It's essentially an iPhone 7 without a SIM. Just buy one of those. I'm assuming it would cost less than a new iPod touch and it prevents old iPhones from becoming e-waste.
We have a bunch of old iPhones for kids, but we can’t setup iMessage on those phones without an active phone number. We can setup iMessage (email based) on iPad and iPod Touches, so this is frustrating. I want my kids to not be full on cellular internet, but I like that they can message relatively safely friends and family with iMessage.
We use a cell service called Tello for my kids phones. For $5/mo you can get a plan with 100 minutes of voice calls, sms, and no data whatsoever. It's perfect for my kids, since I don't really want them to have mobile data anyway
I'm using an old iPhone without a SIM card as a spare device and iMessage works on it WIFI-only. But I have to admit that initial setup of the Apple ID wasn't done on this phone. Perhaps you could setup your kids Apple IDs on another device and then use them on the old phones with iMessage as well?
You're missing something; I have a first gen SE that's got no SIM and it has email based iMessage setup and working. It's for my son to FaceTime with family.
I don’t believe this is true or something let’s me not need any [working] sim in my phones. I can log into an iCloud account and FT, iMessage accounts on non sim working phones too.
Major problem with that: Phones without SIMs can still make emergency calls (911, etc).
I got one for my kid as a camera. Why? Because it costs as much as many kids cameras, while they're absolute trash, and the camera module/software in the iPod takes really high quality photos that are easy to export or manipulate.
Old iPhones are inexpensive, but you cannot disable emergency calling for a good reason, but that good reason still doesn't make you want to hand one to a 7-year-old as a glorified camera.
Both. Just a whole scope of problem that can be eliminated by not getting a device with a cellular modem. Plus a lot of iOS devices have strange interactions with iPhones without phone numbers (imessage and signal for two specific examples).
This is the worst thing about Signal, IMO. I want to use old phones as backup communication devices (wifi) but can't natively use the software that way.
It’s not even pedantic. The next line says “new iPods” are pricier than iPhone 7s. So they meant non new iPhone 7s. Followed by e-waste which wouldn’t be about a new device
The person knows that. If you read on. That’s why they say it’s probably cheaper than a new iPod. By saying “new” for iPod, it’s a distinction versus iPhone 7s. Then they bring up e-waste which is about used devices being re-used. Not using a new device.
Minus being able to listen while charging (or dealing with more adapters), losing your adapter after you pocket it when you want to use your headphones on any other device, etc...
I'm sorry but I disagree. I carried around a game boy pocket, with several game cartridges just fine as a kid. I see kids taking Nintendo switches and an iPad everywhere with them today.
On an iPod FaceTime and iMessage work as expected over Wifi. Last time I tried to use an iPhone without a sim card they didn't work. Is that still the case? If so, is it a technical limitation or an intentional one?
Yeah I posted about it above and people said it works fine. I wonder if it depends on who you original carrier was or something? I'm going to try again!
If you’ve got a kid or kids, don’t even give e-waste a second thought. The environmental cost of a new person is so astronomical as to make any other decision you make a rounding error.
Why would you even what that? I get the opposite (phone without internet), but this has all the downsides for the development of a child without the advantage of a child being able to contact their parents or vice versa?
The iPod touch cannot call 911. The iPod touch doesn't require me to have a phone contract. Not every kid needs a phone, but having an iPod touch keeps the kid from getting bullied by the "Blue Message" crowd.
iPod touches also sent iMessages, since all you need is an Apple ID.
That's why I said "having an iPod touch keeps the kid from getting bullied by the "Blue Message" crowd" - It was the device you could buy a kid and not worry about the green messages.
iPhones without phone contracts can still call 911.
My main driver is an iPhone SE from 2016, which I bought used in 2019 for 50 euro (about 50 dollars). Best phone I've ever had. It does get worse with every update just like every other device with software updates), but it's still quite usable.
I wish I learned the trick of "buying quality devices that are a few years old and using them until end-of-life" ages ago (also works great with laptops, though Apple's ones tend to stay expensive despite their age, so it works better with Thinkpads), I've spent so much money on brand new devices, which did not benefit me in any meaningful way.
More to the thread: I too am puzzled by the idea of giving my child a device that allows them to rot their brain but doesn't allow us to call each other. Seems like it should be the other way around—I keep hearing how the people who run big tech companies don't let their kids use technology, because they know how harmful it is.
from apple's vantage point, the watch (with airpods) is meant to fill this niche (more lucratively for them). apple even went against its own one-user-one-device edict to allow one iphone to control multiple watches to support this positioning.
edit: i should add that this is also one of the reasons apple has the "voice only" music subscription.
The iPad mini might be Apple's response to mostly fill the gap. The device can run phone apps without having the features of calling/texting.
The tablet also has more educational value as it supports handwriting and drawing, though it comes at the cost of not being pocket-size (adding inconvenience for users who just want to listen to music).
The regular "iPad" is more similar. Low priced model that lags behind the design and power of the flagship models. Starts at $329 vs $500 if you don't mind the big bezels, lightning port, and A13 processor with 3GB RAM.
Mini has the small bezels, USB-C port, supports the magnetically charged stylus, and has an A15 with 4 GB RAM, so it's priced more in line with the iPad Air even though it's the small one.
I used to have an iPad Mini, I think 3? Whichever model was before it got Touch ID. Back then it was a smaller and cheaper version of the normal iPad, more recently it's moved to the middle of the line (but below the "Pro" versions).
I just realized the iPad mini I still use doesn’t have Touch ID. I have an iPad mini 3. It’s slow on the last OS it can be on, iOS 12. I use it because a jailbreak tweak that can last.fm scrobble (tracks listening/viewing history) works on older devices like that one.
Just went and checked, the Mini 2 didn't have Touch ID, the 3 added it but changed pretty much nothing else.
I think what I had was a 2 purchased after the 3 came out, someplace was clearing them out for around $150 off even though it was practically the same device except it took half a second longer to unlock. Pretty good deal, eventually got demoted to kitchen recipe screen.
The iPad mini costs more than an iPhone SE. it’s not that small either so if it isn’t going to be in your pocket, an iPad is over $100 cheaper.
I think the iPad Mini makes sense as a product line in general. Which is being a smaller screen (and thus cheaper) iPad Air. It does work as an option, but so do iPads.
These days parents hand down their phone to their kids so its basically free from that perspective. The height of the iPod Touch was the time when parents were only just getting their first smartphone.
iPhone SE 2nd generation (from early 2020) will be pretty cheap nowadays with the 3rd gen out. Probably still a bit pricier than an iPod Touch, but Apple went long periods of time without updating the Touch. While not reducing the price.
Though it won’t be possible to get new iPhone SE 2nd gen for long. At that point, a refurbished or used 11 or XR or SE 2nd gen will not be too much. The latter two should be cheaper than a new iPod Touch.
