What if Apple killed off the iPod line and decided that everything from the nano to the touch is now an iPad? It sounds crazy, but it's possible. If the leaked photos of cases for the upcoming sixth generation iPod nano are actually leaked photos and not, say, completely fabricated, then Wednesday's Apple event in San Francisco is going to be interesting.
In the past week, two separate leaks show a case that is far smaller than the current nano, and another that is a tad larger than the iPod shuffle. The cases seem to leave space for a touchscreen, which raises several questions.
If the nano is the same size as the shuffle, is the shuffle no longer? And if the new nano features a touchscreen, is this is the end of the iPod name? The iPad is basically a large iPod touch, and if the shuffle is eliminated, or rather, combined with the nano, the entire line has finally morphed from a screen-and-click wheel design to a touchscreen line. They could all be renamed as iPads.
Ah, but what about the iPod classic? Many think this year will be its last. I thought Apple would put the classic out to pasture last year, but it lived on. I now think Apple will keep it alive to please the small, but devoted, consumer base with huge music and video libraries. A 64 G-byte iPod touch can't come close to the 160GB of storage available on an iPod classic, and it's unclear whether this is the year that the iPod touch finally makes the leap from 64GB to 128GB. One thing is certain, however: Whenever that jump does occur, the price for a 128GB iPod touch will be quite high—certainly more than the $249 160GB iPod classic.
So, in the realm of bold, final predictions based completely on leaked photos that may or may not be the real deal, here's mine: Apple's new lineup will consist of the iPad, iPad touch (ne iPod touch), and iPad nano (a combo of the iPods formerly known as shuffle and nano)—all touchscreen devices. The sole remaining iPod will be the classic, tucked quietly away in the corner until the day Flash memory is affordable enough to make a 128GB iPad touch. Death of the iPod name? Not quite. Death of the scroll wheel? Not yet. But almost.
And one more thing: I think we will see the rumored radical redesign of Apple TV come to life.