About the iPod Classic
The iPod Classic is a portable media player. The later generations had the largest storage size among any device in the iPod family, with 160 GB of storage. This massive capacity relative to other iPods is what has made them so popular as they have been used as media centres in family homes, cars, and even public performances as they could hold most peoples entire music collection. iPod classic gives you 160GB of storage capacity, which is up to 40,000 songs, 200 hours of video, 25,000 photos, or any combination.
And it wasn’t just the capacity that was superior to other iPods in the family, the battery was capable of easily lasting 36 hours under moderate use. This is partly because they were purely made for music and video playback only and without WIFI capability or an always on - power sucking touch screen, the battery didn’t have to power much more than an LCD, a hard drive and a headphone socket.
There were seven generations of the iPod classic, as well as a special edition U2 branded iPod. All generations used a 1.8-inch hard drive for storage. The "classic" suffix was introduced with the launch of the sixth-generation iPod on September 5, 2007. Prior to this, all iPod Classic models were simply referred to as iPods. It was available in silver or black replacing the "signature iPod white".
On September 9, 2014, Apple discontinued the iPod Classic. The seventh generation 160GB iPod Classic was the last Apple product in the iPod line to use the original 30-pin iPod connector and the Click Wheel.
Why has the iPod Classic been discontinued?
Apple discontinued the iPod November 2014. Apple CEO Tim Cook explained why the company decided to shelve its revolutionary device — it couldn't get the parts any more. Cook, speaking at the WSJD Live event October 2014 said on stage that Apple no longer had access to the components necessary to build the 160GB iPod classic. You'd imagine manufacturers would still produce parts for Apple if the company really pushed for them, but Cook said when faced with a dearth of necessary materials, the company felt that it wasn't worth redesigning the venerable device.
Still so popular!
With the aforementioned drop of the iPod Classic the world went crazy. iPod Classics (particularly the 160GB model) were listed on eBay for an average price of £600 as people attempted to cash in on the iPods impending scarcity. This also pushed the price of replacement parts up quite considerably.
Recently the price of preowned or refurbished iPod Classics have come back down to a much more reasonable price. A search on eBay today will find a range of iPods for sale from £157.99 for a 120GB and £259.99 for 160GB
iPod Classic - The repair centre's perspective
We have repaired thousands of these devices and are sure to still be repairing them for the next few years before people really turn their backs on the old technology.
The main faults we have the iPod Classic in for are wear and tear - age related issues. There has been no common fault that could be down to design as is prevelant in games consoles or other products.
The most common repairs are:
- Headphone socket replacements
- Battery Replacements
- Hard drive issues
- LCD replacements through accidental damage
iPod Classic Headphone Socket Repair
iPod Classic headphone sockets can become worn overtime. The pins that make contact with the headphone jack lose their spring so stop making proper contact. You may find that sound is only played through one channel or one side of the headphones. You may also find that if you half insert the headphones, the music plays through both ears.
If you find there is no sound whatsoever it could be a more serious issue with the logic board where the contolling IC chip has failed.
iPod Classic Battery Replacement
Batteries in all devices have a certain amount of charging cycles before you start to see reduced life. In iPod Classics the battery can appear to be fully charged and the battery symbol be full, but then it can suddenly drop to half or turn off all together. Sometimes the iPod will loop on the Apple start up logo without powering on properly. This can be due to the battery not accepting enough charge to turn on properly so it just loops.
The iPod may also not show any signs of life at all without being plugged in. It may also then completely die when disconnected. This is sure to be a fault with the battery.
We have also seen the battery expand inside the iPod and it can apply pressure on the inside of the LCD. You may notice short battery life, trouble charging, and a blemish on the LCD. This is because the battery has expanded inside and pushed the LCD towards the housing so it looks like it has a bubble in it.
iPod Classic Hard Drive Replacement
Hard drives in all devices can fail on their own. It is an unfortunate nature of the technology and iPod Classic hard drives are not immune. You may find that the unit appears to operate as normal at first but then it can freeze up, skip songs or stop playing all together. Sometimes it can freez whilst connected to iTunes and it may even lock the computer up too.
A faulty hard drive can also stop the iPod from booting up properly and show an image of a red cross on the display.
The ipod can perform a self test to see if the hard drive has any bad sectors which would deem it unstable. The video below shows you how to perform the test.
iPod Classsic LCD replacements
If the LCD is cracked you may see what looks like a black ink bleed. Sometimes the screen will display a white faded picture. We can open the iPod up and swap the LCD.
