Difference between iPod Touch and iPhone

Key Difference: The iPod Touch and iPhone are quite similar in their functions. They are so similar that the iPod Touch has often been referred to as an iPhone without the phone, referencing the point that the iPod cannot be used to make phone calls.

The iPod Touch and the iPhone are different products by the multinational company, Apple Inc. Before the craze that is the iPhones came along, Apple was famous for another of its products: the iPod. The original iPod was launched in 2001, quite a bit sooner than the iPhones came around. The iPod touch was revolutionary at the time. Even though it was primarily an MP3 player, it offered a multitude of other features, which have been built upon in the next iterations. In addition to a music player, the iPod could be used as a video player, digital camera, handheld game device, and personal digital assistant (PDA).

This original iPod was eventually labeled as the iPod Classic, which was then followed by with the iPod Touch and iPod Mini. This was around the same time that the next revolutionary device was launched by Apple: the iconic iPhone. The iPhone was first launched on June 29, 2007, while the iPod Touch was launched on September 5, 2007.

The two devices are quite similar in their functions; both can be used to listen to music, watch videos, play games, surf the internet, take photos, FaceTime, etc. The devices are so similar in their function that the iPod Touch has often been referred to as an iPhone without the phone, referencing the point that the iPod cannot be used to make phone calls, as it does not support cellular technology.  

Additionally, the iPhone is generally bigger and bulkier than the iPod Touch as it definitely has more features that tend to take more space within the device. Basically, the iPhone can do nearly everything that an iPod Touch can do, while there are some things that the iPhone can do, but the iPod cannot, such as make phone calls, send SMS, etc. However, due to this the iPhones are generally quite a bit more expensive than the iPod Touch.

The iPhone also tend to have a larger screen as compared to the iPod Touch. For example, the iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch widescreen Retina display, while the iPod Touch has a 4-inch widescreen Retina display. The iPhones also tend to have a faster processor with better graphics, whereas the most recent generation of an iPod tends to have a processor and graphics that are comparable to an older model of an iPhone. For example: the iPhone 7 has a A10 Fusion 64bit chip processor with an embedded M10 motion coprocessor, whereas the iPod Touch has the A8 64bit chip processor with the M8 motion coprocessor, similar to the older iPhone 6. The iPhone also has a better camera and a longer lasting battery than the iPod Touch.

So, in short, other than the fact that the iPhone has phone capabilities, such as making calls, sending SMS, using 3G, 4G and LTE services, etc., the two are nearly the same. However, the iPod touch is smaller and lighter than an iPhone, as well as being cheaper. It can be said that the iPod Touch is a scaled down version of an iPhone.

Comparison between iPod Touch and iPhone 7:

 

iPod Touch

iPhone 7

Launch Date

September 5, 2007

September 2016

Company

Apple Corporation

Apple Corporation

Size

4.86 inches (123.4 mm) x

2.31 inches (58.6 mm) x

0.24 inch (6.1 mm)

138.3 mm (5.44 inches) x

67.1 mm (2.64 inches) x

7.1 mm (0.28 inches)

Display

4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Retina display with Multi-Touch IPS technology

4.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit widescreen Retina display

Dual-domain pixels for wide viewing angles

Screen

1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi

1334x750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi

Protection

Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

Gorilla Glass 5, oleophobic coating

Weight

88 grams (3.10 ounces)

138 grams (4.87 ounces)

2G Network

N/A

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - A1660, A1778

CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 - A1660

3G Network

N/A

HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - A1660, A1778

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO & TD-SCDMA - A1660

4G Network

N/A

LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 27(800), 28(700), 29(700), 30(2300), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) - A1660, A1778

GUI

iUI

iUI

CPU speed

1.1GHz

Quad-core

GPU

In built GPU

Six-core graphics

OS

iOS 10.0.1, upgradable to iOS 10.0.2

iOS 10.0.1, upgradable to iOS 10.0.2

Chipset

A8 chip with 64-bit architecture

M8 motion coprocessor

A10 Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture

Embedded M10 motion coprocessor

RAM

1 GB RAM

2 GB RAM

SIM Size

N/A

Nano-SIM

Internal Memory

16/32/64/128 GB

32/128/256 GB

Expandable Memory

No

No

Sensors

Three-axis gyro

Accelerometer

Backside illumination sensor

Touch ID fingerprint sensor

Barometer

Three-axis gyro

Accelerometer

Proximity sensor

Ambient light sensor

Connectivity

WLAN (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth v4.2, USB v2.0

GPRS, EDGE, WLAN (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth v4.2, USB v2.0

Data

WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, USB

GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, USB, NFC (Apple Pay only)

Speed

N/A

HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat9 450/50 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps

WLAN

802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi

802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.1 wireless technology

v4.2, A2DP, LE

USB

USB v2.0, reversible lightening connector

USB v2.0, reversible lightening connector

Primary Camera

8MP iSight camera, ƒ/2.4 aperture, Autofocus, Five-element lens

Panorama (up to 43MP)

12-megapixel camera, ƒ/1.8 aperture, Digital zoom up to 5x, Six‑element lens

Quad-LED True, Tone flash, Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)

Secondary Camera

1.2MP, ƒ/2.2, 720p HD video recording, Backside illumination sensor, Auto HDR for photos and videos, Improved face detection, Burst mode, Exposure control, Timer mode

7 MP, f/2.2, 32mm, 1080p@30fps, 720p@240fps, face and body detection, HDR, Backside illumination sensor, Exposure control, Burst mode, Timer mode, Retina Flash, Auto image stabilisation

Video

  • 1080p HD video recording (30 fps)
  • Tap to focus while recording
  • Slo-mo video (120 fps)
  • Time-lapse video
  • Cinematic video stabilization
  • Improved face detection
  • 3x zoom
  • Video geotagging over Wi-Fi
  • 4K video recording at 30 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Slow-motion video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps

Camera Features

  • Autofocus
  • Five-element lens
  • Hybrid IR filter
  • Backside illumination
  • Auto image stabilization
  • Auto HDR for Photos
  • Improved face detection
  • Exposure control
  • Panorama (up to 43MP)
  • Burst mode
  • Tap to focus
  • Photo geotagging over Wi-Fi
  • Timer mode
  • Optical image stabilisation
  • Six element lens
  • Quad-LED True Tone flash
  • Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)
  • Sapphire crystal lens cover
  • Backside illumination sensor
  • Hybrid IR filter
  • Autofocus with Focus Pixels
  • Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
  • Live Photos with stabilisation
  • Wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
  • Improved local tone mapping
  • Body and face detection
  • Exposure control
  • Noise reduction
  • Auto HDR for photos
  • Auto image stabilisation
  • Burst mode
  • Timer mode
  • Photo geotagging

Sound Enhancement

Noise reduction

3.5 mm headphone jack

Built-in speaker

Noise reduction

User-configurable maximum volume limit

No 3.5mm jack

Built-in speaker

Audio supported formats

AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV

Video supported formats

Up to 1080p through Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter (adapters sold separately)

H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

H.264 video up to 4K, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2 with AAC‑LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; MPEG‑4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC‑LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M‑JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280x720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Battery Capacity

Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery

Non-removable Li-Ion 1960 mAh battery (7.45 Wh)

Stand-by

-

Up to 10 days

Talk time

N/A

Up to 14 hours on 3G

Internet use

-

Up to 12 hours on 3G

Up to 12 hours on LTE

Up to 14 hours on Wi-Fi

Video playback

Up to 8 hours

Wireless: Up to 13 hours

Audio playback

Up to 40 hours

Wireless: Up to 40 hours

Available Colors

Space Grey, Gold, Silver, Pink, Blue, Red (Exclusive)

Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black, Jet Black

Messaging

iMessage, Email, Push Email

iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email

Browser

HTML5 (Safari)

HTML5 (Safari)

Radio

Wireless 'N', FM Radio

No

GPS

Location-based service

Assisted GPS and GLONASS

Java

No

No

Additional Features

  • Siri — Use your voice to send messages, set reminders, and more
  • Use hands-free
  • Listen and identify songs
  • AirDrop
  • AirPlay
  • AirPrint
  • Control Center
  • Notification Center
  • Siri
  • Spotlight Search
  • Facebook Integration
  • Twitter Integration
  • iCloud
  • iCloud Keychain
  • Multitasking
  • Wallet
  • Splash, Water and Dust Resistant Rated IP67 under IEC standard 60529
  • Siri natural language commands and dictation
  • iCloud cloud service
  • MP3/WAV/AAX+/AIFF/Apple Lossless player
  • MP4/H.264 player
  • Audio/video/photo editor
  • Document editor
Reference: Apple (iPod Touch, iPhone), Wikipedia (iPod Touch, iPhone),
Mac Rumors, ars Technica
Image Courtesy: apple.com

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