Toshiba's New 1.8 Inch Hard Drives May Mean New Improved iPod Classic

Apple's iPod classic could jump from the 60GB capacity to 220GB with the introduction of Toshiba's new 1.8-inch hard drives. The new MKxx39GSL series of hard drives will be available in 160GB, 200GB, and 220GB capacities. This development may mean not only increased capacity but also improved battery life.

The new drives are single platter and it allows them to fit into the iPod form factor, where older dual disk drives with higher capacities were not used because of their larger size. The MKxx39SGL series will use less power so you could expect the future iPod classic to last longer than the current version's 36-hours.

The higher capacity would give you enough memory for 55,000 songs, 275 hours of video, or over 34,000 photos. Hardcore music fans or those that are particular about music quality and prefer lossless formats and enormous music libraries will probably celebrate the most should Apple implement this in their next rendition of the iPod classic.

[Via 9 to 5 Mac]