The New iPod Touch Steps Into The Darkness Without An Ambient Light Sensor
by Brent Dirks
October 15, 2012
While the new iPod touch has a fair share of upgrades, the new device has taken a step back in at least one category. As first noticed by GigaOm, the fifth-generation device doesn’t have an ambient light sensor.
The sensor runs the auto-brightness feature that automatically dims or brightens the screen depending on the amount of ambient light. Kevin C. Tofel wasn’t pleased when he found out about the omission first hand:
I found this out the hard way. Typically, I keep my device brightness at low levels while indoors but still use auto-brightness, mainly to save on battery life. So when I went for the mail this past Saturday while reading an article on the new iPod, the screen quickly became unreadable when I stepped outside. I figured I either didn’t have the auto-brightness setting on or it wasn’t working — actually, that was my first thought: The sensor was broken. Unfortunately, since I couldn’t read the screen, it was impossible to even find the Settings icon. After getting the mail and coming back inside, I went into the Settings and noticed this: No auto-brightness setting, just a manual slider.With no carrier subsidies unlike with the iPhone, Apple has to cut a few corners on the iPod touch to price it correctly and make a profit. But it is a little disappointing that such a nice feature is missing on a product that starts at $299. Especially since the previous generation, that is priced $100 lower, does have the sensor. Is this Apple’s way of getting users to upgrade to the more profitable (and speedier) iPhone? Source: GigaOm