iPod iPod age and battery robustness

[Richard8655]

I was thinking about buying a previous generation iPod Nano that's brand new and unused. But I'm concerned that even if unused, age alone can deteriorate lithium battery ability to hold a charge.

So if buying a new unused 5th generation Nano (2009), that would make the battery 8 years old. Can I expect that Nano's battery to be as robust as a new 2015 7th generation Nano? In other words, can age in addition to usage deteriorate these batteries?

 

[Stefan johansson]

Nope,it won't affect it,I got a beaten up nano,and I never ever had any battery issues with it,. The old first gen iPod I have,has about 6 months ago started to show clear signs of battery wear,I can't get more than half the time from it now,compared to when it was new back in 2006 or so,but of course it has been used a lot in all kinds of environments,from splashing salt water in fishing boats to snowstorms in winter mountains.

 

[Richard8655]

Good information, thanks. So are you saying from your experience it's just usage and not age that is causing the batteries to not hold charge as long? I have a 5th gen Nano (bought new 8 years ago) and after a week or so of non-use, it now loses most of its full charge. I attribute that to age and also years of light use.

 

[Stefan johansson]

The chargé is lost even IF its not used,but that does not damage your battery. It's when a full charge is no longer a full charge you should be worried. The iPod use the battery as storage power for the SSD even when it's turned off.

 

[Richard8655]

Makes sense. Then it will never keep a full charge over time to maintain the SSD. But if I'm understanding correctly, a brand new but many years old iPod's battery is not as good as a new latest generation iPod's battery in holding charge.

So it seems an arguement against buying older generations iPods, even if never or lightly used:

"Ensuring that the battery, when received new, is as "fresh" as possible. Ensure via the date code that it has not been sitting on the shelf in the supply chain for excessive periods. A battery should be less than 3 or 4 months old when you receive it (Li-ion is more susceptible to aging than other chemistries so this is applicable only for Li-ion). Typically a battery will lose approximately 10% of its capacity if stored for 1 year at room temperature."

 

[Stefan johansson]

Makes sense. Then it will never keep a full charge over time to maintain the SSD. But if I'm understanding correctly, a brand new but many years old iPod's battery is not as good as a new latest generation iPod's battery in holding charge.

So it seems an arguement against buying older generations iPods, even if never or lightly used:

"Ensuring that the battery, when received new, is as "fresh" as possible. Ensure via the date code that it has not been sitting on the shelf in the supply chain for excessive periods. A battery should be less than 3 or 4 months old when you receive it (Li-ion is more susceptible to aging than other chemistries so this is applicable only for Li-ion). Typically a battery will lose approximately 10% of its capacity if stored for 1 year at room temperature."

Maybe a battery ages if it's not in use,but I never encountered any significant problems with that.

 

[Richard8655]

Happy to report that after doing a factory restore via iTunes, the iPod (5th gen) is holding full charge after a week of non-use with little or no loss. This is the first restore since buying it 8 years ago. Amazed at this positive outcome. Previously, it would be completely drained after 3 days of non-use (attributed to battery age).

I wonder if reformatting or new iPod software installed with the restore has something to do with it. Possibly cleared some corruption.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Happy to report that after doing a factory restore via iTunes, the iPod (5th gen) is holding full charge after a week of non-use with little or no loss. This is the first restore since buying it 8 years ago. Amazed at this positive outcome. Previously, it would be completely drained after 3 days of non-use (attributed to battery age).

I wonder if reformatting or new iPod software installed with the restore has something to do with it. Possibly cleared some corruption.

Probably just a firmware reset. But of course it's amazing.

 

[Richard8655]

Probably just a firmware reset. But of course it's amazing.

Yes indeed, probably new firmware solved issues with battery management. I think now doing a factory reset occasionally on all Apple devices can be beneficial.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Yes indeed, probably new firmware solved issues with battery management. I think now doing a factory reset occasionally on all Apple devices can be beneficial.

No,it's not new firmware that made the iPod better,just a reset and cleanup of the old one.

 

[Richard8655]

No,it's not new firmware that made the iPod better,just a reset and cleanup of the old one.

No, that's not true. There have been a few Nano 5G firmware versions over the years. After 8 years of never performing a restore, it's very likely a new firmware version was included and improved functionality.

 

[Stefan johansson]

No, that's not true. There have been a few Nano 5G firmware versions over the years. After 8 years of never performing a restore, it's very likely a new firmware version was included and improved functionality.

Ok,I see