Apple refreshes iPod Touch line-up with A10 Fusion chip

Apple updated its iPod Touch line-up with the A8 Fusion chip. Photo: Apple.com 

Apple announced a new update to the iPod Touch family on Monday, featuring the A10 Fusion chip, which first appeared in the iPhone 7. It’s the seventh generation of the iPod Touch, which comes almost four years after the sixth-generation, introduced first in July 2015.

The display and camera remain the same – it has the same 4-inch display and 8-megapixel camera as the as the previous version. On the software side, it brings support for augmented reality applications and games, along with support for group FaceTime calls. Group FaceTime lets users make video or audio calls over Wi-Fi with up to 32 people. 

The new iPod Touch is available in six colors - space gray, white, gold, blue, pink and red, on Apple.com and in stores later this week. The Cupertino-based tech giant is offering three storage configurations with the device, starting with $199 for the base version, which comes with 32 GB of storage, and 128 GB for the $299 version - same as the previous generation. In addition, it has introduced a 256 GB version for $399.  

Apple is highlighting the gaming capabilities of the device, which it says is three times faster at processing graphics than the previous generation. The new device will leverage a catalog of 100 games on Apple Arcade, it’s game subscription service, which is expected to launch later this fall.

Apple updated its Macbook Pro line-up a week ago, which brings minor tweaks to its much-criticized keyboard design. While Apple declined to reveal exactly what those tweaks were, a teardown of the device by iFixit, a gadget repair site has found changes to the switch cover material, and a possible change to the metal dome switch, which they compared to a jam lid or Snapple cap in the teardown.