iPod and iTunes Starter Kit (2nd Edition)

Maintaining Your iPod's Power

Like any other portable electronic device, your iPod literally lives or dies by its battery. When not connected to a power source, your iPod's battery is the only thing standing between you and a musicless life. Fortunately, working with your iPod's battery isn't very difficult, but it is something you need to keep in mind.

Note

The iPod's battery is rated for 12 hours while the iPod mini's battery is rated for eight hours. Of course, these ratings are based on ideal conditions, which means that the iPod plays straight through for these periods with no controls being used, no backlighting, and so on. Should you expect to get that much time under actual conditions? Probably not. Later in this section, you'll learn how to test your iPod's battery to make sure it is in good condition.

Monitoring and Maximizing Battery Life

The Battery icon in the upper-right corner of the screen gives you a general idea of your battery's status at any point in time.

When your iPod is running on battery power, the amount of shading within the icon provides a relativeand I do mean relativeindication of your battery's current state (see Figure 10.1). As you use battery power, the "filled in" part of the battery will decrease until your iPod runs out of gas. When it does, you'll see an icon of a battery with an exclamation point that indicates your iPod is out of power, and the battery will have to be charged before you can use the iPod again.

Figure 10.1. Keep an eye on the battery icon to make sure you don't run out of juice while you are on the move.

To maximize your iPod's playing time per battery charge, you can do the following:

  • Keep the iPod's software up to date (you'll learn how later in this chapter).

  • Use the Hold switch to prevent your iPod from being unintentionally turned on when you carry it around. You'd be amazed how easy it is for the iPod to be turned on and start to play without you knowing it, especially if you carry it in your pocket, backpack, or computer bag. (It's no fun trying to listen to tunes only to find out your iPod's battery has been accidentally drainednot that this has ever happened to me of course.)

    Tip

    When an iPod is turned off, it still uses some power. For example, its internal clock keeps "ticking." And, it takes some power to maintain the iPod's memory. If you don't use your iPod for 14 days or more, you should charge its battery to keep it ready to play.

  • When you aren't listening, don't keep your iPod playing. Use the Pause button to put your music on hold. Playing music uses power at a greater rate than does not playing music.

  • Put your iPod to sleep by turning it off when you aren't using it. The Sleep, or Off, mode uses the least amount of power. (You can press and hold the Play/Pause button to turn the iPod off. You can also add the Sleep command to the Main menu if you prefer to use that instead.)

  • Keep backlighting at a minimum level. Backlighting is very helpful to be able to see the iPod's screen, especially in low-light conditions. However, it does use additional power, so you should use it only as needed to maximize battery life. When you don't need it, such as in daylight conditions, turn it off. When you do need it, set it such that it remains on only a few seconds when you press a control.

  • Minimize track changes. Each time you change tracks, the iPod uses more power than it would just playing tracks straight through.

  • Turn the Equalizer off. The Equalizer uses more power than playing music without it.

  • Every 30 recharges or so, fully drain and recharge the battery.

  • Keep the iPod at a comfortable temperature. Using the iPod in very cold or very hot conditions lowers its battery life.

Charging an iPod's Battery

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to charge your iPod's battery, including the following:

  • Use the included FireWire power adapter.

    Note

    You can't charge an iPod using a four-pin FireWire connector.

  • Connect the iPod to a six-pin FireWire port either directly with a cable or via a Dock.

  • Use a power adapter designed for 12-volt sources, such as the power outlets in your vehicle.

There are two different ways that the iPod lets you know it is charging.

When your iPod's battery is charging via a FireWire connection to a computer, the Battery icon will include a lightning bolt symbol and will include a filling motion from the left to the right of the icon (see Figure 10.2). When the battery is fully charged, the icon will be completely filled and the motion will stop.

Figure 10.2. This iPod is getting its battery charged via a FireWire cable.

Note

If you charge an iPod through a power adapter, you can use the iPod while you are charging it. If you charge it via a FireWire connection, you can't use the iPod by using its controls; you can listen to its music only if you have it set to update manually and then use iTunes to select and play its music.

When you charge your iPod's battery through a separate power adapter only, the battery icon fills the iPod's screen and flashes (see Figure 10.3). When the process is complete, the battery icon remains steady.

Figure 10.3. This iPod is being charged with the power adapter.

According to Apple, it takes only an hour to charge a drained iPod mini battery and two hours to charge a drained iPod battery to 80% of its capacity. It takes about four hours to fully charge a drained battery.

Note

Unlike some other rechargeable batteries, lithium-ion batteries don't have a memory, which means that their performance is not degraded by not being fully discharged and then recharged each time.

Getting More Life Out of an iPod's Battery

The iPod uses a lithium-ion battery. Any battery, including the iPod's, will eventually wear out and no longer provide the power it once did. In my research, most lithium-ion batteries are rated for 300500 charges. In this context, a charge can't be precisely defined, but it does include a full discharge and then a full recharge. A partial charge doesn't "count" as much, but the precise relationship between amount of charge and how much that charge "counts" can't be specified.

Note

The fact that the iPod's battery will eventually wear out is nothing unique to the iPod. All batteries die eventually and must be replaced. However, some early iPods (the Original iPod) did have major battery problems that have left the iPod a now-undeserved reputation for having defective batteries.

Batteries like that in the iPod actually last longer if you don't let them fully discharge before you recharge them. Frequent "topping off" will not reduce the battery's life and in fact is better for your battery than letting it run very low on power before you recharge it.

Every 30 recharges or so, do run your iPod until it is completely out of power and then perform a full recharge. This will reset the battery's power gauge, which tends to get more inaccurate if the battery is never fully discharged.

It doesn't hurt the battery to do frequent and short recharges, such as by placing the iPod in a Dock every day after you are done using it.

However, you should make sure to run the iPod on battery power for significant periods of time. If you constantly run the iPod from the power adapter or while it is in the Dock connected to a power source, the iPod's battery's performance will degrade.

Solving Battery Problems

Frankly, your iPod's battery will eventually wear out. Fortunately, this won't happen until you have used the iPod for many, many hours and have recharged it hundreds of times. You'll know when the end of its useful life is approaching because the time it can play on battery power will become shorter and shorter.

Caution

Because fully discharging and then recharging an iPod's battery causes wear on it, you shouldn't do this test frequently. Only do it if you suspect that your iPod's battery is having problems.

Testing Your iPod's Battery

If your iPod doesn't seem to play for a reasonable amount of time, you should test it to get an idea of what its current battery life is. Test your iPod by performing the following steps:

1.

Fully charge your iPod.

2.

Remove the iPod from the charger so that it is running on battery power.

3.

Make a note of the current time.

4.

Use the Settings commands to turn off the Equalizer and Backlight.

Note

Batteries are manufactured items, which means they aren't always made just right. You should test your new iPod's battery life to make sure yours is performing up to snuff prior to the warranty expiring.

Keep in mind that battery life is dependent on many factors, such as temperature, what features are being used, and so on. The guidelines are pretty loose because the conditions under which an iPod is used are so variable.

5.

Set Repeat to One.

6.

Select an album or playlist and play it.

7.

Let the iPod play until it runs out of power. While the iPod is playing, don't use any of its controls. Anytime you cause the iPod to perform an action, you cause it to use additional power. In this test, you are attempting to determine what its maximum life is so you can compare it to the rated life.

8.

When the iPod stops playing and the low power icon appears in the display, make a note of the time.

9.

Calculate the battery life by figuring out how much time passed since you started the iPod playing (compare the time you noted in step 8 with what you noted in step 3).

If your iPod mini plays for four hours or longer or your iPod plays for six hours or longer on a full charge, Apple considers that its battery life is acceptable. If the iPod won't play for more than four hours, it likely has a problem and needs to be replaced.

Getting Help from Apple for iPod Battery Problems

If your iPod doesn't play for the expected time, the battery probably needs to be replaced. If the iPod is still under warranty (one year without the AppleCare Protection Plan or two years with it), Apple will replace the battery for free. If the iPod is not under warranty, Apple will replace the battery for you (currently this costs $99 plus $6.95 shipping). To get more information and start this process, go to www.apple.com/support/ipod/power/ and click the iPod battery service request form link.

Caution

According to Apple, your iPod will be replaced with an equivalent model rather than just the battery being replaced. Make sure you have all the data you need off your iPod before you send it in for service.

If you are comfortable working with electronic devices yourself, you can replace the iPod's battery on your own. How to do this is beyond the scope of this book, but you can purchase a battery and get help on the Web at places such as www.ipodbattery.com and www.ipodresq.com. Replacement batteries cost from $60 to $80, including tools and instructions. Although being a bit more expensive, sending the unit back to Apple is probably a better way to go in most situations. (Who knows, if you have an old iPod, you might get a better unit back in return!)

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