What are the differences between the iPod touch and the iPhone?

On September 5, 2007, Apple introduced the iPod touch which upon first glance looks nearly identical to the previously released iPhone.

Left - iPhone, Right - iPod touch - Photo Credit: Apple, Inc.

In basic terms, the iPod touch effectively is an iPhone without the "phone," EDGE support, integrated camera, and Bluetooth capabilities. Externally, the iPod touch uses a slightly thinner and shorter design but the outer "trim" surrounding the display is black instead of silver in a product differentiating effort to make it look cheaper.

Externally, the iPod touch has a headphone jack mounted on the bottom -- flush with the surface of the device, rather than recessed like the iPhone -- and it lacks the iPhone's speaker and microphone. It additionally lacks external volume buttons, a major inconvenience, as volume can not be adjusted discreetly while the device is tucked away in a pocket, but instead can only be changed with the onscreen display.

Like the iPhone, the iPod touch features a "multi-touch" sensitive 3.5" display with 320x480 resolution, an accelerometer that allows the device to "know" whether it is being held in portrait or landscape mode and switch automatically, an ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness, and built-in support for Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). However, as is well documented in reviews from ArsTechnica, Playlist Mag, iLounge, and others, the screen is of lower quality, dimmer, and has more difficulty accurately displaying dark colors and details.

Bundled sotware on the iPod touch includes a version of the Safari web browser, YouTube, calendar, contacts, clock, and calculator applications, as well as the same audio, photo, and video functionality (it originally lacked the phone, e-mail, text, stocks, maps, weather, and notes applications from the iPhone, but beginning January 15, 2008, Apple began selling the Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather, and Notes applications for US$19.99, and on February 5, 2008, began including these applications with all models).

Battery life for the iPod touch is 22 hours for music playback and 5 hours for video playback compared to the iPhone which Apple reports provides 24 hours of music playback and 7 hours of video.

For your convenience, the primary differences between the iPod touch and iPhone are summarized below:

* Rough estimate -- Apple provides no "official" estimate of song capacity for the iPhone.

† On February 5, 2008, Apple introduced a 32 GB configuration of the iPod touch for US$499.

§ On September 5, 2007, a mere two months after it shipped, Apple discontinued the 4 GB iPhone model and dropped the price of the 8 GB model to US$399. On February 5, 2008, Apple introduced a 16 GB model for US$499.

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