Why has Apple disco'd the 160gb iPod Classic?
September 15, 2008 2:03 PM Subscribe
What's with Apple pulling the 160gb iPod? I am looking to get a new iPod so was searching Craigslist and see lots of 160s for sale. I look at the Apple web site and it lists a 120 as the largest. I call Apple and the clerk tells me they no longer offer the 160. I ask why. She says she doesn't know. I ask if they've ever gone backwards in size before and she says, No. I ask if that doesn't seem strange to her and she says, No. WTF?
I did a search at ilounge and google but can't really find any definitive answer. There's vids of people on youtube complaining about the 160 but there are plenty of people saying there's no issue, either (same here on Ask).
Anyone know what's up? Should I be avoiding this model?
I did a search at ilounge and google but can't really find any definitive answer. There's vids of people on youtube complaining about the 160 but there are plenty of people saying there's no issue, either (same here on Ask).
Anyone know what's up? Should I be avoiding this model?
It's thick-as-a-brick and apparently wasn't popular enough to justify it's continued existence. Apple previously offered two "Classic" iPods, the 80GB and the 160GB, and the 160 was definitely larger and heftier. Now, it has consolidated the Classic lineup and only offers the new 120GB, but it is supposed to be thin like the old 80GB.
Personally, I own a 160GB that I use in my car and love it for it's capacity. It's very reliable and has given me no problems. My only complaint would be that the graphics for CoverFlow aren't as smooth as on the iPhone/iTouch, but it's a smaller screen so that's to be expected, but it can't be beat for raw storage capacity.
Interestingly, I saw a post on BoingBoing or somewhere recently that in addition to the new 1.8" 120 GB drive for the new Classic iPods, Toshiba also makes a new 1.8" 240GB drive, but Apple decided not to build an iPod around this larger drive.
posted by mosk at 2:22 PM on September 15, 2008
Personally, I own a 160GB that I use in my car and love it for it's capacity. It's very reliable and has given me no problems. My only complaint would be that the graphics for CoverFlow aren't as smooth as on the iPhone/iTouch, but it's a smaller screen so that's to be expected, but it can't be beat for raw storage capacity.
Interestingly, I saw a post on BoingBoing or somewhere recently that in addition to the new 1.8" 120 GB drive for the new Classic iPods, Toshiba also makes a new 1.8" 240GB drive, but Apple decided not to build an iPod around this larger drive.
posted by mosk at 2:22 PM on September 15, 2008
Response by poster: Hmm. Weird. Okay, thanks mosk and GuyZero.
mosk, if you have the box handy, does it list the measurements? Is it twice as thick as the 120 or...?
posted by Manhasset at 2:25 PM on September 15, 2008
mosk, if you have the box handy, does it list the measurements? Is it twice as thick as the 120 or...?
posted by Manhasset at 2:25 PM on September 15, 2008
IMO, they are almost certainly going to quietly add a 240gb at some point (see above)...
Either that or they are phasing out the classic design altogether in favour of the iPod Touch.
posted by jon4009 at 2:28 PM on September 15, 2008
Either that or they are phasing out the classic design altogether in favour of the iPod Touch.
posted by jon4009 at 2:28 PM on September 15, 2008
Off the top of my head..
1. The new 240gb drives might not be ready/cost effective yet.
2. Might not sell enough to warrant having to mfr the thicker case.
posted by wongcorgi at 2:29 PM on September 15, 2008
1. The new 240gb drives might not be ready/cost effective yet.
2. Might not sell enough to warrant having to mfr the thicker case.
posted by wongcorgi at 2:29 PM on September 15, 2008
What mosk said. In the new lineup, the 120GB replaces the old 80GB. The old 160GB has been scrapped entirely, purely for financial reasons, as Apple can't shift enough of them. Imho, I can't see how you could possibly listen to 160GB of music regularly anyway, unless you encode in lossless :)
posted by dragontail at 2:31 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by dragontail at 2:31 PM on September 15, 2008
The thick 160GB model just looks positively old-fashioned these days. Apple is all about tapered thinness right now and the thick form factor just doesn't fit their image. I wouldn't expect a larger capacity model until they can get a drive with the same dimensions as the 120GB.
posted by zsazsa at 2:38 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by zsazsa at 2:38 PM on September 15, 2008
Regarding whether to go for a 160 or not -- if you want that much capacity you should go for it and not worry about Apple not continuing to support it. I have an ancient hot pink Ipod mini that Apple discontinued years ago and I've never had any problems whatsoever. So much so that I find myself trying to think of reasons why I "need" a new Ipod even though this old one works just fine and seems virtually indestructible.
posted by peacheater at 2:42 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by peacheater at 2:42 PM on September 15, 2008
I've got a 160Gb classic, and it's great - just on the off-chance that I ever get so stranded away from my home/computer that I can't refresh my music library. Probably a bit overkill, but never mind.
According to Jobsy in the keynote speech nobody bought the fat one, so they've killed it off.
Mine is sitting here, and it's about 13mm deep - not exactly what I'd call massive; it fits easily into any pocket I've tried, it doesn't feel too heavy, and critically doesn't feel flimsy.
A couple of colleagues have the 80Gb version, and they've got a nasty sharp feel to the front edges whereas mine doesn't.
posted by Chunder at 2:55 PM on September 15, 2008
According to Jobsy in the keynote speech nobody bought the fat one, so they've killed it off.
Mine is sitting here, and it's about 13mm deep - not exactly what I'd call massive; it fits easily into any pocket I've tried, it doesn't feel too heavy, and critically doesn't feel flimsy.
A couple of colleagues have the 80Gb version, and they've got a nasty sharp feel to the front edges whereas mine doesn't.
posted by Chunder at 2:55 PM on September 15, 2008
If you're interested in getting one, I've loved my Apple-certified refurbished iPod photo. I purchased it after they pulled it from the shelves and it's still going strong. I've heard mixed reviews on refurbs, but I love it. It looks like you can get a 160 that way.
posted by juliplease at 3:11 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by juliplease at 3:11 PM on September 15, 2008
Consider that dropping that one model reduced their number of case designs from 6 to 5.
posted by smackfu at 3:19 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by smackfu at 3:19 PM on September 15, 2008
Aw man, I love my 160. Hope it holds out until they do a 240 for all of us packrats.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:46 PM on September 15, 2008
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:46 PM on September 15, 2008
Another possible reason (that does not go against what others have said) is that Apple is moving towards flash based storage across the line (which is more expensive, but much more stable and better on battery life) so to have larger and larger capacities sort of make it harder to justify people's paying so much more per gigabye for a flash based (as all the other iPods are) model. They're already at 32gb with the iPod Touch which means that the next 2 ticks-- 64 and 128 will be well within Classic memory range. The classic is being phased out.
iPod will try to move towards capturing the expanding market of a comprehensive media player (so you are buying TV shows also, etc).
posted by No New Diamonds Please at 4:00 PM on September 15, 2008
iPod will try to move towards capturing the expanding market of a comprehensive media player (so you are buying TV shows also, etc).
posted by No New Diamonds Please at 4:00 PM on September 15, 2008
It's not that apple went backwards with their 160GB support, it's that they expanded the 80GB single-platter model to 120GB and deleted the 160GB double-platter model altogether. That allowed them to only have to support one form-factor (a thinner one). The 160Gb was not selling as well as expected anyway.
If 160GB or larger drives become available in the thin form factor, that would consider moving up to that.
posted by bmilner at 9:43 PM on September 15, 2008
If 160GB or larger drives become available in the thin form factor, that would consider moving up to that.
posted by bmilner at 9:43 PM on September 15, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
But they re-jig the lineup every so often and there's nothing sinister here, Steve Jobs announced it on stage a week or so ago along with the new coloured nanos.
posted by GuyZero at 2:17 PM on September 15, 2008