iFixit directly for their usual excellent teardown.

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