That's a damned shame, the iPod Touch was a great way to give kids a "phone" without giving them a real phone.
I have been looking for a cheaper, no-data SIM card to use with 2FA Mules - this is very helpful.
You literally can't "just buy one" that's new to give to a kid.
Chiefly, it weighs 88g vs the 138g for the iPhone - a considerable difference for a child.
Some apps are a little cramped on what is now considered a small screen though (e.g. TikTok UI takes up most of the screen).
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.
iPod touches also sent iMessages, since all you need is an Apple ID.
https://support.apple.com/guide/ipod-touch/set-up-messages-i...
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.
1) although having had to make a 911 from Car Play, I wouldn't worry about accidents, but it was concerning how long it took to make the damn call.
Cost. $199, new.
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.
edit: i should add that this is also one of the reasons apple has the "voice only" music subscription.
Or maybe they see that as belonging to the iPad mini’s purpose.
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).
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 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.
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.
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.