Apple iPod Touch '5' Teardown Reveals Tech Specs And Features From Toshiba, Texas Instruments

Apple never explicitly said when it'd release its fifth-generation iPod Touch or its seventh-generation iPod Nano, both of which were unveiled alongside the all-new iPhone 5 at its media event in San Francisco last month, but Apple's Eddy Cue and Greg Joswiak promised an October timeframe to begin shipping pre-orders. On Tuesday, Apple surprised everyone when it began filling its retail stores with the new iPods and sending notifications to pre-order customers, telling them their orders had shipped.

As per usual with any iDevice launch, the talented engineers at iFixit have managed to snatch and successfully take apart Apple's latest high-end iPod, the fifth-generation iPod Touch.

"How does the 5th Generation iPod Touch stack up to the iPhone 5? Well, literally speaking, they’re fairly well matched in terms of size. The new iPod Touch shares the same height (within a ± .01 inch difference) as the iPhone 5," iFixit wrote. "Along with a 4-inch (diagonal) screen, a 5-megapixel iSight camera, and 32 GB or 64 GB storage capacity, the new iPod Touch also sports a retractable post for 'the loop.' With any luck, this loop will prevent the unintentional iPod 'drop test' that often results in shattered hopes and screens."

Unlike the similar-looking iPhone 5, iFixit reports that the new iPod Touch was much easier to get inside due to the lack of external screws and two "hard-to-manage ribbon cables" on the logic board, which unfortunately gives the device a low repairability score of 3 out of 10, with "10" being "easiest to repair." In comparison, the iPhone 5 was awarded a 7 out of 10.

"While very difficult, opening the case and replacing components is not impossible," iFixit said on its site.

Upon breaking down the phone, however, iFixit revealed all of the internal components of the iPod Touch, including Apple's dual-core A5 processor responsible for running the device, a 32GB NAND flash from Toshiba, and 512MB of RAM from Hynix.

Here's the full list of components and internal features iFixit discovered in the new iPod Touch:

* A5 Processor
* Hynix H9TKNNN4KDBRCR 512 MB RAM
* Toshiba THGBX2G8D4JLA01 32 GB NAND flash
* Apple 3381064 dialog power management IC
* Murata 339S0171 Wi-Fi module
* Broadcom BCM 5976 touchscreen controller
* Apple 33831116
* STMicroelectronics AGD32229ESGEK low-power, three-axis gyroscope
* Texas Instruments 27AZ5R1 touchscreen SoC

The new iPod Touch has most of the same specs and features as the iPhone 5 including iOS 6, the four-inch Retina Display and Siri, but the iPod Touch is also thinner, features a downgraded 5-megapixel camera from the iPhone’s 8-megapixel camera, and the device also includes a novel “iPod Touch loop,” which hooks onto the bottom of the device for added security when taking pictures or just a simple stroll. Apple boasts the battery in the new iPod Touch can provide up to 40 hours of music playback and up to eight hours of video playback, but unlike the iPhone 5, the iPod Touch is a bit less speedy. The device is powered by a faster A5 processor rather than the custom A6 chip in the iPhone 5, and the iPod Touch lacks any cellular capabilities or the lightning fast speed of LTE.

However, since the new iPod Touch features most of the same qualities as the iPhone 5, Apple has priced it accordingly. The new iPod comes in 32GB or 64GB capacities but unlike the iPhone 5, which just comes in two different color combinations, Apple offers six beautiful colors to choose from, including black, silver, pink, yellow, teal, and that (Product)RED model, which sees a portion of its cost donated to helping fight AIDs in Africa. The new iPod Touch costs $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB.

Apple has a useful comparison of all its available iPods on its website.