dont hold me to any of this stuff, but i found this link at ipodlounge.com's forums. 10 gb, 15 gb, and 30 gb ipod should be out by the end of the month with prices at 300, 400 and 500 respectively. also make sure to check out the included pic below. i dont like the new button layout at all.

http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showph...ass=#poststart

if you go to ipodlounge.com's "general" forum for the ipod you'll find the threads, and apparently some of this info came from respectable sources.

[edit] - also, some other stuff in case you're too lazy to use the link it should be USB 2.0 compatible for the windows users, and it will come with its own dock. no word yet on whether the 10 gb model will continue with its current design or pick up the new button layout.

that's just some BS artists imagination.. nothing concrete. Apple is smarter than that, after all.

but the drawing was supposedly constructed from "official" info from apple. it wasn't something drawn completely out of the blue by some hack artist. im not saying its GOING to look like this, it's still anyone's guess, but ive heard that thinksecret.com (where the info came from) has a great track record when it comes to predicting future products. and just for the record, the pic of this ipod got taken down from thinksecret.com shortly after it was put up. maybe its because apple didn't want the design shown yet?

Hmm.. That looks slightly ugly. I just hope the new ones have replaceable batteries... but I doubt it.

If it truly has USB 2.0, I might give it a try, though.. The current line of iPods doesn't like my computer much.. Oh well..

The sketch on thinksecret is almost certainly wrong. Apple have a cool design with all the controls on one central unit, why would they ever go to a less clever design that costs more to manufacture? The extra four buttons make no sense. I wouldn't upgrade for an extra 10G or a docking station or USB 2.0 - it looks very doubtful to me.

Apple does not officially support USB 2.0. You don't see it on any of their systems (Although 3rd party manufacturers sell 2.0 cards for mac)- they go with FireWire whenever they can since they own the technology. If anything, a new iPod will run off of their new FireWire800 ports instead of USB2.0, so I am not too confident about the truth of this iPod update.

Ruahrc

I'm a skeptic aswell. There have been predicted dates every second week since the begining of the year. I think they're due for an update, but I put zero credit to any sources like this.

Hmmm. Don't know how real this stuff is, but I do know that Apple is working on several new ipods -- the exact details and configuration I don't know. I DO know that they will be using new audio amps on the output. Apple apparently has never been 100% happy with the sound quality in the current ipods.

hm, i just bought an ipod a couple days ago.

so far, i'm pleased with it, although their earbuds leave MUCH to be desired. I was waiting for a couple months for prices to drop and everything, and when nothing happened, and rumors were still trickling in, and with the 15gb/30gb rumor coming out, I decided that spending $450 for a 20gb, while the 15gb would be $400 was justifiable.

I hope the newer iPods don't have many much better factors about them, Apple will have disillusioned a potential future customer if their secrecy ended up wasting my money (i.e. I would have waited 1 month to purchase a much better unit, but if the next units have just upgraded storage then I'm fine with it)

They really shouldn't keep all this behind such secrecy...

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My philosophy regarding buying computer components is this: Buy the best product that's currently available and within your budget, or you'll end up waiting forever and never getting anything.

There's always something better around the corner, so if you're constantly waiting for that "something better," you'll just keep waiting... and waiting ... and waiting. Might as well buy it now and enjoy it, rather than kick yourself in three months when the new ones don't come out.

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My philosophy usually is to try and gauge the midway point, around when prices start dropping for the just-released items, and newer items are still a ways off. It's never cool to buy something, and have the next version come out a week later =X