The failure rate for Apple’s iPod portable music player ranges from 5-20% over a period of several years of average usage. Having inspected and repaired literally thousands of iPods in the past several years, we can confirm that this number is indeed accurate. Commonly our customers ask the question, “Why did my iPod fail?”. There is no single answer to this question.

iPods are incredibly complex electronic devices, and as such, there are any number of parts which may fail, causing your iPod to be inoperable. By far, the most common part to fail in your iPod is its hard drive. I often tell customers to think of the hard drive as the heart of their iPods. The hard drive is where your iPods music is stored, its purpose and operation are very similar to the hard drives which are inside your laptop and desktop computers. The parts however have been tremendously miniaturized to enable them to fit inside something as tiny as an iPod. Hard drives in and of themselves are very complex devices. A common analogy I typically use with customers is that of an old vinyl record player. The inside of a hard drive is similar in that you have what is called a “Platter” (Analogous to a vinyl record in looks and function), a “Head” (like the needle on the record player), and a motor which spins the platter. The head is magnetic rather than mechanical and reads the 1’s and 0’s that make up the songs stored on your iPod. Lost you yet? This analogy is useful when explaining what happens when you drop your running iPod. Imagine your playing an old record in your living room and your dog, chasing a toy knocks into it, sending it crashing to the ground mid song. The needle will scratch the fine grooves in the vinyl, the needle may bend, the motor may be damaged, etc. The damage would likely be catastrophic. And your prized Johnny Cash record may never sound the same again. The same occurs, on a more miniature scale when you for example, drop your iPod while jogging. Most iPod owners assume their iPods are much more durable that they really are. While the failure of any of the many components in your iPod can happen at any time, your chances of experiencing a failure multiply as soon as your iPod is abused. It may work fine immediately after being dropped a couple of times, but sooner or later the abuse will cause the premature failure of the drive, and the iPod. Please continue to check back regularly for more articles on keeping your iPods in tip top shape, preventing problems, and fixing issues when they do occur.