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Dead device walking: Apple iPod Touch 6th generation

Pocket stroker gets an A8 chip boost

Particle physics

This isn’t for nothing. In the opening scene of Gameloft's Modern Combat 5, an exemplar of iOS 8's Metal graphics API, the 5th gen Touch starts well in an underwater cut scene featuring thousands of rising bubbles. Emerge from the water into the first game sequence, however, and sparks flying from a broken lamp are absent, along with dust motes and a subtle plume of smoke. On the 6th gen these are fully rendered, just like on the iPhone 6. Any game with advanced visual effects should benefit.

Apple iPod touch

Modern Combat 5 render comparison: iPod touch 5G (left), iPod touch 6G (right). Click for a larger image

In general use, it’s always hard to say one iOS device is more responsive than another across the current range because Apple uses every trick in the book to ensure no iOS device feels sluggish or stuttery. Admittedly, much older kit with the latest OS can get a bit hesitant. However, up against the previous iPod Touch, I did find the 6th gen appreciably sprightlier, though, without the wait for big home pages and complex game levels to process.

To confirm the impression, the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark completed in 421ms, compared to 1908ms on the old model. My iPhone 6 was just a little faster, at 360ms, thanks to the extra clock speed. If that sounds impressive, you ain’t seen nothing yet: in some multi-core tasks, the A8 is almost an order of magnitude faster than the A5. This is a vastly more capable machine, ready for new generations of creative and multimedia apps for some time to come.

Apple iPod touch Geekbench scores

Geekbench shows a respectable score up againsts its more heavyweight peers

At 1GB, the RAM (a specification Apple never refers to) may not seem generous, but it matches the iPhone and doubles the previous allocation. The A8 comes with the M8 motion coprocessor, so the iPod can collect fitness data, although distance and altitude will be problematic: GPS, part of the 3G/4G hardware in the iPhone, remains an omission in the iPod Touch, as does the iPhone 6’s barometer. Nor is there a compass.

Shooting brake

Both of the cameras have been updated, but without any quantum leaps. While the 8-megapixel spec might get your hopes up, what’s under the protruding metal ring at the rear isn’t the iPhone 6 camera: the f/2.4 aperture marks it out as the equivalent not even of the iPhone 5s, but the 5c, currently Apple’s bargain-bucket end-of-line sale item.

Apple iPod touch

The 6th gen iPod touch (right) still isn’t a low-light monster, but it suffers fewer artefacts than its predecessor (left) in dim conditions. Video doesn’t fare quite so well, especially in the new slo-mo mode. Click for a hi-res image

Apple iPod touch

There’s not much to choose in colour reproduction between the 6th gen iPod Touch (centre), the 5th gen (left) and the iPhone 6 (right), but you could argue the new model looks the best of the three, at least from a distance. Click for a hi-res image

The camera is noticeably better than before, even so, and Apple’s excellent automatic exposure and colour balance ensure good-looking shots – which is just as well, since you don’t get the the manual exposure control available on the iPhones.

Pictures have the slightly over-contrasty look of the 5th gen’s, rather than the 6’s more natural feel. You might even prefer that, but the resolution is a little bit low for comfort and blotchy noise soon creeps in when the light gets low, although less than before. In video mode, pointing the live preview at a dim scene creates a festival of sparkly pixel-dancing.

Apple iPod touch

120fps video shooting included

The ability to autofocus continuously during recording, which Apple has managed to make very smooth on the iPhones, is missing. You do get the improved “cinematic” video stabilisation that was introduced with the iPhone 6, but not stabilisation for stills. 1080p recording is limited to 30fps rather than an optional Peter Jackson-style 60, but the lovely 120fps slo-mo is here.

Next page: Finite loop

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