Official Apple iPod Battery Replacements?

[MacRumors]

According to sources, Apple is planning on introducing an official iPod Battery Replacement program. Through the program, iPod owners will be able to send in their out of warranty iPods to replace worn batteries. The lack of an official battery replacement program has been a common criticism amongst iPod owners. Apple's official replacement service is expected to be priced at $99.

Replacement iPod batteries have been available from 3rd parties from $50 and up, but have only available for earlier iPod models.

[Sabenth]

about bloody time too

[shadowfax]

sweet. that will extend our iPod lives a lot.

bets on whether this will only be for the 3g ipods and later....?

that reminds me... i need to get my ipod LCD repaired.

[JohnGillilan]

They should be free. The battery on my 1st iPod has completely crapped out. There have also been serious battery issues on my 3G iPod as well.

[arn]

Originally posted by JohnGillilan
They should be free. The battery on my 1st iPod has completely crapped out. There have also been serious battery issues on my 3G iPod as well.

Apple will cover premature battery issues under their normal warranty.

arn

[nagromme]

3 hours is the longest I'd probably need to go, so I could let my batt get pretty old. But then I'd want a program like this to keep my iPod going.

[foniks2020]

Anyone know what the average lifespan of today's iPods could be? Year, 2 years? or better yet how many recharge cycles?

[Photorun]

If anyone is having battery issues within a year Apple very well may take care of it, after that though you're on your own, Apple doesn't offer a warranty on the iPod and/or you can't buy AC three years on them.

It's great that Apple is offering this service as it will come up. If you discharge your iPod regularly as you should (as anyone with a portable iBook or Powerbook should) you should be able to get a good two to three years (or more) out of the rechargeable batteries. That's probably why Apple is introducing this program about now, some two years after the iPod's introduction.

$99 may seem like a lot but think of it this way, a new iBook or Powerbook battery costs a hell of a lot more than that. The $99 includes labor and battery replacement and you don't have to worry about your battery again... well, for another up to three years.

Small price to pay for thousands of songs in your pocket.

[paulypants]

i agree 99$ is about right--and its good to have that piece of mind that when the battery does run down you have that option to go to as opposed to having to purchase a new ipod altogether, which i'll probably end up doing anyway *sigh*

[sethypoo]

I would rather just save up for a new one, unless I get even more attached to my iPod then I am now.....:rolleyes:

[Analog Kid]

I dunno... The low end iPod is $300, is twice the capacity of the 5GB, and support the modern firmware and peripherals. A $99 battery replacement doesn't give them a lot of space at the low end for lower priced models, and it might even be a tough call for someone to choose between a battery replacement and the current bottom model.

I guess that's the job of a good marketing department-- price things right at the threshold of pain...

$50 would certainly be more attractive. I don't know what the battery itself costs though.

Good to know there's the option, at least.

[AT71]

It should be US$69 for an Apple-branded battery. Otherwise US$59 is about the right price for a replacement battery.

What a rip-off from Apple again.

Luv Mac, Hate Apple Inc.

[iwantanewmac]

Exactly. About bloody time.
Though I bet it won't be for european customers.....
Anyway, my 3g ipod never ran for more that 5/6 hours. now with 2.1 installed it gets even less life.
Any1 know how to revert to the previous update?

[davetrow1997]

All updates should be in Applications:Utilities.

Do a hard reset, restoring the iPod to its original factory condition.

You will lose all data/songs, so backup prior.

Then go to that folder and install the update that you want.

[peterj1967]

They have been available for the original iPods for a while. Not through Apple and in a do-it-yourself kit. But a lot less then $99

Haven't tried it, I still get about 4hrs per charge out of my original 5gig iPod

No need to replace yet for my uses

http://www.pdasmart.com/ipodpartscenter.htm

but it is good to see apple ooffering them.

[Blaaze]

I say drop it to $50, and I will be immensely satisfied. But I'm thinking Apple's strategy for this is to keep it a bit pricey so it encourages people to buy new iPods. But then again $99 and $299 is a pretty hefty difference.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally posted by AT71
It should be US$69 for an Apple-branded battery. Otherwise US$59 is about the right price for a replacement battery.

What a rip-off from Apple again.

Luv Mac, Hate Apple Inc.

Lith Ion batts aren't cheap. $99 sounds about right when you consider labor added. Would you prefer to go out and buy a new iPod?
You can bet your months paycheck that this is in direct response to the competition a service that those other guys don't have. If Toshiba, Dell and the like weren't coming out with HD based music players I'd bet cash this service wouldn't happen.

[poultryfarm]

i'm happy to see this.
just out of curiosity does anybody know how this compares to the other hd players out there. does dell or iriver or the napster player have some sort of service as well?

[zim]

Good idea BUT, parting with my iPod? :( I would hope that they would put trained staff in the apple stores that could do this on spot, me things that would be a good idea :)

[zac4mac]

Have any of you complainers tried to get the back off your iPod? The first gen wasn't too bad, but I'd pay somebody 50 bucks just so I don't have to do that again. I've had the back off both of mine, a 5GB-G1 and a 15GB-G3 to remove that nasty "ultra-shine" that attracts so many fingerprints.
I applaud Apple on this move. A little unusual for them, tells me they feel the iPod is extremely important to the company.

Z

[azdude]

www.ipodbattery.com does have 3G iPod battery replacements, and they're actually higher in mAh than the OEM... so life should be longer, theoretically.

[bensisko]

$99 is way to exepensive for a battery for the iPod. $130 is way to expensive for a powerbook battery that lasts only two hours. Perhaps of Apple found a way to make it a 15 hour battery, $99 would be at least closer to being worth it, but, marketing or not, I'd rather just buy a new iPod, especially if they come out with a 10GB for $199. i just bought a 10GB (a trade up from my 1st Gen iPod), and I love it. The best part is the AA battery pack, which was probably the single most important reason for upgrading. I can't tell you how many times I left the house, only to realize too late that my iPod is not charged. I wouldn't mind going back to the first gen iPod size if it meant I could use a rechargable battery OR a couple AAs.

In closing, I'd just like to say, I look good in red....

[jcshas]

It's about time!

[stockscalper]

At those prices I'll buy the competition.

[mymemory]

What a waste of money

I think the battery exchange is way too expensive as well as th iPod itself.

I repeat, how can something that only reproduce sound can be half as expensive as an iBook that has 300 times the technology inside?

The iPod is Apple best business of course, it is a better deal even that early iMacs. Out off the assembly line and iPod shouldn't cost more than $20 or $40 for sure.

A 40Gb iPod should not cost more than $200.

It doesn't have FM radio.
It doesn't have color LCD.
It doesn't play Quictimes.
It doesn't preview pictures.
It doesn't have a respectful audio imput.

All of that starting at $299!!!

[unc32]

99 is a little much. First, is it a 1200 or 1500mah. You can get a 1500mah for 55 which gives a longer battery usage time. I am now over 10 hours. You mention the labor, my replacement took maybe 5 minutes and I was being extra ginger since I hadn't done it before. It really isn't a complicated process, you take off the cover, pop out the old one, out in new one, put cover back on.

[jxyama]

dang... apple just does things right. (for themselves, not necessarily for the consumers)

$99 is a bit much for a battery... do you know why? because that's right about at the point where enough people will consider upgrading to a new iPod instead of battery replacement.

[gilwave]

You guys are too much.

When Apple was close to bankrupt, everyone was freaking out that they would be bought by Sun or Oracle or HP, and that the good things we loved about Apple would go away.

Now they finally have something profitable and cross-platform and hugely successful (1/3 or the portable MP3 market) and you're complaining that it's too expensive.

"Evolve or die" is a popular business phrase these days, and in Apple's case it is almost a mantra.

I'd rather see Apple profitable and pay a little extra (do you think Mercedes and BMW owners complain about the price of their cars? They know what they are paying for, and their service appointments cost them a small fortune) then see them struggling to survive.

Plus, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives to the iPod - go buy 'em. But they're not as elegant or sexy as the iPod.

If the $99 inludes shipping, Apple labor, the battery, and a seamless replacement with no mars or dings in the case, it's worth every penny.

-gil

[chazmox]

Originally posted by Photorun
If anyone is having battery issues within a year Apple very well may take care of it, after that though you're on your own, Apple doesn't offer a warranty on the iPod and/or you can't buy AC three years on them.

It's great that Apple is offering this service as it will come up. If you discharge your iPod regularly as you should (as anyone with a portable iBook or Powerbook should) you should be able to get a good two to three years (or more) out of the rechargeable batteries. That's probably why Apple is introducing this program about now, some two years after the iPod's introduction.

$99 may seem like a lot but think of it this way, a new iBook or Powerbook battery costs a hell of a lot more than that. The $99 includes labor and battery replacement and you don't have to worry about your battery again... well, for another up to three years.

Small price to pay for thousands of songs in your pocket.

Li-Ion does not have memory and as such does not need to be trained. If you know different then please post a paper on it - I'd be curious to see. All the profiles of Li Ion I have seen show no memory effect. Of course they do age, but training will not help with this...

$99 seems reasonable. To all those who want Apple to offer this at or below costs, remember, if they do so, then they will not remain in business long...

[unc32]

Good point. Including shipping and labor then it would be a good price. But it is also nice to know that you can get it through third parties for those inclinded to do it yourself. I know many peope that would rather not do it themselves. Just a not, if that is you then pdasmart.com will do it for 69.

[macbones]

$99 is painful, but consider that it costs $30 to replace a watch battery these days. . .

[arnette]

Originally posted by gilwave
.

Plus, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives to the iPod - go buy 'em. But they're not as elegant or sexy as the iPod.

If the $99 inludes shipping, Apple labor, the battery, and a seamless replacement with no mars or dings in the case, it's worth every penny.

-gil

None that work with my AAC files bought from iTunes Music Store. The only 2 things that are keeping me from purchasing an iPod are PRICE and BATTERY LIFE. If they fixed at least one of the two, then I'd buy. And don't give me that crud about 8 hours being enough. Not when there are HD MP3 players out there with double that for the same price and just about the same form factor.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by chazmox
Li-Ion does not have memory and as such does not need to be trained. If you know different then please post a paper on it - I'd be curious to see. All the profiles of Li Ion I have seen show no memory effect. Of course they do age, but training will not help with this...

$99 seems reasonable. To all those who want Apple to offer this at or below costs, remember, if they do so, then they will not remain in business long...

at least with PB/iBook, it's not the memory effect. Li ion batteries in those machines should be regularly drained (and then charged back up) to keep the battery charging circuitry properly calibrated. Li ion develops nasty (poisonous) chemicals if it's overcharged, so there's a built-in circuits to make sure it's never overcharged. the circuit remembers when the battery is "full" and "empty" and it's a good idea to reset those values periodically with drain and charge.

i have reasons to believe iPod has a similar circuitry.

[TorbX]

... The law here in Norway says that these kinds of things is supposed to last for more than 5 years.

No matter if Apple says "Umh, the warranty is 1 year" or anything, our law COMPLETELY overrides that argument. If the battery is (nearly) flat (even after recharging) after 4 years of normal usage, Apple is committed according to our law to fix it without any costs for the end-user.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by JohnGillilan
They should be free.

Well, no. But $99 seems a bit steep. $49 or $69 would be more reasonable. For $99, they ought to replace the battery a second time for free.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by TorbX
... The law here in Norway says that these kinds of things is supposed to last for more than 5 years.



Are you kidding? I'm curious what the law says? Do consumer products have to work properly for 5 years or be replaced?

[udannlin]

i can trade in my 5 gigger to powermax for 80 bucks and get a brand new one for 120 more than just paying for a battery.... too bad. Looks like I'm getting a 3rd gen.

[TorbX]

Originally posted by Le Big Mac
Are you kidding? I'm curious what the law says? Do consumer products have to work properly for 5 years or be replaced?

Yeah, sure.

This thing does not differ from cell phones very much. Or a video player.

The law does not say "Consumer products have to work properly for 5 years", but "as long as the consumer can expect".

About how long a consumer can expect has in court been stated to 5 years.

Apple would NOT get away with "its supposed to last for 2 years". One don't pay 4-5000 NOK for something to last for such a short amount of time.

(Please excuse my bad english...)

[TorbX]

Originally posted by TorbX
Yeah, sure.

This thing does not differ from cell phones very much. Or a video player.

The law does not say "Consumer products have to work properly for 5 years", but "as long as the consumer can expect".

About how long a consumer can expect has in court been stated to 5 years.

Apple would NOT get away with "its supposed to last for 2 years". One don't pay 4-5000 NOK for something to last for such a short amount of time.

(Please excuse my bad english...)


BTW, they dont have to replace, only fix. Up to them what is economically... :-P

[achmafooma]

Originally posted by chazmox
Li-Ion does not have memory and as such does not need to be trained. If you know different then please post a paper on it - I'd be curious to see. All the profiles of Li Ion I have seen show no memory effect. Of course they do age, but training will not help with this...

$99 seems reasonable. To all those who want Apple to offer this at or below costs, remember, if they do so, then they will not remain in business long...
I read a post like this a while back about batteries, and I stopped letting my iBook fully discharge for a while. My battery life dropped by probably 20% over a week or two. Going back to letting it fully discharge regularly brought my battery life back up to its recent norm (though still a lot less than when it was new. It's about 2 years old now).

I would love to see a paper on this, something definitive either way. Anecdotally, my iBook lasts longer if I run it all the way down and then back up. I'm no battery technician though ;-) I know nothing of the science.

Back on topic:

While I don't have an iPod, the first thing that I thought when I read this report was "I can't afford that." When I realized that I couldn't afford an iPod at all right now, it wasn't such a big deal... but $99 is a little steep for an iPod battery replacement.

Personally, I'd want the next revision of the iPod to be easily openable so the battery is a quick thing to get at, and then Apple could sell the batteries separately (perhaps even at different qualities).

ie., an 8 hour battery for $40... a 10 hour battery for $60... a 12 hour battery for $80... something like that. People who aren't away from iPod docks and car connectors very often could opt for the cheap one, people who like to go on long hikes in the wilderness could opt for the more expensive ones.

But, as has been mentioned, Apple is after iPod sales. This will help to placate people with dead or dying batteries in out-of-warranty iPods, but it's still enough to make them think, "Hm, or I could just pick up a new one!"

It's like when your car goes into the shop because it makes a funny noise under the hood, and it comes back that it'll cost you $2,200 to fix... so you start thinking, "hm, maybe I should just get a new car." Even if you weren't thinking of getting a new car before, you may very well end up driving off the lot with one :-) even if it actually costs a lot more than fixing the old one.

[TorbX]

If an iPod shuts down within 5 years because of a battery, the sales-person will have to proof that it is the consumers fault. Of course, what wrong can you do with a battery?

The consumer can choose between a new one or a fix. (Of course, if the sales-person has iPods in the store at the moment, on chooses a new one. If it is a special-built go-cart, you dont want to wait for a new one)

If the iPod shuts down totally 2 times for you - you can go back and say "I dont like this product, give me my money back".

If they repair, you are entitled to borrow another iPod.

Mobile-phone-salesmen, TV-salesmen, general electronic-salespersons don't like Noregian law very much... ;)

[QCassidy352]

Originally posted by macbones
$99 is painful, but consider that it costs $30 to replace a watch battery these days. . .

got my last watch battery replaced for $12 including labor...

anyway, I think $99 is too much. By the time my 5 gig ipod's battery dies, $99 will probably be worth more than the ipod.

[chazmox]

Originally posted by achmafooma
I read a post like this a while back about batteries, and I stopped letting my iBook fully discharge for a while. My battery life dropped by probably 20% over a week or two. Going back to letting it fully discharge regularly brought my battery life back up to its recent norm (though still a lot less than when it was new. It's about 2 years old now).

I would love to see a paper on this, something definitive either way. Anecdotally, my iBook lasts longer if I run it all the way down and then back up. I'm no battery technician though ;-) I know nothing of the science.


This battery life effect probably has more to do with the battery charging circuitry which determines the life of the battery based on current charge cycles. Constantly using only half the battery capacity calibrates this circuitry for a shorter predicted battery life. Your battery capacity, however, remains the same. This is why Apple recomends calibrating this circuitry with a deep discharge once in a while. They call it calibrating and not exercising the battery.

[ITR 81]

Considering my Nokia phone battery runs 60 bucks for normal talking time and to get 10hrs of talking time it cost me $75 bucks. To me 99 bucks isn't much considering a similar battery from Nokia cost between 60-75 bucks and they(Apple) installs it for you and you know it will be covered with warranty as well.

Some folks want a cheaper battery yea they could do that but when you go cheap you end up like Nokia having folks file claims against you because someon counterfieted your battery and it didn't last but a month or so before having big performance drop.

Battery for my watch was $35 with labor which as swatch watch.

[mymemory]

gilwave read the article

The article in the magazine says that Apple is compensation the 1c that they make selling each song with the iPod price.

Jobs says his business are in the iPods sales, more than $100 per unit.

[gonenuts15792]

Instead of spending $99 on a new rechargeable battery, would it be ok to just use one of those battery packs that uses regular double A batteries. Will not replacing the battery hurt the Ipod. To me the size difference doesn't really matter.

[gilwave]

Apple has a right to make a profit, like any other business. Whether they make it on iPods or computers doesn't matter.

I own a small Apple Reseller store in New Jersey. Our profit margins on Aple products are thin. I could not survive in a country with laws like Norway's, as the replacement costs of giving people new units all the time would overwhelm my cost of operations and I'd be out of business in no time.

Notice how Mr. Norway brags about him and his friends getting free "updates" all the time - he and other Norwegians know they are "getting over" on the retailers by exploiting this law.

I am not opposed to consumer protection, but I am oppsed to any law that restricts free trade and makes it harder for entrepreneurs to earn a living.

Many of the jobs, taxes, and job-related benefits in the United States come from the Small Business sector, it is important that we be allowed to thrive.

Norway is a beauftiful country with a rich history and wonderful people, I have no beef with Norwegians. But this winking attitude of "let's screw the retalier and manufacturer and get a new phone every 6 months" is wrong, and ultimately damaging to the marketplace.

I doubt that the Nokia phones are as cheap in Norway as they are here.

-gil

[weave]

Whenever my $499 10 gig first gen iPod goes flat, it's going to turn into a nice portable external firewire drive device for me and I'm running out and buying a new one.