Phil Schiller Says New iPod Touch 'Too Thin' for Ambient Light Sensor
Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller has responded to a customer's email inquiry asking about the lack of an ALS. Raghid Harake emailed Schiller and the executive wrote back, saying that the 5th generation iPod touch lacks the sensor because the device is simply too thin:

The teardown of the new iPod Touch shows just how cramped the interior of the device is, and the ALS is one of the components that Apple's engineers were forced to leave out to make everything fit.
