“I have learned that there are Apple customers who are not feeling so cheerful about the “little guy” company. And these folks are attacking Apple with the same kind of venom usually reserved for pro Wintellers who speak ill of Apple products (believe me, I know),” Lance Ulanoff writes for PC Magazine. “Oddly enough, it seems that much of the anger stems from confusion and misinformation about a battery-replacement program that, at least from what I can tell, has been pretty transparent for years.”
Ulanoff writes, “All rechargeable batteries have a limited life span. Most will accept charges for a few years (more if you’re lucky). If you make sure to, as Apple recommends, go through at least one full charge cycle per month (a full discharge and charge), and keep them away from extreme heat and cold, you can expect hundreds of recharges and at least a few years of multihour playback. But the amount of charge any rechargeable holds gradually diminishes until you struggle to get an hour of life out the batteries. This is standard for all rechargeables, both internal and external.”
“Here’s the lesson: Apple iPods are not unique in the world of rechargeable devices. Maybe Apple made a mistake by not making them so consumers could replace their own batteries, but perhaps that’s the price you pay for that much-lauded Apple industrial design. So please, enough with the wild conspiracy theories and the threats of class-action lawsuits. The iPod’s a good player. Apple’s not trying to pull a fast one, and some of you need to learn a little more about rechargeable battery care,” Ulanoff writes.
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
OWC and NewerTech announce new high-capacity replacement battery for 4G Apple iPod models – March 03, 2005
CBS 2 New York puts Apple in ‘Hall of Shame’ over iPod battery replacement issues – February 28, 2005
Apple iPod replacement battery lasts longer, costs less, easy to install yourself – December 19, 2004
Apple posts iPod, iPod mini battery life information webpage – June 30, 2004
iPod’s clean secret: replaceable battery usually lasts years – February 18, 2004
I have had my 1st Gen. iPod since the iPod was released and the original battery is still going STRONG!!!!!
Is the iPod battery still news? That’s news to me.
2nd Gen – still going strong
Uh…this isn’t an issue any more, Lance. Hasn’t been for months.
“…..Uh…this isn’t an issue any more, Lance. Hasn’t been for months….”
M. T. MacPhee
uhhh… while this may be true for most of us….remember…there are always some who never seem to get the word…
It never hurts to try to reach these people
“Uh…this isn’t an issue any more, Lance. Hasn’t been for months”
But any number of “iPod vs the competition” articles will mention battery life and non-replaceability as negatives against the iPod. Face it: it may not be an issue for iPod owners, but it is for everybody else. It’s nice to see someone like PC Mag, not exactly Apple’s best fans, trying to put the record straight
I also still have my first gen. iPod and use it frequently. The biggest difference I notice is that it looses its charge while just laying around not being used much faster than before. But as long as it’s charged recently prior to using it, I have no problems.
Im not complaining, I’ve had that thing forever seems like.
Wait…Lance Ulanoff wrote this!?
I’m shocked!
I wish my PowerBook battery performed as well as my 1st Gen iPod battery.
I’m the proud owner of a 2G iPod. I envy the touted 12+ hour battery life of the newer members of the iPod family, but my battery has served me very well. I still get a solid 6 hours of play time out of it, if not more. One thing that I learned is that if I do a hard reset after syncing with my iBook (vs. simply plugging it into the charging adapter at a standard power outlet) that I reset the clock and that seems to extend my “idle” time by a great deal. I guess it doesn’t work with newer iPods but it does on mine. I’m sure resetting it isn’t the best thing for the little bugger, but at least my battery lasts. I’ve had it over 2.5 years and aside from wanting the latest and greatest (a color screen is tempting), I have no complaints.
Magic Word is know: “I know how to maintain my battery and I don’t have any troubles.”
Im only pushing 3-4 hours on my 3G 20Gb, but its been everywhere and its been good, so Ill just buy a replacement battery from OWC. I do want a new color 40, and ill use the 3G in the car
a few weeks ago (during television sweeps) one of the Kansas City TV stations did a story about the iPod battery life ‘controversy’.
so it’s still necessary to counter the FUD with reason every once in a while…
The third-party battery replacements are better deals
Not: I’m not going to mention the magic word again
I’ve been wondering if this might turn into a backlash by people who don’t know any better. iPods run on lithium batteries with a limited lifespan, not magic beans. I just replaced the battery in my third-generation 40gig iPod. Ordered via a third-party site (ipodbattery.com) for 30 bucks, got it two days later, replaced it with no problem and have been rock-solid ever since. It’s no big deal at all… but definitely FUD fodder for the barbarians at the gate.
Wait a minute Winston…do you mean to tell me there are NO magic beans in my iPod? None, whatsoever? All these years…I was sure there was magic beans…{sniff} I need a moment to gather myself.
What about the PocketPC’s, Palms and various other devices with sealed batteries? Do thay not suffer the same fate eventually as iPod batteries?
Whoever invents the everlasting rechargable battery
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
will conquer the world!
Until then…we’ll have to suffer with replacing spent
batteries and, in some cases as with the iPod, will
have to have it sent out to a third party or to the
manufacturer to have them do it.
With the iPod…I’m sure most people get there money’s
worth…and then some. If the battery life/replacement
cycle is too much for you to handle…then don’t buy
one. That’s pretty straight forward, eh?
CT
Has anyone heard anything about a battery replacement for the shuffle?
Whenever one of your favorite songs comes to
mind while away from your iPod…you won’t give
two shits about the battery situation. 1000+ songs
personally chosen by you for your iPod should brighten
anyone’s day.
And it’s not square, it’s rectangular.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> Wait until
the next cool iPod shape appears…maybe an octogon???
CT
I’ll never forget…that water and gas pipelines
thread in opposite directions. There is a good
for that.
The only way you can dictate to any
manufacturer is to boycott thier product, if you
feel they aren’t putting forth the effort you expect
from them.
I don’t think Apple is having any problems of
significance with thier current iPod line…or any
other product, for that matter.
Now THAT’S news we can’t hear enough of!!!
CT
P.S. Aren’t we all a bit safer today because some
intelligent craftsman decided to reverse the
threads on gas pipelines? Maybe the gas fitter
just wanted his own pipe manufacturing business?˙
This recommendation to fully discharge the iPod battery at least once a month is news to me. I use a DLO Transpod in my car and that device recharges my iPod. Since I drive every day my iPod is always near a full charge. I had no idea that this would shorten the battery life.
thurrotts got this on internet-nexus.. which means.. he hopes it helps Dell in some way..
I think Apple should lower the price of replacing the battery. 100 dollars is pretty steep and I am in Japan so can’t use a lot of the 3rd party alternatives. Also I heard a rumor that if you replace the battery that it will come back without the songs on it. I had to get my iPod fixed because the HD died so of course it came back without the songs in that case (luckily I backup) but what about other repairs or battery replacement? Anybody have any experience with that? Does it come back from a battery replacement with your songs intact?
There’s another point I should make here…
If a “Trash Collector” can be called a “Sanitation
Engineer” or a “Garbage Man” …then an “Energy Source”
can be called a “Battery” or “Fuel” or “Power Source”
or even better…”Spark Factory”.
Don’t mess with the sparks…they have to put up with
alot of friction.
CT
There’s another point I should make here…
If a “Trash Collector” can be called a “Sanitation
Engineer” or a “Garbage Man” …then an “Energy Source”
can be called a “Battery” or “Fuel” or “Power Source”
or even better…”Spark Factory”.
Don’t mess with the sparks…they have to put up with
alot of friction.
CT