# What is the lifespan of an iPod? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338 "2009-06-10T15:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/1 "2009-06-10T15:43:16Z")
A couple of weeks ago I asked about a problem I had with my iPod, where it would freeze up. Then it appeared to have been ‘wiped clean’. I plugged it into the computer and restored it, and it worked. Only this morning, it’s blank again. Well, I’ve been wanting an iPod Touch anyway. My iPod is four years old. How long should an iPod typically last? (I’d expect mine to not last as long. It’s been dropped twice over the years. ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/2 "2009-06-10T15:46:43Z")
I’m not sure, good question though. Same thing happened to me, but mine was less then a year old. It was a company gift though, so I’m unable to get any warrenty on it. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/3 "2009-06-10T16:16:15Z")
If an iPod is always kept in ideal conditions (cool, dry, limited use, no significant physical or electrical shock) everything but the battery could easily last 50+ years. In the real world, iPods are exposed to all sorts of “stresses” and will fall well short of the ideal. Just how far short will depend on those stresses, which are obviously difficult to quantify. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/4 "2009-06-10T19:59:36Z")
Mine lasted four years before it started freezing up (like yours) and I ended up replacing the HD because I was too cheap to justify spending $300 on a new model when the one I had worked just fine otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/5 "2009-06-10T20:30:49Z")
> [@silk1976](#): > > I ended up replacing the HD because I was too cheap to justify spending $300.. You can DO that? How much does that cost? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/6 "2009-06-10T21:34:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You can DO that? How much does that cost? Noooooo, come to the dark side of consumerism…I had a 4 year old iPod too, and I just invested in a Touch and it rocks so much. Being able to surf the web and watch movies and listen to my music is just awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/7 "2009-06-10T21:39:03Z")
My first-gen Nano bought in the fall of 2006 occasionally doesn’t respond to the PLAY button sometimes, and I have to wait and push it again, and the battery’s holding a charge over less and less time. But it still works fine for the most part and it’s been dropped in various NYC streets and, before I got a little Shuffle with a clip, on many different pieces of gym equipment. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/8 "2009-06-10T21:44:05Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Noooooo, come to the dark side of consumerism…I had a 4 year old iPod too, and I just invested in a Touch and it rocks so much. Being able to surf the web and watch movies and listen to my music is just awesome. Well, my plane leaves tomorrow so there’s no time for a repair. I guess I’m _forced_ to get a Touch. (And yeah, I often want to get on the 'net when I don’t have my computer. Even freeway rest stops are getting WiFi!) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/9 "2009-06-10T21:47:28Z")
My original 5GB iPod with the scroll wheel purchased back in fall of 2001 still works. Of course I replaced it with the 20GB with the click wheel as soon as it became available so it didn’t spend a long time in service. That 20GB unit still works as well, a friend of mine has it and uses it regularly. The 40GB that replaced it (2004?) still works and is in my wife’s car. Both of my 1st gen Nanos still work, as does my original shuffle. My wife’s iPod Touch still works too. Dear lord, we’ve got a lot of iPods. Let’s not even talk about our three iPhones. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/10 "2009-06-10T22:18:05Z")
My experience is that the battery’s functionally unusable (i.e. won’t hold a charge of more than an hour) in about four years. The hard drive’s much more variable. I had one start to do that lock-up thing (it’d usually lock in the “on” position, though) in six months. When I bought my last iPod I bought two extra years’ warranty on it and decided that I’d count three years as the expected life span with anything extra being a bonus. That was a shade over two years ago. I’ll probably look to upgrade to a Touch next time, but I need them to make one bigger than 64 GB before I do - my current tally of audio and video is sitting at 57 GB and I’d like _some_ room for something else. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/11 "2009-06-11T15:00:48Z")
After bad luck with hard-drive type iPods (both my daughters’ began to do the freeze-up thing) we bought flash-drive type iPods and they’ve been going strong for years. ---
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lifespan-of-an-ipod/499338/12 "2009-06-11T22:09:23Z")
My first iPod (20gb, last black and white screen model) lasted just under two years with very heavy use in a rough environment (vibrating truck) - hard drive failure. My current iPod (ipod with video) is still going strong after about 3 years under the same conditions. I have considered replacing the hard drive in my old ipod but it doesn’t seem to make sense economically. A 20gb hard drive costs about $150 and I would have an iPod with a black and white screen and several years of use on it. For the same $150 you could get a brand new nano with half the capacity but a color screen, for an another $50 you could get a 16gb nano, or for another $100 you could get an iPod classic with 6 times the storage. The larger hard drives are only slightly more expensive and if the ipod does video it might tip the balance a bit but it still seems to me the cost for a new iPod is not much more than repair.