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The five main iPod Touch components (back case, circuitry, battery, screen, and screen frame) pictured post tear-down.  (Source: iFixIt)
The iPod touch gets undressed -- but does not confirm or deny Bluetooth

The iPod touch is virtually identical to the iPhone, according to a disassembly performed by repair firm iFixIt, published in a blog detailing its disassembly and comparison with an iPhone.

The first major change is that the battery in the iPod touch is able to take up more space since a large speaker or microphone is not necessary.  The touch screen that allows users to navigate through the iPod controls is located immediately beneath the battery.  The touch's battery measures 54 x 64 x 2.8 mm; the iPhone's battery is larger by volume but smaller by proportion, 43.6 x 50.5 x 5.4 mm.

The rear lid has been improved by the addition of wireless contact points, allowing it to be removed faster and more efficiently.  The headphone jack is built directly into one of the circuit boards, which could lead to more difficult repairs.

The ARM processor and Samsung NAND memory in the iPod touch is virtually identical to the same components found in the Apple iPhone.

iFixIt was able to confirm that the major component assembly stems from Foxconn. The Apple iPhone is also assembled in Foxconn facilities.

However, the biggest surprise is that the MP3 player sports 802.11a/b/g wireless via Marvell chip.  802.11b/g wireless had been previously announced at DailyTech.  Support of 802.11a is likely less consequential as it is aging rapidly, but if this feature is activated, some users may appreciate the backwards compatibility.

It is still possible that the touch may feature Bluetooth support.  Photos from Germany surfaced on the technology blog Gizmodo, as mentioned in the DailyTech article "New iPod Rumors Run Rampant".  DailyTech previously reported about the possibility of Bluetooth, but noted that the FCC certification for the touch is only for 802.11b/g.

iFixIt's tear down could not confirm or deny the presence of Bluetooth.  Instead, the firm claimed the Bluetooth antenna could be built into the PCB, and any capability may be present, but not activated on one of several of the unmarked chips.  However iFixIt did notice the PCB contained FCC radio markings; these markings are usually reserved for just the radio antenna.

The iPod Touch is expected to ship on Friday, September 28, so confirmation or denial of Bluetooth support may soon be forthcoming.

The iPod Touch was announced earlier this month, here.  It has had its share of difficulties -- it is expected to possibly run into legal issues, and even then there are reports of poor image quality as well.

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In other news...
By lebe0024 on 9/24/2007 3:42:53 PM , Rating: 5
In other news .... the sky is blue.




RE: In other news...
By acer905 on 9/24/2007 3:49:23 PM , Rating: 3
it is not!


RE: In other news...
By Ralph The Magician on 9/24/2007 5:28:56 PM , Rating: 5
Well, technically it isn't. The sky is black. It only appears blue in the day time because of the way light refracts in the atmosphere.


RE: In other news...
By MGSsancho on 9/24/2007 5:59:07 PM , Rating: 2
that and mos of the gas in the atmosphere is nitrogen.. and guess what the color of nitrogen is!!! oh noes its light blue. my guess its a mix of the actual color + light scattering


RE: In other news...
By h0kiez on 9/24/2007 3:50:14 PM , Rating: 4
I only clicked this article because I thought for sure the headline was some clever joke. Apparently it was not.


RE: In other news...
By darkblueslider on 9/24/2007 5:14:06 PM , Rating: 2
QFT and all that jazz.
/totally agree with h0kiez


Smaller? or bigger?
By DarthPierce on 9/24/2007 2:52:08 PM , Rating: 3
iPhone: 43.6 x 50.5 x 5.4 mm = 11890 mm^3
Touch: 54 x 64 x 2.8 mm = 9677 mm^3

iPhone has nearly 23% larger battery...




RE: Smaller? or bigger?
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 2:53:38 PM , Rating: 2
True, I would assume with talk time & web functions that it would drain a battery much faster if it used the same size.


RE: Smaller? or bigger?
By JasonMick (blog) on 9/24/2007 3:07:39 PM , Rating: 2
The battery takes up a larger percentage of the total volume in the Touch and has a larger face-down area.

From the tear down:

quote:
The new iPod is 0.2 inches (5 mm) shorter than its older cousin.


The touch's battery takes up less volume, but the iPhone touch has significantly less volume, so it also takes up a greater percent.

Look at the side to side and you will realize that the touch is dramatically skinnier. Its battery has greater area non-width-wise, than the iPhone to compensate. The removed electronics (speaker, mic) allow for this battery packing, as stated.


RE: Smaller? or bigger?
By DarthPierce on 9/24/2007 3:18:06 PM , Rating: 2
I would not (and did not) argue that the touch probably has better battery life (less to drive) and a larger % of its volume occupied by a battery (it's much thinner). However, the article states that the iPhone battery is smaller, not that the battery life is reduced or that the ratio of battery volume to total interior volume is different.

Generally making a battery thinner and longer and wider while keeping its volume unchanged results in reduced battery capacity. (More of the total volume is occupied by the mandatory protective outer layers and the electron flow path to the terminals is les efficient).


RE: Smaller? or bigger?
By Etsp on 9/24/2007 3:36:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
but the iPhone touch


Now don't you wish there was an edit button =P


Really?
By kextyn on 9/24/2007 2:54:10 PM , Rating: 2
Did we really need someone to take it apart to tell us it's virtually identical to the iPhone minus the phone specific hardware?




RE: Really?
By James Holden on 9/24/2007 2:55:50 PM , Rating: 2
Even then, it would seem, the Touch still has the majority of the phone-specific stuff.


RE: Really?
By FastLaneTX on 9/25/2007 3:01:36 PM , Rating: 2
Duh? Aside from the GSM antenna and mic/speaker, the iPhone is just another general-purpose computer. Virtually every modern phone, PDA, MP3 player, etc. has the same guts inside with a few peripherals for "market differentiation".


RE: Really?
By MADAOO7 on 9/24/2007 3:41:00 PM , Rating: 3
I know seriously, obviously a company is going to take advantage of economies of scale. By introducing the iPod touch they will inevitably be able to lower the price to manufacture a iPhone. Also, think about the R&D time that must have gone into the iPod touch. Probably took a single afternoon.

R&D Engineer #1: "Uh, why don't we just take out the phone, and make the battery bigger to take up the room we saved?"

R&D Engineer #2: "Damn, your'e a genius!"


Wow!!! What a revelation.
By Vanilla Thunder on 9/24/2007 4:17:40 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Report: iPhone and iPod touch "Very Similar"


And I notice it took not one, but two rocket scientists to write this highly insightful and informative article. Must be a slow day in tech news.

Vanilla "Cpt. Obvious" Thunder




RE: Wow!!! What a revelation.
By Puddyglum1 on 9/24/2007 5:03:49 PM , Rating: 2
Hahaha... I read this headline and almost rolled out of my chair.


By SiliconAddict on 9/24/2007 10:08:34 PM , Rating: 2
a.k.a duh.




By cheetah2k on 9/25/2007 1:26:22 AM , Rating: 1
And sound waves a popular hearing medium...


By AraH on 9/25/2007 9:10:44 AM , Rating: 2
research has also shown that 100% of people choose 'light' as their preferred vision service provider, however, due to unavailability in certain areas, only 99% of people use the 'light' service


802.11a?
By erwos on 9/24/2007 4:40:43 PM , Rating: 2
Very nice. I use 802.11a at home, and it's nice to get out of the crowded 2.4ghz band. I doubt they'll enable it, but I can wish.

I wonder if it's 802.11n capable, too?




RE: 802.11a?
By AraH on 9/25/2007 9:21:53 AM , Rating: 2
for a small fee, it can be...

(see apple's previous history with 802.11n on their laptops)


Yup
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 2:52:40 PM , Rating: 2
This is not surprising to me at all. By making most of the parts identical, you can decrease manufacturing costs.

Im assuming that most of us already figured this one out.




Apple fails to amaze me
By AlphaVirus on 9/25/2007 11:06:30 AM , Rating: 2
I just really cant get into their products.




I just can't imagine.....
By cheetah2k on 9/24/2007 9:04:53 PM , Rating: 1
Apple are shooting themselves, having a feature rich portable multi media player like the ipod touch, but without bluetooth and no support for A2DP....

Shame on you Apple!




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