Apple: iPods built to last 4 years

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple Computer says its iPod digital music players are built to last four years and have a failure rate that is lower than other consumer electronics devices.



Although there have been several accounts in which the iconic music players have been called faulty devices, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris recently told the Chicago Tribune 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.



Apple's fairly recent decision to embrace solid-state NAND flash memory at the core of its most popular iPod models, rather than hard disk drives, is likely to improve failure rates. Flash memory lacks the moveable parts contained inside hard disks, making the storage medium significantly more durable.



According to the Macintouch survey, flash-based iPod shuffles and iPod nanos indeed sport a much lower failure rate than their hard disk drive-based counterparts.



Apple's iPod turns five years old this October.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 56
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    5 years this October eh? Sounds like the perfect time to celebrate the next gen iPod.
  • Reply 2 of 56
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    I would hardly call Macintouch's survey reliable, considering respondents were self-selected and Macintouch is generally the site to go to if you ever have anything to complain about.
  • Reply 3 of 56
    19841984 Posts: 955member
    Apple knows how many iPods they've sold and how many have been sent in for repair. I think that's more accurate than some survey. Yes, with October marking the 5th anniversary of the iPod I think we'll see a special event and some big announcements. Just in time for the holiday shopping season too.
  • Reply 4 of 56
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Yesterday, my bro's harddrive on his 17" Powerbook crashed. I hooked it up as a firewire target drive to my 12" to run DiskWarrior. Left it running at night. Woke up at 4 am to my hardrive squealing. Literally. Like "eeeeee", real loud. So now I've got to non-functional harddrives, one of which has mechanical problems.



    Moral of the story: Bring on the flash drives. Hurry UP.
  • Reply 5 of 56
    rspressrspress Posts: 31member
    Apple claims they last 4 years which I think is mostly bullsh*t. I have had my I pod replaced twice but the telling sign that the life of an iPod is much shorter than that comes from Apple itself.



    Apple stops updating iPod firmware after one year....even if bugs in the firmware are not fixed. They add no new features to older iPods even though they could. Check out iPodlinux.org if you want to see what an iPod can really do.



    Apple says they last 4 years but it is Apples plan that they are outdated in one year. Creative may not even be close to iPod sales but they are much better at updating their units.



    I am hoping that iPodlinux.org keeps up there good work as I may run my iPod in linux all the time as Apples firmware starts to creak under its age.

  • Reply 6 of 56
    craigb6craigb6 Posts: 16member
    Well most products are built to fail after a few years, this is how they get you to buy another one. Just thinking about the five year statement, Apple might release the new iPods on the 5th iPod birthday?
  • Reply 7 of 56
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rspress

    Apple claims they last 4 years which I think is mostly bullsh*t. I have had my I pod replaced twice but the telling sign that the life of an iPod is much shorter than that comes from Apple itself.



    Apple stops updating iPod firmware after one year....even if bugs in the firmware are not fixed. They add no new features to older iPods even though they could. Check out iPodlinux.org if you want to see what an iPod can really do.



    Apple says they last 4 years but it is Apples plan that they are outdated in one year. Creative may not even be close to iPod sales but they are much better at updating their units.



    I am hoping that iPodlinux.org keeps up there good work as I may run my iPod in linux all the time as Apples firmware starts to creak under its age.





    All I gotta say is when this new iPod comes out I'm going to take my 3rd Gen and mount it in the glove box of my car where it will happily live the rest of it's life.
  • Reply 8 of 56
    macsharkmacshark Posts: 229member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by frawgz

    I would hardly call Macintouch's survey reliable, considering respondents were self-selected and Macintouch is generally the site to go to if you ever have anything to complain about.



    Yeah, just another case of people who don't know how to run surveys and evaluate results coming up with the wrong conclusion.
  • Reply 9 of 56
    aegisdesignaegisdesign Posts: 2,914member
    I'm sure Kerris is being misquoted.



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



    should be...



    ""The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,"Kerris said, adding that Apple builds the players to last for years."
  • Reply 10 of 56
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by frawgz

    I would hardly call Macintouch's survey reliable, considering respondents were self-selected and Macintouch is generally the site to go to if you ever have anything to complain about.



    Exactly. Is someone who has no problem equally likely to respond the the survey, compared to someone who HAS a problem? No--people with problems are far more likely to respond. (I am reminded of their iMac reliability survey--same thing.)



    It's odd that AppleInsider would repeat those results without qualification, as if they were a real quality survey.
  • Reply 11 of 56
    jamezogjamezog Posts: 163member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by macshark

    Yeah, just another case of people who don't know how to run surveys and evaluate results coming up with the wrong conclusion.



    My thoughts exactly. People who want to complain about their ipod breaking down will be more inclined to participate in such a survey. The results are skewed.
  • Reply 12 of 56
    jamezogjamezog Posts: 163member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    I'm sure Kerris is being misquoted.



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



    should be...



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




    Interesting point - the article would make a lot more sense that way (and would speak better of Apple). Any comments, Kasper? Can you confirm?
  • Reply 13 of 56
    Quote:

    Originally posted by 1984

    Apple knows how many iPods they've sold and how many have been sent in for repair. I think that's more accurate than some survey. Yes, with October marking the 5th anniversary of the iPod I think we'll see a special event and some big announcements. Just in time for the holiday shopping season too.



    You are correct, however, how many people have an iPod that fails but simply does not return it for repair because it is after the warranty date so they by a new one? Apple's number is likely skewed as well if they are using your suggested method to calculate failure rates.
  • Reply 14 of 56
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rspress

    Apple says they last 4 years but it is Apples plan that they are outdated in one year.



    I don't know what magical planet you live on but I want to live there!



    I mean a world where consumer all electronics are not updated and outdated AT LEAST every 6 months, like they are here on earth!



    What about cars? On your planet do companies not "slighty upgrade" or "add new features" to cars one a year like they do on this bastard planet?



    [jealousy]Must be nice.[/jealousy]
  • Reply 15 of 56
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    I'm sure Kerris is being misquoted.



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



    should be...



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




    That is a very good point. It would be interesting to see the original article in the Chicago Tribune. I doubt Apple would be that specific about the length of time it should last.
  • Reply 16 of 56
    mchumanmchuman Posts: 154member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jamezog

    Interesting point - the article would make a lot more sense that way (and would speak better of Apple). Any comments, Kasper? Can you confirm?



    Yeah, we need confirmation on this!!

  • Reply 17 of 56
    schmidm77schmidm77 Posts: 223member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rspress

    Apple stops updating iPod firmware after one year....even if bugs in the firmware are not fixed. They add no new features to older iPods even though they could. Check out iPodlinux.org if you want to see what an iPod can really do.





    Umm, you bought the iPod based on the features it had at the time. Why would you think that Apple should be updating older models to include the features of newer models? Do you also expect these to be for free?
  • Reply 18 of 56
    buzdotsbuzdots Posts: 452member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by McHuman

    Yeah, we need confirmation on this!!





    Here is the link to the article:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/red-072406-ipod-main,1,3966660.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
  • Reply 20 of 56
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by crees!

    5 years this October eh? Sounds like the perfect time to celebrate the next gen iPod.



    I had thought that the main iPods had a major update around October of every year, but Apple-History shows several updates around other times, 2,3 and 4G are at other times, 5G was last October. Still, the major updates average about once a year.
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