Generation 4 - Let the Speculation Begin

I don't know how revolutionary the changes will be.

I foresee a continual use of a single port for all input, and more options through that port (including remote controle, etc).

Size increases will probably occur, though not that extreme...maybe 20,30,60 GB options, more likely 20,30,40.

Hopefully the buffer will increase, i'd also like to see a more informative display, and i'd like to see efficiency of battery increase.

Perhaps a built-in lineout.

I think it all depends on what direction apple goes in. I don't think they will go for color screens, video playback, things like that. Not with the iPod, maybe they will create a seprate device. I think Apple views the iPod as an MP3 player only. So that would mean no need for a color screen or anything like that.

You need to think how many more features are there. Of course the iPod can be improved upon, but not by much. Apple wants to include enough in the next generation so people who already have iPods want to buy a new one, to draw new customers and to compete with different brands. I don't think it would be smart for them to include everything because sooner or later (probably sooner, in 2 or 3 generations...) there really won't be any more features a digital music player needs that an iPod dosen't have.

I mean how could the iPod be improved upon. Of course it needs longer battery life. A larger hard drive wouldn't hurt, but there is a maximum here (would an mp3 player bigger then 100 gigs be practical for even those with incredibly large music collections?) A color display would be nice, but if the device is only playing music it will only hurt battery life and probably isn't necessary. As it is, how much smaller could the iPod get? Maybe shave off an inch here and a quarter inch there, but the iPod isn't trying to be one of those keychain players. Maybe the future is in devices with tremendous amounts (many gigs) of flash memory. Imagine an iPod like this, a tad bit smaller, twice the battery life and 15/30 gigs of flash memory. Wouldn't that be nice?

Probably they will increase the battery life up to 14 hours, maybe make it a bit smaller, have customisable EQ

First of all, speculation about a G4 is insane...we won't see a gen 4 for about 10 months. Also snap-off faceplates would STINK because it would make the iPod cheap and tacky like all of those cell phones that do that. The iPod should remain the two-tone it has now; its very classy. A 60GB HDD is out of the question; one does not exist that in such a small form factor.

You don't think that a higher capacity hard drive will be available in 10 months in the small form factor? I do.

This thread is about speculation... so lighten up people!! this thread is just having fun thinking about the Gen 4 iPod. They changed far more on the Gen 3 than most people predicted so lets have fun thinking about Gen 4.

60 GB HD's don't exist for the iPod now because if they did they would probably be in the iPod. That dosen't mean they aren't developing one and it can't be ready in 6-12 months or whenever.

Originally posted by mongoos150
A 60GB HDD is out of the question; one does not exist that in such a small form factor.

Of course it will in 10 months. Why shouldn't it?

Originally posted by sparks9
Of course it will in 10 months. Why shouldn't it?

You can't say of course, you don't know what will be available!

And to your question of why it wouldn't:
It took about a year for Apple to upgrade its max-size (from 20 to 30). It similarly will probably take several years to get to that size. It takes a lot of time to develop big jumps from existing products; much more than ten months. I say we could see an iPod that size around 2006.

I'm not sure iPods will have Bluetooth. It's just too slow to come anywhere close to the transfer rates of FireWire. iPods may have Bluetooth for other purposes, possibly a wireless remote or headphones, or the ability to sync data with PDA's and phones...

I wouldn't be so sure. I have talked to a friend who works in the computer manufacturing business and he says for the size of the iPod, it won't be out until at least 2005. One year ago they were at 20, now they're at 30. They will most likely follow this trend.

1. LCD Reomte
2. Line in (I would like to record stuff!)
3. Line out (on the ipod itself I mean)
4. Brushed aluminum back (or any other metal that doesn't scratch so easily)
5. A real queue
6. Larger harddrive and buffer
7. Longer battery life
8. Smaller size
9. Go back to the old button layout but keep the buttons touch sensitive
10. Support for many other audio formats
11. Easily replaceable battery

9. Go back to the old button layout but keep the buttons touch sensitive

Hmm... call it a hunch, but I don't think Apple likes taking design steps back like that. A redesign of the buttons perhaps (but I really can't imagine how they could redo them any further... :P)

Originally posted by mongoos150
You can't say of course, you don't know what will be available!

And to your question of why it wouldn't:
It took about a year for Apple to upgrade its max-size (from 20 to 30). It similarly will probably take several years to get to that size. It takes a lot of time to develop big jumps from existing products; much more than ten months. I say we could see an iPod that size around 2006.

I think it's 3 months ago Toshiba released their new 30 and 40 gig drives (iPod size HDs), so I think there is a big possibility that a 60 gig will be available in 10 months from now. It is a totally different question if Apple is going to put the 60 gigger in the iPod.

The Creative Zen (which probably is the iPods biggest competitor in the HD mp3 market) has been using 60 gig drives in the top models for a couple of months now. (But the Zen uses drives which are one step bigger than the iPod).

I'm pretty sure the 30GB drive is a single drive with 2 platters.

Moving this to "Wishlist"

--o00o-*?*-o00o--

Originally posted by MadPict
Moving this to "Wishlist"

--o00o-*?*-o00o--

Actually this is now a wishlist, it's just speculation about the next gen iPod.

Originally posted by Phoomp
Isn't that generally one and the same?

Pretty much, it all deals with predicting the future, whether it's something you look forward to or not.

Actually I was thinking of combining the two button layouts together. The old buttons would go around the scroll wheel and the new ones will be on top (You will have to add more buttons inorder for new features to work). And so what if you accidentally touch the scroll wheel if you are using the touch sensitive buttons around it? It is much less annoying to have to look at your ipod to do something! Also having 4-5 additional buttons is a new fairly obvious feature.

More things I would like:
12. Saving OTG
13. Adding songs to already created playlists
14. A non-distorting EQ
15. A customizable EQ
16. Scroll the file name when browsing
17. Ability to choose to either to browse by ID3 tags or \ browse through folders rather than ID3 tags (Good for two reasons: 1. Ability to drag and drop files without a program like iTunes or Ephpod. 2. The average user does not have neatly organized ID3 tags.)

I would be suprised if Apple added more buttons, I think simplicty is one of their biggest features.

I think the 30GB size is fine but it's one of those things -- in a few years we will laugh uproariously at how we thought 30GB was "plenty". I anticipate there will be much bigger HDs in future iPods as well as smaller/stronger batteries that last forever, and the iPod itself will shrink once again. It's just directional.

As for immediate desires...

-- I love the idea of having longer battery life/removable battery (for easy/less costly replacement).

-- I think removable faceplates are redundant (don't most people buy cases anyway??) & detracts from the distinctness of the iPod. If you make cheesy faceplates, I think it cheapens the look/feel of the iPod. Besides, there are a million ways to personalize your iPod without affecting the structure (i.e. cases, stickers, paint... some people take their 'pods apart & tape coloured gels under the screen :p).

-- I have seen some cell phones that allow you to pick which colour backlight you want (i.e. orange or blue) through a menu selection. This might be a cool feature.

-- Oh, and I would be tickled pink if I could save my OTG playlist or be able to add to my existing playlists when away from my computer.

-- The same goes for the calendar/contacts list -- it would be awesome to be able to add/modify that data -- kind of like combining a palm with an ipod (iPalm anyone?). Though I'm not sure crossing that line is what Apple had in mind.

-- I personally like the current size... anything smaller would by annoying... kinda like the way cell phones keep getting smaller & the buttons more difficult to use & the screen ridiculously crowded/too tiny to read.

-- I think the shiny chrome backing is nice, even though it scratches. I covered mine with Fellows WriteRights when I bought it & so far, so good. If my iSkin ever arrives I think the back will look cool through the translucency of the silicone. So there. :p

-- tina

Something that is imaginary and you have never used is complex! :rolleyes:

More:
18. Ability to delete songs on the ipod itself
19. AM/FM radio along with AM/FM recording
20. Ability to sort the songs when browsing

Originally posted by sparks9
Maybe the gen4 will be able to record from a stereo and other sources? I know that the Creative Jukebox 3 is capable of this.

I don't think Apple will add video playback or colour screen, it would make it far more expensive.

It could, but look at how bulky is the NJB3. It's about the same size of a cd player, but a bit smaller.

I would be willing to pay 1000$ for a 60gig iPod 4th Gen, if it's could battery life only.

Originally posted by deftdrummer1
I disagree with that. I think that 30gb was a choice apple very carefully picked out. It's the high end model that costs the most (and cost it does at about $500) Apple knew the 15gb would have the highest volume sales because it comes with the acessories and is more than enough space for the average audio buff. To me it would be absurd to double the HD capacity, thereby DOUBLING the price ($1,000 or more) putting the 4th generation ipod's at an OVERPRICED OVERSIZED disadvantage. Who would honestly pay for a $1000 mp3 player anyways? --except for the select few of course.

That is an excellent point but they also want to stay ahead of the pack. Creative has a 60 GB player already and some of the iPods better features are mitigated by the much larger hard drive.

Of course they don't want to outprice themselves either and stay too far ahead of the curve because eventually portable mp3 players are going to have so much memory it isn't going to be much of an issue. They need to stay somewhere between the two extremes.

Originally posted by Gunner
I think you are totally missing the point here. When the 4th generation unit comes out a 60GB hard disk will not cost that much.

Geez, the way you're going you would argue that the 30GB should have cost $600 since it had 1.5 the capacity of the short lived 20GB unit it replaced (which sold for over $400). no, i dont think im missing any point here, and when the new ipod's came out, with tax and everything and their original msrp prices they WERE close to $600! either way a 60gb mp3 player just sounds absurd. If they did come out with a HD that large it would most definetely have to serve other functions. IE: small video player, voice recording, (storage of other files of course) and many other things.

Originally posted by deftdrummer1
no, i dont think im missing any point here, and when the new ipod's came out, with tax and everything and their original msrp prices they WERE close to $600! either way a 60gb mp3 player just sounds absurd. If they did come out with a HD that large it would most definetely have to serve other functions. IE: small video player, voice recording, (storage of other files of course) and many other things.

Well gee I guess that people buying the 60GB Zen portable are all just idiots then.

Some of us encode our audio at the highest VBR bitrates because we have a single audio collection we use on more than just our iPod. I have a huge audio collection (ripped from hundreds of CDs I own) and play back the music on my iPod, my car mp3 hard drive based unit (which has a 40GB hard disk by the way) and my slimp3 LAN unit hooked up to my stereo reciever.

It's not unlikely at all that my audio collection will surpass 30GB within a year or so. Many other folks have large collections as well.

People have pronounced storage capacities tapering off for years and it just hasn't happened... keep in mind too that many folks use the iPod as a portable hard drive too for backing up certain files that they use all the time.

As long as larger hard disks become available and reduce in price Apple will continue to increase storage capacity on the iPod (my prediction anyhow, which has certainly held true to date).

Another way to look at it is this; Music subscription services are going to become a reality, and consumers will demand very high quality recordings through them. If you are paying $20 a month for a music subscription service your music collection could double every few months.

what about 2 hardrives in raid 0? :D

maybe, but not by much. as 60gb 1.8" drives will be made, smaller drives will shrink in size which might make it doable. running 2 drives in raid 0 would effectively double the transfer speed and cut the time in half.

Real world benchmarks certainly demonstrate that you don't get a DOUBLING of throughput by going to RAID 0. This is even more true if you have to do a software RAID solution as would surely be the case with iPod (no room for a raid controllor in it, not even room for a daughtercard with the RAID controller DSPs).

SATA is also proven to be no faster (and in some cases SLOWER) than regular ATA100/133 interfaces.

The fact is the hard disk industry has obviously gotten you guys all brainwashed about these things.

i want to see video support for divx/xvid/quicktime.
and by all meens i will never want to watch it on the ipod screen, (i'm not an idiot) instead i would like to see a video out on the side of the ipod so that you can hook it up to your tv.

imagine going to some friends and you simply take your ipod with several movies on it and you can watch a movie with your friends at any place and at any time.

that's what i'm waiting for.

Originally posted by jonnybleu
integrated wireless w/ichat audio network, audio chat when within a wifi area
heck, with wifi you'd not need firewire to dock it, it might be a bit slower but you could swap files with other ipods and the like

No way, that would be nuts. That's like a PDA. The iPod is known for it's simplicity, which sticks to basic tasks such as music and other basic tasks. That's a completely different device you're describing.

To be perfectly honest... I wouldn't mind if there were no future iPods... I think it's awesome the way it is... and couldnt be any more perfect!

how about scrapping the "pod" and using a retinal eye projector

Get this... no more dials or buttons... full touchscreen with integrated PDA capabilities. IR port for beaming songs to other ipods... solar cell on the back to recharge the battery when not in use... integrated WiFi and browser, with secure direct link to music store so you can download on the fly... pretty sweet... oh, and a totally sweet screensaver... with Homestar Runner on it.... SWEEEEEEETTT....

Big Fat Hard Disk + Extremely Long Battery Life = :D :D :D

Digital Output, longer battery, bigger hd, more games (that save) better O.S., a lot more to lazy

Wi-FI/bluetooth would be extremly cool!

Battery times will almost certainly improve, despite new features that might require a faster processor or a high consumption colour screen - i recently read an article where an intel boss said laptops in 2-3 years would be able to run up to 6 -8 hours on one battery charge due to advances being made in the li-ion/li-polymer field.

So the future is looking very long-living indeed ;)

I would also like an video-out port or adapter of some sort

some sort of video itrip would do !

My thoughts exactly