iPod touch Ipod Touch Battery Questions

[Zoomer30]

I have had the Ipod Touch 8GB (new software version) for about a month and really like it. Nothing like being able to check the news, weather and pay bills before you even get out of bed

My only issue is the battery, it seems like it needs to be charged up about every 1-2 days. My questions are this:

1. Is it better to shut it off 100% rather than just tapping the power button to put it in standby mode (does it use much power in standby?)

2. How many times can you charge the battery in the Ipod before it gets bricked? This is a serious issue since you cant replace the Li-ion battery yourself.

3. To avoid the issue in question 2, is it better to have the Ipod hooked up to a USB power adaptor to keep it charged?

 

[MacVault]

Similar Question...

I just bought an 8GB iPod Touch! It is soooo cool! I think my wife even likes it

Rather than start a new thread I thought this thread is close enough to my question... What is the best way to get the longest life out of my iPod battery?

Should I run it down all the way just once?
Should I run it down all the way after each full charge?
Or, is it best to just charge it whenever I get the chance - even if it hasn't been run down all the way?

Is there a tech note or something from Apple about this? Anyone have any info on this?

 

[Resist]

Obviously it is always better to completely shut down any battery operated device, over placing it in standby mode, if you want to save battery power.

Due to the type of battery the Touch uses, I don't think you need to completely drain the power before charging it. I charge mine whenever I get the chance.

 

[gloss]

Obviously it is always better to completely shut down any battery operated device, over placing it in standby mode, if you want to save battery power.

Due to the type of battery the Touch uses, I don't think you need to completely drain the power before charging it. I charge mine whenever I get the chance.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that the boot cycle will typically eat more battery than just leaving the thing asleep when you're not using it. My best suggestion would be just to plug it in whenever you have the chance. Perhaps at night.

 

[lamina]

The battery in the touch is good, keeping in mind that it's powering a screen nearly twice the size of an iPod Classic, and its size.

My iPod needs to be charged pretty much every day, but I use it a LOT.

A lithium ion battery like the one used in the touch should retain 80% of its capacity for the first 500 cycles. For more info on battery cycles, and batteries in general, see here: http://www.apple.com/batteries/

To properly condition your battery so that it 'knows' what is 100% full and what is 0%, you should fully charge it and fully discharge it (until it dies) about once a month. It's a good idea not to do this every time though, because apparently li-ion batteries like to be kept on an up-down-mid charge cycle, meaning basically... plug it in when you have a chance, use it without giving much thought to battery capacity.

Keeping your iPod plugged in is a good way to avoid using the battery, but like I said, it's important that the battery is actually used, and not just left at 100% charge all the time.

I hope this answers some questions.

 

[Zoomer30]

Thanks for the info, its good to know. That is the only thing I DONT like about the Ipod, once the battery goes bad, well, you have a $300 brick. I dont think there is any easy way to get a new battery. Guess at that point you can plug it in and use it...kinda defeats the purpose of wireless.

 

[shigzeo]

if it is any help to you, i watched a brief 10 minute video with mid screen brightness, surfed a little internet and then played my ipod touch music for about 28 hours before the battery fully died.

the battery life is phenomanlly good for their spec of 22 hours - very conservative if i were to apply a word to it. using internet, it drains swiftly, but with just music, it is amazing. i had wifi enabled but did not use it and ran the thing for 25 hours before the battery finally died.

as well, im quite sure that you can replace the battery from apple for a bit of money. it think it is 80$ but you essentially get a new ipod for that price. i think it is great what they do - usually i end up upgrading before my batteries die anyway.

 

[great high wolf]

Thanks for the info, its good to know. That is the only thing I DONT like about the Ipod, once the battery goes bad, well, you have a $300 brick. I dont think there is any easy way to get a new battery. Guess at that point you can plug it in and use it...kinda defeats the purpose of wireless.

As shigzeo said, if you take your touch back to Apple or an Apple Authorised Service Centre, they'll give you a different refurbished touch for a fee of £59 or whatever they charge in your local area. They'll then take yours and refurbish it for use in the same program, so you'll get a different iPod but with new battery. Just reload your iTunes backup of the iPod onto the new one and you're good to go.

 

[Resist]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that the boot cycle will typically eat more battery than just leaving the thing asleep when you're not using it.

But if for instance you leave it asleep for 24 hours, then that would most likely use more juice than the boot cycle.

 

[Resist]

To properly condition your battery so that it 'knows' what is 100% full and what is 0%, you should fully charge it and fully discharge it (until it dies) about once a month.

I though you only did that for NiCad batteries.

 

[Scenicroadways]

personally, i would hate to trade in my ipod for someone else's grimy one that is not even mine just to get a new battery. I wish they would just replace the battery on the ipod that YOU buy.

 

[ref26]

The refurbished ones are in no way "grimy," they usually put a new case on refurb units so they look like new, probably much better than yours by that point.

 

[DuckSoup]

ITouch newbie here (have had my 32G for like 26 hours now).

I may be wrong (probably am), but wouldn't turning off Wi-Fi when not needing it conserve battery life between charges? I know this is the case with my bluetooth-enabled PDA and cell-phone.

When I leave the house for an area that I am sure I either won't get wi-fi or won't want/need it, I plan on turning off Wi-Fi.

Am I right or wrong in that regard?

Love this forum! It's gonna be my home-base for the foreseeable future.

Mike

 

[ScottFitz]

ITouch newbie here (have had my 32G for like 26 hours now).

I may be wrong (probably am), but wouldn't turning off Wi-Fi when not needing it conserve battery life between charges? I know this is the case with my bluetooth-enabled PDA and cell-phone.

When I leave the house for an area that I am sure I either won't get wi-fi or won't want/need it, I plan on turning off Wi-Fi.

Am I right or wrong in that regard?

Love this forum! It's gonna be my home-base for the foreseeable future.

Mike

You are correct. Wireless is a huge battery hog. Also, adjusting the brightness of the screen can help get better life.

I'm not sure what the specs are, but I'm easily able to watch 2 full length movies on a plane and still have half a battery indicator left. Then if I switch over to just music, the battery seems to last forever.

Also, someone above pointed out, there's no need to drain the battery and recharge. That is old nicad technology issues. Not a problem for Lithium Ion stuff.

It's a good tool. I wish I had waited for a month to buy mine. I got mine during x-mas and would have LOVED to have gotten the 32gb version. But, alas, this won't be the last time I lose a battle in the technology war.

I have set a reminder for November to buy some AppleCare for it. By the time the third year of warranty starts to expire, it'll crap out and they won't be making 16gb versions any longer! Maybe they'll upgrade me for free. (hey, I can dream)

Truth is that I have a hard time needing 16 extra gigs. I want them, but I don't need them. I load up about 4gb of music and then put a bunch of movies on it. I'm not the kind that watches the same movie over and over. Watch it then next time I sync, i load up different movies. I travel a lot, so it's a good flight companion.

Handbrake software allows me to rip my entire DVD collection into my iMac. I love that freaking program.

 

[japalian4x4]

Mmhmm, Definitely turn of wi-fi unless you're checking mail or downloading something from itunes.

Turn off auto brightness first and then turn down manual brightness. The sensor for auto brightness just sucks up the battery.

Oh, and also be sure to turn down your auto-lock. At first I was annoyed by the fact that my ipod touch kept locking all the time (especially when you're trying to switch songs and drive at the same time!), but it's better than having the screen on without it falling asleep. So I've got it on 2 minutes.

I've also heard that instead of turning the ipod touch off, letting auto-lock put it into sleep mode saves battery. You'll have to check me on that one.

 

[Zoomer30]

I kicked myself for leaving the WiFi on when I was coming back from vaction. The battery lasted about 5 hours. But I did watch a movie and a TV show. Going through the Twin Cities the thing was trying to connect to the internet, could not do it but it was seeing WiFi here and there along the freeway. Should have just shut it off to save power.

 

[goosnarrggh]

I though you only did that for NiCad batteries.

It was recommended to fully discharge your NiCd batteries frequently, because if you consistently recharged it without ever fully discharging, the battery showed symptoms of no longer being able to deliver any of the energy stored beyond that mid-way point at the expected voltage. This is commonly called a memory effect.

Among other things, NiMH batteries were superior to NiCd batteries because they didn't suffer from this memory effect. (Or at least, if the effect was there, it was much less severe than it had been with NiCd batteries.)

Lithium Ion batteries are also much less susceptible to such effects than NiCd batteries. The recommendation to fully discharge it every once in a while comes mostly from the need to calibrate the charging circuitry (let it know where 0% and 100% lie), because the charger needs to keep track of the characteristics of the battery as it ages, to ensure optimal charging and prevent overcharging.