18 Comments

iPod: Built to last

July 28, 2006 by in Apple,Tech with 18 Comments

It takes a knocking and keeps on rocking! Apple has admitted that the iPod is designed and built to last four years and have a failure rate that is lower than other consumer electronics devices.

Do you believe it? According to the Chicago Tribune users don’t believe it.

[They believe] that iPods have a failure rate of less than 5 percent, which she said is “fairly low” compared with other consumer electronics.

“The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,”Kerris said, adding that Apple builds the players to last four years.

However, a survey conducted by Macintouch last year found that out of nearly 9,000 iPods owned by more than 4,000 respondents, more than 1,400 of the players had failed. The survey concluded that the failure rate was 13.7 percent, stemming from an equal mix of hard drive and battery related issues.

On a sidenote, Apple’s iPod (you know the 5GB Firewire beast) turns five years old this October, does ANYONE have one that still works?


  • ClaMs

    My 1Gen 5Gb is still going strong. Has a much reduced battery life, but can still churn out at least 4 hours.

    Hello from Budapest btw! :)

  • http://www.uneasysilence.com Dan

    You better send me pictures of your trip!

  • chad

    pffft my arse!

    my 4th gen 40 gig died 2 weeks after the warrenty expired…. go figure… if they are build to last 4 years why don’t they come with a longer warrenty?

    needless to say mine ended up in a trash can in the Atlanta airport after became so furious I couldn’t see straight… in hind site a bad move… in fore site… creative zen ;)

  • Noraa Haras

    My 3rd Gen got a new battery and is still functioning. The LCD is a little wierd sometimes getting lines in it, but it usually works just dandy.

  • Matt

    First-gen 5GB…runs like a top. Bought it the day they came out. Just spent a whole eight bucks on a new battery last month–now goes 14 hours on a charge!

  • Adam

    I had a 1G 5GB that was working like a champ until I sold it about two months ago.

    I’ve had a 4G 20GB, 4G 30GB photo, 2G mini and all have been perfect. However, my girlfriend’s family hasn’t been so lucky – two 4G 20GB have died on her mom, and her sister’s 5G 30GB just had a problem last week.

  • http://blitzboy07.wordpress.com Brian

    An article on Digg says that Apple estimates the average battery life of an iPod to be about four years.

  • Noraa Haras

    Apple released a statement saying iPods last “for years” not “four years”. It was a misquote. http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/07/28/apple.clarifies.ipod.life/

  • C

    i’m on my second ipod. first one (20GB 4G) broke when i accidently killed its harddrive by puting it on a cellphone magnet (the one you use in a car).. so that was my foult not the product…. got a new one on the warrenty for no charge..

    the one i’ve got now (30GB 5G) has survived quite a lot.. the worst was when I (accidently) dropped it from our second floor down to the first.. a 3,5 meter (about 12 feet) drop.. when i picked it up it startet as usual and i’ve had no problem with it since then.. thats god building quality for ya….

  • chad

    now THAT I can believe ;)

  • Justin

    haha, i gotta take mine tomorrow to get it fixed. firmware error i think. won’t even start….

  • http://www.alifelessordinary.com/ Thomas J. Brown

    My friend (who we’ve previously established works at the Mac Store (not the Apple Store) in Seattle) says that battery and drive failures are pretty common in brand new iPods. He also mentioned that Apple would fix it for free.

    In fact, when I was there buying my iPod, a couple came up to the counter complaining that theirs wasn’t working properly…

  • http://www.natemc.com Nate MC

    I know my old 2nd gen iPod is still kicking around, I put a new battery in it and rewired the headphone port after the new owner broke it but it still plays.

  • B2O

    Mate, I still thunder to a 2G 10Gb iPod almost 3 years of this thing being used everyday. Granted, the battery life isn’t as good as it use to be but it will still last the 3hour road trip down under!

  • Junior

    I havea 5th Generation Ipod at the moment, first one died somehow. Apple replaced it for free with a brand new one. This one’s been solid since day one. Thinking about getting a 60gig one now though…I have too much music for my 30Gb. Never been dropped or anything. Still has apple’s plastic on it

  • Gideon

    Hi.
    My 1st gen 5 Gb Ipod is still running good. The battery is not perfects, and I use it in my car 2 hours a day. I bought it the first week it came out.

  • http://www.quizard.net A different Mike

    My first gen 10GB works as well as the day I bought it..

  • wee

    “I havea 5th Generation Ipod at the moment, …”

    me too, i’ll drop a comment after four years*)

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