About to buy my first ipod touch(5G if it shows up by Nov. or 4G).Ive stayed away from Apple portable products because of battery that you cant just take out and replace when its time is up.Ive been using Creative and IAudio products instead but they cant compare with Apple features.Just a small rant here that it would be so user friendly to be able to buy a few replacement batteries for the future and be done with 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 Why doesnt Apple allow replacable batteries?
- Thread starter mattg3
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple is greedy, very very greedy.
But they make great products. Very very great! Thats why people still buy it.
Its money they want from your pocket
But they make great products. Very very great! Thats why people still buy it.
Its money they want from your pocket
The battery of an iPod touch should last a couple years, if not more. If the battery gets hosed sooner, you could bring it back to Apple and plead your case.
If you've had a decent run with the battery, it's not too hard to replace it yourself or have Apple do it for you. I'm kinda handy, so I'd replace it myself ... probably put in a higher capacity battery while I'm there.
NOTE - I've swapped the battery out of my wife's iPod mini once. I'm sure the iPod touch would be a little harder, but I wouldn't sweat it. YMMV.
If you've had a decent run with the battery, it's not too hard to replace it yourself or have Apple do it for you. I'm kinda handy, so I'd replace it myself ... probably put in a higher capacity battery while I'm there.
NOTE - I've swapped the battery out of my wife's iPod mini once. I'm sure the iPod touch would be a little harder, but I wouldn't sweat it. YMMV.
Apple design allows more room for high capacity battery. Apple also have better battery technology that lasts longer.
That's why Apple devices are leading the market.
I know people with original iPhone who are still using it without replacing the battery.
That's why Apple devices are leading the market.
I know people with original iPhone who are still using it without replacing the battery.
Any phone you buy that has a removable battery has it stored in a little compartment. That compartment seperating the battery from the rest of the internals adds size. The other option is to not add a compartment, but allow the back to be removed and battery changed. This would result in a slimmer product, but millions of repairs because someone broke the innerds.
It's either we end up with a thicker device and more broken iThings, or let the pros handle it.
It's either we end up with a thicker device and more broken iThings, or let the pros handle it.
I've had my Ipod Classic for several years and I still get about 20 hours from a charge. I just don't worry about it.
when a battery is integrated you know its a good quality when you can remove it then it means that you are gonna buy many batteries
Exactly. Down with the naysayers that Apple is just greedy.
Of course you're right.
Apple greedy???
I thought they were a charitable non-profit.
You may notice a drop in sound quality if you have high end headphones when making the switch to iPods and iPhones. A zen vision M by creative is 6 years old but still sounds better than my iPhone 4 when paired to a high quality pair of headphones. But to answer your question - it's money. You have to go to apple for a new battery. And to a certain extent, for aesthetics. The iPod touch could not be as thin and as nice as it is, or the shuffle could not be as small, etc. Having said that, guides are all over the net on how to do it yourself. I replaced my iPhone 3G battery twice before it finally died - the batteries are insanely cheap - $5 - and the procedure takes 10 minutes. It's pure greed that they charge $100 for the same service.
Last edited:
It's got a lot to do with consumer perception--and a good bit to do with money as well. Apple is a business, they exist to make money and that's not a bad thing.
I still think it has more to do with perception. If these batteries were easily user-replaceable you would see all sorts of third party companies releasing "compatible" batteries for super, super cheap. Apple knows that many consumers would grab these cheap imitation batteries up--and they also know that the vast majority of them will be utter crap.
The average person, after using one of these crap batteries will have a negative experience and is just as likely to assume that Apple has made a poor quality product as they are to assume their $2 battery is a POS. This would be likely to hurt Apple's reputation for quality in consumer electronics and would in turn result in lower sales.
For those of us who are capable of replacing the battery (Google tells us many things) can do so relatively easily and inexpensively. Apple doesn't do anything to stop that sort of thing, but their design ensures that only tech savvy consumers are going to mess around with it.
I still think it has more to do with perception. If these batteries were easily user-replaceable you would see all sorts of third party companies releasing "compatible" batteries for super, super cheap. Apple knows that many consumers would grab these cheap imitation batteries up--and they also know that the vast majority of them will be utter crap.
The average person, after using one of these crap batteries will have a negative experience and is just as likely to assume that Apple has made a poor quality product as they are to assume their $2 battery is a POS. This would be likely to hurt Apple's reputation for quality in consumer electronics and would in turn result in lower sales.
For those of us who are capable of replacing the battery (Google tells us many things) can do so relatively easily and inexpensively. Apple doesn't do anything to stop that sort of thing, but their design ensures that only tech savvy consumers are going to mess around with it.
Don't be. Sound quality is a very subjective experience. You may or may not notice something, most people don't. My first apple purchase was an iPod touch 2nd gen to replace a cowon D2 which, quite simply put, has phenomenal sound quality. I gave up the sound quality over the functionality of the iPod touch and did not look back. If the sound quality bothers you, then you may return the product within 14 days, or buy an iPod touch sound amplifier for $20 from amazon. It uses the synch port which reproduces audio faithfully.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)
Would you want to add 2mm in thickness to your iPhone or iPod touch to make the room for that battery door?? I sure as hell don't!
Would you want to add 2mm in thickness to your iPhone or iPod touch to make the room for that battery door?? I sure as hell don't!
Apple makes custom batteries to give the largest battery life possible. The other part is design. Apple's signature is it's product design. You can't get thinner and lighter AND have great battery life without some mechanical sacrifice. By removing doors and hinges they get more room which means a bigger battery. Lots of places besides Apple can sell you a battery or change the one you have but I've never had an issue with my old iPods battery life. I especially love the Shuffle.
This. Ignore the posts you see about Apple wanting more money. If those posters would read about Apple battery technology they'd realize why its not user replaceable. (Its difficult to do but you can find people who do managed to replace their batteries).
Its actually both. Blindly saying Apple is doing it for quality alone isn't right either, thats just defending Apple.
Look at cars, battery is very important there. There is a need to very have good quality batteries but still owners can change it. Car companies forcing owners to buy from them definitely involves money. Forcing simply isn't right.
The same can be said about proprietary ports like the one Apple uses. Each accessory is overpriced and users have no choice than to buy it from them. It has its advantages but MONEY is involved.
Last edited:
When was the last time you went out and bought a replacement battery pack for your non-Apple cell phone or mp3 player?
Seriously, when?
You think you'll miss the ability, but in reality you never do. By the time your unit is old enough that the battery needs replacing, you'll be faced with a decision: spend $x on a replacement battery pack to keep it going, or spend a bit more for a brand new model with all the new features. In my experience the electronics industry is moving so fast now that it's almost always better just to buy a whole new unit.
Seriously, when?
You think you'll miss the ability, but in reality you never do. By the time your unit is old enough that the battery needs replacing, you'll be faced with a decision: spend $x on a replacement battery pack to keep it going, or spend a bit more for a brand new model with all the new features. In my experience the electronics industry is moving so fast now that it's almost always better just to buy a whole new unit.
I've got an ipod Nano ( 1st gen. ) that gets 8+ hours on a charge and a 1st gen. iPod Touch that I haven't timed a charge, but it lasts as long as it ever has...
I think the device is gonna be so much better than what you're used to so by the time you want to replace the battery, you won't mind doing it.
I think the device is gonna be so much better than what you're used to so by the time you want to replace the battery, you won't mind doing it.