While many of the predictions for Wednesday's Apple Media event were spot on, one of the most prevalent rumors didn't come true. The new iPod touch did not get a camera. David Pogue interviewed Steve Jobs and asked him why they omitted a camera from the refresh:
Mr. Jobs reiterated what Phil Schiller, the marketing vice president, had said earlier in the onstage presentation: that Apple is really pitching the iPod Touch as a game machine these days. And to do that, you have to make it as inexpensive as possible.
Jobs explained that since marketing the iPod touch as a gaming machine, it's really taken off. Not adding new features such as a camera was seen as a way to drive the price down even further.
In further questioning, Jobs continued to downplay the importance of dedicated ebook readers and reported to Pogue that there shouldn't be any delays in new products due to Jobs' absence.
"There are some things that I'm focusing a lot of attention on right now -- to polish," he said. "No, I don't think we're going to miss a beat. We have some really good stuff coming up."
The interview concludes with Jobs reporting that he "feels great" and acknowledging that he needs to gain some weight and he'd been eating a lot of ice cream to accomplish that.
Thursday November 5, 2026 12:59 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is launching five new products on Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models.
The following new products will be available from today:
iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip
iMac with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen
16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...
Thursday November 5, 2026 4:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is sending email surveys to some iPhone Duo buyers to get feedback on display size, crease, under-display camera, and other features.
The first question asks why the buyer chose the iPhone Duo now, with answers like "I wanted to try Apple's first foldable," "It was an impulse purchase," and "I expect smartphone prices to increase."
Other questions ask about the size of the iPhone...
Apple plans to merge the iPhone's Action button with the Camera Control starting next year, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker claimed that a single press of the combined button would open the camera, while a long press would trigger the function assigned to the Action button. They explicitly clarified that the dedicated Action button would ...
