Can I refresh / improve the li-ion battery in an old ipod?
This is a 6th gen Nano, manufactured almost a decade ago. It still holds a little charge, but of course not like it used to.
It has not stayed regularly charged (it’s spent several blocks of up to a year with its battery depleted).
I see ebay sellers offering battery replacement service for this model – would that be meaningful? Do these sellers have new (non-OEM) batteries on hand?
Are there other ways I could recondition or refresh such an old battery?
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5 Answers
First question – can (or they) get it open without breaking anything? Apple machines are notoriously difficult to pry open without breaking connections or the case itself. Do the ebay sellers have the right equipment?
Second, do the ebay people have ‘new’ batteries or are they selling you ten-year old ones? You need to ask them.
Finally, Apple now has certain electronic means to know if your battery is ‘Apple authorized’ or third party. They may not have had that when the iPod was made. But beware.
If you are handy with a small soldering iron you can buy a kit with all the tools, both video and written instructions and a battery guaranteed for life at a cost of $20.
The ebay seller has 6 5-star reviews from legit-looking users, so I assume they can open it – your second question is what I mentioned (“Do these sellers have new (non-OEM) batteries on hand?”) and is the bigger issue imo
Batteries for things like this are about 6–10 bucks on ifixit. Youtube gets you the rest. You have to ask yourself if it’s worth fixing. If you really, really care about it send it off. I have never had a problem fixing small devices like this though. It just takes patience and being ok if you destroy the item if something goes wrong. An ipod that old may be worth like $20.
I’m wondering about that “lifetime” guarantee.
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