Get a grip on the Apple iPod Shuffle 2012 (pictures)

The latest iPod Shuffle seems impossibly small. Measuring 1.24 inches wide by 1.14 inches tall by 0.34 inch thick, it's practically a musical postage stamp.

The controls on the top edge of the iPod Shuffle are so small, you'll need to whittle down your fingertips with a pencil sharpener to operate them.

The only relatively new feature added to the iPod Shuffle in recent years is a VoiceOver button located on the top edge of the player. Pressing this microscopic button once will cause a synthetic voice to announce the artist and song title of the currently playing song.

The iPod Shuffle's clip is made from aluminum and offers a strong tension.

Unlike the previous generation of the iPod Shuffle (lower in the picture), which deliberately left a space on the front of the player for an easy grip, it is nearly impossible to pinch the clip on this design without accidentally pressing the back-skip button in the process.

For a $49 MP3 player, the Shuffle sounds surprisingly good, though you'd never know it from the old-school Apple earbuds that come included.