The new 16GB iPod Touch checks in at only $229, but it is a little stripped down. Apple has ditched all the colors, the wrist strap, and perhaps biggest of all, the iSight camera, to make this new price point. It does retain the Retina display, dual-core A5 processor chip and (of course) the ear buds.
Available in a black and silver version, it remains to be seen how popular the 16GB model with the $229 price tag will be. When Apple released the fifth generation of the iPod Touch, it did so without releasing an 8GB or 16GB iPod Touch offering. At the time, it was thought that Apple was clearly leaving the 8GB and 16GB offerings to the new Nano; but the new 16GB iPod Touch offering seems to indicate that Apple thinks it can sell enough of them to make it worthwhile.
The iPod itself has come under increasing fire, with many wondering how much longer Apple will elect to continue to refine and update the iPod because so many users have moved to using Smart Phones to play their MP3 files. Still, many music fans prefer the larger capacity and dedicated iPod over taking up the storage on their smart phones.