It's been just under four years since Apple last updated the iPod Touch, with 2019 immediately giving way way to rumors that the company would finally be updating its iPod Touches with a new generation this year. Today, Apple has proven the speculation true, with a new line of iPod Touches being officially revealed by the tech giant.

The new iPod Touches are nearly identical to the ones unveiled in 2015, sporting only one significant improvement: an A10 Fusion chip processor, which is the same kind that powers the iPhone 7. The shape and size of the device, home button, battery, and cameras are all the same as the 2015 edition iPod Touches, though the newly-announced lineup of Apple devices does offer a 256GB version, which is larger than consumers could get in the last generation.

The upgraded processor means the new generation of iPod Touches will be able to do a few things their predecessors couldn't, like participate in Group FaceTime calls and use Apple's ARKit augmented reality applications. Apple states that the 2019 generation of iPod Touches offers up to double the CPU performance of the last generation, and will help graphics load up to three times as quickly. It means users won't have to worry about the latest version of iOS slowing things down, either, with the last generation having been unable to update to the most recent version of Apple's iOS operating system.

Beyond that, the new generation will also be able to run all of the games from the Apple Arcade subscription service, which Apple was keen to highlight during the iPod Touch announcement. With the company investing so heavily into the service, it makes sense that it would to ensure iPod Touch users could actually run the content that Apple plans to offer on the subscription service. Still, the lack of an updated camera - or any other improvements, really - will be disappointing to some.

The devices may not be as powerful an iPhone XR, but they certainly come in at a much lower price point. The new generation comes in three tiers of storage size: a 32GB model for $199, a 128GB model for $299, and the all-new 256GB model for $399. All tiers of the new iPod Touches are already available to order online in a variety of colors.

Source: Apple