Apple’s iPod Touch Quality Problems
I just got home from a weekend at Cornell and promptly canceled my iPod Touch 16Gb order after checking bloglines. Apparently, there are a number of flaws with the new device which outweigh the double capacity it offers at the $399 price point, so I’m going to trade those 8GB for a phone, camera, and email.
Here’s what’s not going so hot with the iPod Touch:
Unlocking, hacking, jailbreak:
According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, “Jailbreak seems increasingly unlikely at this point.” Without the ability to run custom applications on the touch, there’s absolutely no hope for enhancements that make it as fun or useful as the iPhone. While someone may open it up for hacking in the near future, it’s not happening yet.
Shoddy UI:
Check out this photo of an iPod Touch displaying an iPhone error message. While just a graphical glitch, it doesn’t bode well for PR or the myriad other bugs that we’ll probably start to see cropping up in the Touches soon.
Shoddy manufacturing:
People have been receiving iPhone Touches without OSX installed on them, making their $399 mp3 player a brick in their pockets. Yet another bug.
Missing bazillions of iPhone features:
The list of cut features is long: edge, mail, link sharing, notes, calendar, bluetooth, volume buttons, maps, weather, stocks, a dock, or a camera. Some of these (camera, edge, mail, bluetooth, maps) are deal-breaking features.
Bad sound quality:
It’s been shown that the new 6G iPod Classics have worse sound quality than the 5G line. I don’t know if this affects the Touch or iPhone, but it’s something to keep in mind. Update: According to iFix it, the iPod Touch uses the older, superior Wolfson chipset which doesn’t suffer from this issue.
Screen quality issues:
The iPod touch’s screen has a much worse contrast ratio than the iPhone’s, as seen in this Flickr set, which means a loss of detail and negative black sections on the slightly smaller display.
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pm and is tagged with edge mail, 6g ipod, mail link, weather stocks, volume buttons, iphone, ipod touch, long edge, screen quality, quality problems, jailbreak, wolfson, contrast ratio, quality issues, custom applications, sound quality, glitch, mp3 player, error message, cornell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.
on September 16th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Wow, that’s almost scary bad.
on September 16th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Any ideas on what to do with our old fifth generation iPods?
on September 16th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Keep using them. Until the iPod Touch 2G.
on September 24th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
you sound very anti apple.
your comments are sweeping and unless you have tried every ipod made they are only your opinion.
i have a touch - its good. everyone falls in love with it as soon as they use it.
screen is very crisp and clear for web pages and photos.
my only gripes
no case with it
sound level is low for video
other the an that id disagree with most of what yo are saying.. so anyone reading this blog - go and see for yourself, then decide on your own…
dont make your purchase decision based on the personal opinions of a blogger.
on September 24th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I’m not anti apple. I just bought an iPhone–and it’s better than the touch.
on September 25th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
An iPhone is only an option for those who are with, or are willing to, deal with at&t. Its that simple. I’m not jailbreaking and then risking a relock of the phone upon a new firmware release…
on September 25th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
It’s pretty simple with a gen-1 iPhone. We own the phone. We run the software. It doesn’t matter what Apple does now, we can work around it.
on October 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
It’s been a while since you posted this, Elliot, but I have to disagree with almost everything you are saying. The problems that arose in the first week or so that the iPt was available have all been resolved, and very promptly. I ordered one as soon as it was available, and I have had absolutely no problemes. If you want a camera, a phone, and to pay lots of money for an AT&T subscription every month (rent an iPod? Not me), by all means, buy the iPhone, but you shouldn’t post on how bad the iPt is when you don’t really know, as it could influence others on whether they by it or not, and it really is a great device. Just in cast anyone else reads this, I strongly reccomend the iPod Touch, and although I’m not sure how well the jailbreak is working as of now, I’m sure that there will be a fully funcional one soon, if not already. Just don’t be in such a rush, like Elliot here, to have everything perfect.
on October 24th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
48 hours and I’ve lost Touch with iPod.
WOW. Either I got unlucky or Humbert’s working for Steve
I listen to my music using the top of the range Shure E500 earphones; I’m very particular about the quality of audio and enjoy the likes of SACD and DVD-A. I like to think I know good sound when I hear it. I frequently listen to MP3s using my EVENT monitors and the sound is very good and whilst MP3s are a lossy format it’s definitely not an excuse for poor quality sound.
For the past couple of months I’ve been in the market for a new mp3 player and was deciding on the impressive iRiver Clix 2 or Version 2 of the Zune. Whilst iRiver has exceptional sound it’s too small for mobile video. The Zune was announced for the US market but no announcement of a
European release. Then like a bolt of lighting the iPod Touch struck Earth and like an angelic call from the heavens all my prayers were answered. Hallelujah!
So. Yes… Last week, I purchased the 16GB iPod Touch from Amazon. I this trust this store and they have an exceptional customer service ethic so if anything did go wrong or I wasn’t happy I knew I could return it. After all. I had read a lot of reports about sound problems but I wanted to be able to test the device first hand and ‘trust my own ears’ before committing to a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ decision.
I’ll admit it. I was very impressed with the iPod Touch, pleasantly so. It’s a treasure to behold. Interfacing with music has never been so tactile since the day of holding a CD or flipping through your record collection. Apple seems to have mastered the art of usability and the device itself is slick, it’s ****, it’s sophisticated, it’s everything you need to manage your album collection. Albeit small on storage it certainly makes up for in innovation.
Accessing a web site or being able to preview / purchase tunes via the iStore is a blessing for music junkies needing a fresh fix and I can’t praise Apple enough for this innovation even if it is a stripped down iPhone. The concept. The application. The wonderment… is divine.
Can you imagine how disappointed I was when I tried to use this device for what I had originally intended. To play music. Actually, disappointment is an understatement. I listened to MP3 encodings of my CDs at 192, 256 and 320KBPs as well as AAC lossless. The sound quality couldn’t even compete with my first Sony Walkman from the Duran Duran 80’s. I was ‘Hungry like the wolf’ for some belting audio quality. But instead I got a less than ‘Ordinary World’ I was appalled!
It’s hard to summarise just how bad the sound is but I’ll try.
Firstly it can’t handle Bass. My Shure E500 earphones have two Sub Bass drivers - I can only imagine how horrific this player must sound on stock earphones. Regardless of volume, the Bass is muddy and distorted. Selecting different predefined EQ options, like Classical, helped marginally but that’s only because it removed the bass! There wasn’t an option for customised EQ. But, if the sound is poor before EQ scoping it’s going to be hard to tighten it up. Other problems with the sound was the separation of frequencies - or rather lack of! The Treble isn’t bright, the Mids aren’t punchy and as stated the Bass doesn’t rumble. Don’t get me wrong Bass
doesn’t need to blow your head off - but it does need to be tight and not distort. I ran a test on my mobile phone: Nokia 6300 playing the same songs and the sound quality is exceptional - if only iPod Touch audio was as good as this.
I listened to the iPod Touch for no more than 2 hours. After this time, my ears felt fatigued. I was sad to say “Goodbye”, but I could now only spare tears for this product, not time. The iPod
Touch is so close to being an exceptional MP3 player. So very close. Yet it falls short of the most important aspect - audio quality! With each new iPod release the sound quality has to improve, not deteriorate. Apple can not trade bling n’ glitz for audio quality, that novelty wears off, but the sound quality will live longer than a Duran Duran classic. With every new
album, with every new production, music lovers long to hear musical creativity how the producer intended; every nuance, every beat, every frequency clearly represented is a minimum and fundamental requirement of audio devices - especially premium audio devices.
Apple I believe is playing its dominance card. This time they’ve gone too far. Go ahead. Buy an iPod Touch, listen to it, test it against other audio devices, admire it’s seductiveness but don’t be sucked into parting with hard earned cash for an inferior audio device. Return it for a refund, make a fuss, write a letter to Apple. If you’re anything less than 100% satisfied take a bite! Apple need to own up to this to declare what the problem is and how they intend to fix it.
Finally a small yet significant problem that I need to raise is the fact that the iPod Touch no longer supports Disk Mode, this has consequences, if I want to be able to use my device as a large portable hard drive, or use Anapod to manage my music. As a consumer I should have that choice. And crippling ‘PDA’ aspects just because it’s not a phone … why … oh … why….!
Apple’s ‘playing’ with its customers and the only way it can play is if its customers keep buying and accept second rate products. As a consumer we are but a number, but in numbers our voice is loud and much clearer than the hiss on a 6th Generation iPod. So make a song and dance
about this and be heard!
Oh and finally, I’m not anti-apple. I couldn’t care less for the brand, but I do care for innovation, quality and audio and which ever company meets those requirements deserves great success - anything else and they need to go back to the drawing board because we want the juciy Apple and not just the pips!
on October 29th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I really appreciate this article, today I was going to head out and more than likely buy the ipod touch but after reading this I’m pretty confident that i’m just going to go with the ipod classic and stick with the song quality since that is what an audio device is meant for.
on October 31st, 2007 at 9:11 am
MP3 player? The iPod Touch is looking more and more like a Pocket PC, thanks to the success in jailbreaking. (It did before too, I mean, look at Safari).
Why’re you chewing out the Touch, Celine? Audio quality? Pah! Sounds no different to me than any other MP3 player I’ve owned, including two iPods. There -is- nothing wrong with the audio quality, unless that is, you’re some sort of bloody audio nerd. But to me on the three sets of headphones I’ve tried with it, it sounds crystal clear… But you’d return a Touch over that? Jeez. Why waste Apple’s money like that?
on November 4th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I am considering buying an iPod touch, but after reading these opinoins im pretty much just confused. I’m not an audio nazi but if the sound quality sucks, then I really don’t want to waste my money. But I’m really drawn to the iPod touch versus the classic because of its safari feature. It’s brilliant. So if the sound quality is the same as my nano is, then im definitely buying it.
So let me know, honestly, how the sound quality is.
on November 16th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I’ve just bought the 16GB version of the touch. I spent HOURS jailbreaking it and playing with the different apps, using safari and flicking through photos and album cover. Then I remembered…MUSIC! Leigh, the sound quality is great nothing wrong with it. It has exactly the same quality as other generations. Just make sure you replace the stock headphones
on November 22nd, 2007 at 11:23 pm
After owning an iPod touch for 33 days, I had to return it to Best Buy this week after the screen toggle/power button quit working then failed to install its backup after I reset it to default. Fortunately, they took it back and gave me a new one along with the extended warranty I should have paid for in the first place. They couldn’t apply the $60 I saved in coupons and Reward Zone points, but I got it replaced without a hitch. And yes, I took good care of my device before its demise…
Aside from that, the touch is a pleasing media player and internet device, and I disagree about its sound quality, because it outperforms my nano 2G in every aspect. I heard details in my music that I never found on my nano. It might be my sensitive sense of hearing, but I think touch’s sound quality is better than the naysayers claim.
on November 23rd, 2007 at 6:54 am
I had the 16GB iPod Touch for 10 days, only 5 days left until my try-out period expires.
It is a beautiful device in every sense, but with only 5 days left I am not convince about its sound quality.
I have or had almost all the iPods but the very first ones, and I aught to admit the iPt is not the one with better sound quality, it is only as bad as the iPod nano 2nd G.
The iPod nano 3rd G. sounds much better than the iPod Touch, in fact is only second to the iPod shuffle 1rst G and comparable to the iPod video 5.5 G.
However, most people (perhaps about 80%) will not notice that difference because their ear is not sensitive enough.
I am one of those “unlucky” people with a 20hz - 21 khz sensitive audio spectrum, it means only the very expensive will satisfy my ear.
When I got my audiometry done, the doctor said I was the first case to have such an audio spectrum in his 20 years of experience.
Said that, get yourself a pair of good earphones with an impedance over 20 ohms and a sensitivity over 100 dB, and you will love its sound.
Any “good” earphones with an impedance of 16 ohms like Sennheiser CX300, if you have a good ear (not excellent), will let you ear a nasty hiss which will fatigue you ears and bring you a horrible headache after one hour.
If you have a very good ear, you will need -at least- some thing like Shure SE310 or e3c. If you are unlucky enough and have an excellent ear, even with Sennheiser HD650 headphones you will have trouble to be sure about its sound quality.
I have installed all the iPhone Apps and a lot of third party apps. Its works like a champ, the batteries run for longer than specifications. You can listen to stream audio with iRadio app.
You will love it, but if you are one of those rare people like me with a 20hz - 21 khz sensitive audio spectrum, it will not be your best sounding MP3 player.
Good luck!
on November 29th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I have had numerous problems with trying to sync my new ipod touch. I would not recommend getting one. I am going to have to take mine back.
on December 1st, 2007 at 8:46 pm
i am thinking about getting the i touch but hearing all these should i or keep my old ipod video that already broke 1 time but we fixed please answer
on December 5th, 2007 at 6:23 am
I’ve just talked with Apple here in Spain. They told me they wouldn’t care that my iPod touch’s accu didn’t work longer than max 3 hours (even in sleeping mode!). That would be only a case for the reseller to discuss.
The reseller only derides me. I should be patient and wait and wait. Up to now I’ve been waiting 15 days. And they don’t tell me when they wanted to give my iPod touch back.
I’m very content with my 2 MacBooks, my PowerBook, my iBooks. But now I am very carefull to buy Apple products in Spain.
At the moment I use my Palm T/X. It’s much more reliable, much easier to use. And it connects much better to the internet.
My recommendation
on December 5th, 2007 at 6:23 am
I’ve just talked with Apple here in Spain. They told me they wouldn’t care that my iPod touch’s accu didn’t work longer than max 3 hours (even in sleeping mode!). That would be only a case for the reseller to discuss.
The reseller only derides me. I should be patient and wait and wait. Up to now I’ve been waiting 15 days. And they don’t tell me when they wanted to give my iPod touch back.
I’m very content with my 2 MacBooks, my PowerBook, my iBooks. But now I am very carefull to buy Apple products in Spain.
At the moment I use my Palm T/X. It’s much more reliable, much easier to use. And it connects much better to the internet.
on December 9th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
yo the ipod touch is the best. sure it has some problems but everything does.
on December 18th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
the touch rocks,got one here in the uk the day it came out, and no problems so far,the screen quality is amazing, i download alot of tv torrents and putting them onto the touch is so easy, and music sounds great through a decent pair of phones, it sounds a bit empty when on my proper hi-fi system, but im a purest and its not that bad….
BUY ONE OF THESE BABY’S ASAP !!!!
on December 19th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I have an ipod touch 16 GB, I love it. I had a nano 2GB and loved it too..so far have had no problems with either device. I am not a hard core computer/feature geek-probably will only use a third of what the device can actually do…Do have one question though—Does anyone know how to troubleshoot the tv out mode. I purchased the $49 AV cable from apple that supports the touchs tv out mode, but all I still get is sound-no picture. Checked connections chose tv out mode when prompted, but no picture-so frustrated-Anyone else had problems with this feature or know how to fix it?
on December 27th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I just bought my 8 GB iTouch 2 days ago, and Im having problems with it already. And the iTouch does not come with enchurance as so the Iphone. Either of them don’t come with enchurance as you probably know. Ever thought of it as a scam? Its like saying….”Well we know our devies are cabable of alot of things, but we also know since there so much features and to do thhings on it, there are alos alot of bugs, flaws, viruses, ect. So where NOT gonna add enchurance becuase then we’d just get all our iTouches, and IPhones back.” ITS ALL BUSINESS! AND IM THE ONE SUFFERING! THERE ARE NO REPAIR FILES OR HELP FOR THESE ITEMS! I mean sure there are but to a certain point. Once it really it broken, they basically say “Were sorry but theres nothing we can do.”
F*&^ That. Don’t buy one. You won’t get your money back OR your satisfaction! -Michael A. Bueno
endlesslylost29@yhaoo.com
on January 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
okay i need HELP!!!
i just bought an 8G ipod touch and when i plug it into my computer it says that the APPLE MOBILE DEVICE is not started.
okay, so i follow APPLE’s instructions [which can be found here: docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306640
and when i click on ’start’ it says that it automaticlly stops when it has no tasks to do.
WTF DOES THAT MEAN!!!!!!! help please!!!!!!
on January 6th, 2008 at 2:52 am
To me the iPod touch is great. I mean all this talk about the sound quality being bad isn’t true I mean to me it sounds exactly like my 4g nano. All the features are great such as safari which I am using right now to type this review, youtube, photos, music, videos, iTunes. The only thing is ummm when i buy a song from itunes on my touch where do i go to dowload it? Besides th little problek i have with itunes the touch is great in many ways.
on January 10th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I love the iPod touch, however Im not satisfied with the sound quality. There is something lacking in the body of the audio quality that doesn’t seem full, like the bass. Im using stock headphones though; I may just have to get a better set. I get a mild headache after listening to it for a while, and I cant really get into the music. It may just be me, but my friends iPod shuffle sounds kind of better. I don’t know why that would be; Id think that they’d keep the audio quality consistent in all their products. Its kind of weird. If you listen to a lot of metal or hard rock, this might not be the player for you. Like I said though, it may need better headphones.
on January 10th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Ok, I tried something that greatly improved the seemingly lacking bassysounds for the iPod.
try this tip before you decide to take them back.
forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=37743
I was about ready to take back my iPod, but this simple way of wearing my stock earphones changed my mind.
on January 10th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
It looks retarded, but try it because it will show u that all you probably need is better headphones
on January 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Hey i hav an ipod video 30gig and i want an ipod touch, but it has been out for a while. So does any1 think i should wait until the next one comes out. Or does any1 kno about any cool rumers about a new 1? it would help alot. Thanx
on February 9th, 2008 at 1:45 am
My ipod touch just freaking stopped syncing with my itunes on my computer…
i deleted all the freaking stuff on it (since the info on the apple.com support thing on ipod touches said to) so now im left with an empty ipod piece of ****.
on February 26th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
i have an ipod touch (not jailbreaked) and it is soooo good.
its easy to use and the sound quality is fine! those who are on a cusade to “chew out” the touch are just wasting their time because it is ( in my opinion) the best piece of kit you can get! and yes it is not just an Mp3 it is a pocket pc and apple are always bringing out updates for it.
i am also not a mac fannatic (i am a windows one) and have found the touch to a pleasant and very unexpected welcome into the mac world. anyone who is thinking of buying a touch, GO FOR IT. you will fall in love with it instantly and any difficiences it may have (bar a camera) will be fixed by apple in the near future!
on February 26th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
am really intrested to get the ipod touch..but after reading a couple of the problems,gota say, am really confused now..
one of the main problems i heard bout the ipod touch is tht the music stops playing randomly sometimes while surfing on safari and tht the wifi signal of the ipod is pretty weakk..i dunt know what to go for..for the ipod touch or the classic one..
on March 26th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I purchased an iPt back in december, instantly followed the easy jailbreaking methods.. It is only the 8 gb version but i have been more than satisfied. I cant really think of any technical flaws.. yea some of us would like external volume controls and other great characteristics of the iphone… but personally i DO use my iPod touch as a phone using a voice over internet protocol and a custom microphone from sweden. The iphone also has jailbreaking methods as well…. so i would have to say the iPhone will always be “better” than the ipod touch. But its about preference.. and about Purpose… I personally love the ipod touch’s slim build.. A non-user replaceable battery is the ONLY downside that i can think of.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
I love my Ipod touch the only problem is after a few months of having it i lost all data on my music, i cant even download to restore cause that doesnt pop up, after unstalling and installing nothing seems to work help?
on April 12th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Ok so I have a problem with my itouch. I bought it in November and I loved it. However I upgraded to 1.1.3 (idiot!) and bought the software update (double idiot!) and my Itouch won’t accept music anymore. I can barely load a 30 Minute podcast or a 2 minute video, before itunes says that my iPod is not connected or some s*** like that. So now I have like an hour of songs and that’s it and one video podcast. My friends say memorys corrupted please help!!!
on April 14th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
So its april 2008 and I just purchased a 16GB touch, within only a week I have had some small but tedious problems!!!! I wont lie to you the device is amazing and very entertaining, but when listening to music on shuffle the Ipod randomly turns off and resets itself, and all of my music is lagit,”actually from a cd… not downloaded” as just a small setback the web browser has no flash player, or adobe, so while it says the whole internet ya its all their but how much of it can actually be seen???? the crappy part is apple has no way of downloading these to the ipod til the software creater makes its presents….. in conclusion this device once perfected will be an awsome buy, but for now ill wait a year til my phone contrcts up to get the iphone, and I will be promptly taking the touch back!!!!
on April 20th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
ok i was restoing my ipod touch 8GB and i took out the plug out. My screen went to the screen with the apple. it is stuck on that screen with the downloading symbol. how do i fix that?
on June 14th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I bought the 8gb i pod touch is rubbish dont buy it!!!!
on July 20th, 2008 at 9:35 am
i was trying to downgrade my ipod then it jus went to a black and white scrreen then sometimes you would see the apple then i turned it off
on July 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 am
You suck balls! All your comments about the touch looks like the comments of someone that had a long sitting on a toilet. I doubt that you even tried the touch. I have one, and have never had a problem. Go and try the product first before making comments like the idiot you are. Get a life!
on August 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I am so through with Apple!!! I bought an iPod touch 16 gb and it froze and stopped working a week later. I got a replacement and then a month later the sound stopped working. I got another replacement last week and yesterday the sound stopped working again. I have never once dropped my iPod. There is no reason for Apple to be charging $400 for a product that is virtually disposable. I am sincerely regretting my ipod purchase because when my year is up, there will be no free replacements… and I don’t want to have to buy a new iPod every month.
on August 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I bought an iPt and loaded up my music. Then I bought the 2.0 upgrade to play games and itunes said that the iPt was in recovery mode. After trying to recover several times iTunes said that there was an unrecognised error. Nothing I tried brought it back from the cd and line-in screen. I took it back to the store and got a new one. Same thing. I contacted Apple support and sent it in. They claim that no problems were found. When I tried to load up the music and apps - same thing. Yes, I’ve tried deleting and reinstalling itunes and everything else I can think of. I’ve also tried this on two different computers. I AM NOT HAPPY!!!
If anyone has a solution please post it.
on August 25th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Bought the 8 gb about 5 months ago from Walmart.com. I think the thing worked for a week. Always goes into recovery mode, takes hours to restore and then it goes back into recovery mode. I wasted $400. Boo Apple, Boo….
on September 1st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I have a 32g iPod Touch and can only load a few applications before it tells me my music has gone and then I cannot access the applications. I have restored it 6 times and do not know why this is happening.