I searched this and other sites for this problem and couldn't find it. Does anyone else have this battery or software issue? Also, can anyone fix it?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPod touch ipod touch 4g shuts down at about 20% charge. anyone else?
- Thread starter jackbarrany
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have a similiar problem, except when my battery gets to 20% it actually runs down to 0% until the iPod won't even turn on. However immediately after I plug it in, it first shows the battery at its lowest point then once the iPod has enough juice to run, it immediately jumps to 40%. Anyone else experience this?
I noticed I didn't charge fully the first time I charged up my iPod, could that have something to do with it? How do you even get a full cycle charge if it seems like your battery is not even running all the way down in my case?
I noticed I didn't charge fully the first time I charged up my iPod, could that have something to do with it? How do you even get a full cycle charge if it seems like your battery is not even running all the way down in my case?
I've just encountered the exact same issue.
I'm going to cycle the battery a couple of times to see if it settles, as I ran it from ~70% battery right out of the box. I am guessing it was either on less than that or it's just 'new toy' draining of the battery.
I'm going to cycle the battery a couple of times to see if it settles, as I ran it from ~70% battery right out of the box. I am guessing it was either on less than that or it's just 'new toy' draining of the battery.
That's what I exactly experience. iPod automatically shuts down, but when I plug it, it shows the red battery for few minutes, then it's near 50%.
What do you mean by this? Charge when it's 0%?
aside from that problem, hows your battery life though? close to apple specs? wonder if i should get it swapped, i'm afraid i'd end up with more problems.
I went to the apple store today, talked to a Genius about it, he said he's never seen anything like this before and their software wasn't up to date yet so he can't even run diagnostics on it. He said he was going to just replace my iPod. Not sure if that's a good thing given that I don't have any other problems with my iPod but at least it'll come scratch and fingerprints free
. have you tried a firmware restore? the genius was going to try it but he just gave up and ordered me an iPod.
Yeah my 4g touch's battery meter is way off and wacky.. I've literally seen it move up during use.. It can't seem to get a good reading on remaining battery life.. I've been at 50% and then seen it get back up to 70% after letting it sit idle on the table and picking it up an hour later.
And everytime I drain it completely dead till it turns off and shows the battery icon with the plug and I plug it in to charge.. when it turns back on after a few minutes I have 40-50% battery life again.
Probably another issue with 4.1 on the 4g.
And everytime I drain it completely dead till it turns off and shows the battery icon with the plug and I plug it in to charge.. when it turns back on after a few minutes I have 40-50% battery life again.
Probably another issue with 4.1 on the 4g.
So should I just hang on to my ipod? Incase the replacement has lightleaks or video clicking or other problems that I don't have right now.
I'm currently testing the battery life on mine. Seems to be going quite well. Been playing about 4 hours of continous video.
I'm currently testing the battery life on mine. Seems to be going quite well. Been playing about 4 hours of continous video.
My old iPhone 3GS used to do this. Iirc, restoring the phone as new fixed the issue. Maybe something in the backups of old iPods screws up the battery meter on new ones?
I tried restoring as new, didn't fix the issue. I plugged it in last night again after running out of juice and this time it started at 30%. Perhaps it just needs a few more calibrations? I did test out the battery life and that seemed alright at least.
Finally got another touch, it exhibits exactly the same issue (seems to last a little longer than 20% admittedly, but it is shutting down sooner than it should), it is also showing ~50% charge after being plugged in for about 2-5 minutes. Not right at all.
Going to try a restore but I don't hold out much hope as I've done that with the other one and it didn't resolve it.
Not really all that happy. I just hope it's a software thing...
Going to try a restore but I don't hold out much hope as I've done that with the other one and it didn't resolve it.
Not really all that happy. I just hope it's a software thing...
i like how so many people return the ipod as if that is the end all be all solution to any "problem" they run into!! those geniuses are not all knowing FYI!! thats just their title most of them are far from geniuses. I'm pretty sure everyone's ipod does this, mine does the same thing gives me a warning about 20% percent then at about 10% percent it shuts down. Its a built in safe guard for the battery they never actually let them get below a certain threshold, when the ipods turn off, the battery still has ways to go before its fully discharged to protect the battery. so your ipods are fine no need to change them out for new ones over and over again.
So you're saying an iPod touch that shuts down a little after 20% (time varies depending on what you're doing), and reports 50%+ charge after being plugged in to charge after only a few minutes of charging is acceptable? Each person at Apple and the reseller I've spoken to doesn't agree, nor do I.
I also own a 2nd gen touch and this goes past 10%, it's very reliable, so I can't believe that my three 4th gen touches are acting normally.
My iPt doesn't shutdown at 20%. It definitely shows the warning, which you can just click away.
Yesterday I took it with me to shoot some pictures. Unfortunately it wasn't charged, so the 20% warning popped up right after turning it on. I ignored it and took about 120 Pics without any problem. Even shot some short videos, and forgot to turn it off for about 10 mins in my pocket (camera app seems to override the autosleep setting).
Yesterday I took it with me to shoot some pictures. Unfortunately it wasn't charged, so the 20% warning popped up right after turning it on. I ignored it and took about 120 Pics without any problem. Even shot some short videos, and forgot to turn it off for about 10 mins in my pocket (camera app seems to override the autosleep setting).
This particular deal I have even experienced with my old 3G touch. I think this part is normal. If you are playing a game for example and it's a high drain situation it pulls the battery's voltage down to that level, then upon rest it will recover to some extent. Nicads did it, Ni-MH did it, and AFAIK lithium based batteries like the ones in our ipods act the same way.
Just wanted to throw that in there in response to that quote, but I realize the OP's problem exceeds this tidbit of info.
I have found the battery meters to be a little wonky on every ipod I have ever had in one way or another, but yeah the recovery after rest is very normal (short term anyway), then it will also self drain as days go on. I just mean immediately after playing a game or surfing.
I know even back to my 2G nano you were told to periodically let the battery drain all the way down until it cut off to "reset" the battery meter to make it more accurate. I'm not sure that is still true. From my other hobbies I can tell you that every time you discharge a lithium battery (like lithium polymer "li-po" & "Li-ion" types) it's bad for their life-span. I would imagine apple has it rigged so that the ipod shuts down when the battery reaches a safe cut-off voltage and is not necessarily "dead". In general you are better off to charge it frequently as lithium batteries don't suffer from the memory effect problems of earlier battery tech.
You only have to overdischarge a lithium battery once to destroy it and in an application higher drain than an ipod some really nasty things can and have happend. Usually in this order; battery swells, then smokes, then fire. So yeah knowing companies like apple supply safe (and fun) products for us I'm guessing if it's a 1 cell battery that they have it rigged to shut the device off at around the 3.7v safe cutoff or above that. I would say it's not good to take it past the 20% warning any more times then you have to for the batteries longest life span.
