iPod's Dirty Secret - iPod's Unreplaceable Battery Lasts Only 18 Months

[dynomite]

I saw the video on the front of the page. Is it true? What a waste of money. Im not going to waste 700 dollars and have it last for 18 months!

[loGan]

I don't know how long the battery will last in real life but you can replace it so you shouldn't believe everything you see on TV.

[dynomite]

Thank god. I actualy saw it on the front page of ipodlounge not tv.

[SpideyPod]

Not entirely sure where the 18 month lifeline comes from unless of course they are referring to calculating the EXACT spec on the battery, 500 full charge cycles.
I guess if you are to do a discharge and recharge everyday for 500 days without fail your battery would be dead according to Apple's spec.

Not sure this is realistic and I would have to guess around 18 months you would see a noticeable degradation in battery life but I doubt anyone uses it is such an exhaustive manner as to render it dead on the 500 day.

And while I think it was pretty inventive for the Neistat brothers to come up with that video I don't think it is geared to anyone who is here at the Lounge. By finding the lounge and going one step further and either posting, or even just reading, these forums you have demonstrated that you are aware of how to use the internet as a tool to solve problems and identify solutions. In which case you would be able to make that extra step to find the other available, and lower cost, solutions to replacing a dead battery on the iPod.

I think the "unreplaceable battery" designation is applied to those individuals who purchase a product and then rely completely on the manufacturer to provide them with the best case solution for whatever problem they may be experiencing. In which case as these brothers demonstrated, at the time they called anyway, that Apple essentially told them they are out of luck and to buy a new iPod.

In my opinion the video is more a slight on Apple to provide better solutions to customers who have already spent a premium on a product to replace something like a battery. Not so much a death prediction for the iPod after 18 months.

[str8ridah]

i've had my original 5 gig ipod for over 18 months and the battery is still working fine, unfortunately i can't say the same about the rest of the ipod...the thing constantly freezes up now within a few minutes of turning it on each time...i took great care of it and never dropped it or anything so i can't understand why it just all of a sudden stopped working, conveniently after my warrenty expired at that...i've read about similar things happening to other peoples ipod's over long periods of time...these things seem to not last very long...recently i bought a new 3g with the 4 year replacement plan from bestbuy so hopefully this ipod will last me longer than my previous one...

[Kee-Lo]

Originally posted by SpideyPod
In my opinion the video is more a slight on Apple to provide better solutions to customers who have already spent a premium on a product to replace something like a battery. Not so much a death prediction for the iPod after 18 months.

Yep, have to agree with you there, the battery change for Apple wouldn't cost much at all to do, and a simple fee to do this wouldn't go amiss. After all, if you'd just spent ?400 on a 40GB iPod you're not going to do that again in 18 months are you? Apple think people have infinite money, so well done to the brothers who put that video out, it's not right that apple care don't provide a "change your battery" service for a fee. It's the decent thing to do. I hope you read this Steve Jobs, you're getting as bad as your pal Bill Gates.

As for the prediction of death, it's like a human, we can say "ah probably when I'm 84 I'll die", but we can't be precise. So really this 18 months is the MINIMUM the iPod can last if you discharge and charge FULLY each and every day. If Apple can provide this battery replacement service, it would be excellent.

[blue_maffu_202]

Apple does offer it's own Battery Service for $99 plus $6.95 shipping. Apple will replace the battery for you and offers a 90-day guarantee on materials and workmanship. It's a good deal!

[SpideyPod]

Originally posted by blue_maffu_202
Apple does offer it's own Battery Service for $99 plus $6.95 shipping. Apple will replace the battery for you and offers a 90-day guarantee on materials and workmanship. It's a good deal!

They do offer a pretty good service. I don't think it?s out of the question to charge $100 to fix a crucial part on a product that can cost up to $500 when the initial warranty expires.
And as many have pointed out if you are a "do it yourself" type of person there are even cheaper alternatives.

I am not sure when the brothers in question called Apple support, or made their video but it may just be a case of wrong timing or an uninformed customer service rep. In either case while I believe Apple's prior policy of charging $255 to repair was outrageous it is nice to see they have since made attempts to rectify the situation.


*One thing about the video though, for those of you not from NY or who have not visited in the last few months, the video gives you an idea of just how many iPod posters are around the city. It really is amazing. Riding the 3 line other day it was like a slide show of colors as we zipped by the subway posters, every other one of which was for the iPod.*

[JP_in_GB]

Based on the 18 month idea..my ipod would be in line for a replacement around March 2005.

I can live with that.

I think what helps is that there is a good market for used,broken or fading ipods.

If you pay $300 for a new ipod..get 2 years out of it...then sell it for $175 on ebay...that's a lot better turn a round then you see for pda's,game systems,etc.

But like a previous post said, that's based on the 500 charge/drain cycle.
I only need to recharge 2-3 times a week so hopefully mine will last much longer.

Also the battery doesn't die at 500 cycles, it just starts to lose significant capacity

[yrstruly]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but i'm sort of confused by people talking about drain/charge cycles.

everyday at work i keep my pod on the dock. which means it goes through at least 2 charging cycles a day (in the morning and then if i take it off the dock for some reason and later put it back on). does this mean that after 500 of these cycles that it would lose significant battery capacity?

or, are you saying that if you competely drain the battery and then re-charge it (which i've only done once).

i listen to my pod all day at work which means i get about 9 hours every day. so, i have to charge it once a day.

[Rich_aka_Wig]

The way I figure, in 18 months time somethng more innovative will be out and will be the next "must have". It's also a nice period of time in which alternatives can be looked at, considered and even put into action with regards to easier battery change or a cheaper service.

If not, I'll just have to remember to put aside around 1.50 a week for my "battery changing fund"

[MOCKBA]

I think IPAK has the same type of battery and I use it over three years, I have problems with screen, but battery. I think you should expect 3 years lifetime for the batteries. After 3 years i do not want to keep iPod anyway.

[mysteriousal]

Everyone with an ipod, or one on their Xmas list has the right to see this:


http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

[mdipi]

there is already a thread about htis:
http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthr...threadid=16316