iPod mini 2nd generation battery replacement

January 8, 2018 2:37 PM

Who still replaces batteries for an iPod mini 2nd generation? I've basically had one since they were first cool and popular, and now I just like having the unitask iPod to keep myself off the cellphone. But now I need to replace the batteries on a couple of them. Does anyone still offer this service for a somewhat reasonable price? I know they're up there in years now.... but I'd like to get a few more years out of them.
posted by answergrape to Technology (9 answers total)

If you feel up to doing it yourself, ifixit offers the kit for $15. I replaced the battery on my ipod video and it was very simple.
posted by soelo at 2:56 PM on January 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

While you're in there, you can also swap the spinning HDD in these with a CompactFlash card. You'll get more capacity, (probably) longer battery life, and faster performance.
posted by Wild_Eep at 3:24 PM on January 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

If you have Batteries+ Bulbs close by, give them a call. They've really been looking to get their money's worth out of the "+" over the last few years, and should probably be able to handle that.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 6:29 PM on January 8, 2018

Response by poster: I'm not going to do it myself - I've been told by the two companies that claim to fix "all" iPods that they don't do anything involving soldering....so not so much the "all."
posted by answergrape at 6:13 AM on January 9, 2018

Alongside Batteries+Bulbs there's a franchised chain called UBREAKIFIX that does battery replacement for Apple devices and other smartphones etc.

It's about $50 for a typical iPod Touch, I'm guessing it would be about the same for the Mini since it's old and they may have to order out to get the necessary battery.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:50 AM on January 9, 2018

Response by poster: The local UBREAKIFIX won't do it - they're one of the ones I've called.
posted by answergrape at 8:24 AM on January 9, 2018

Is it possible that some Mini 2 batteries require soldering and others don't?

The instructions on the page that I linked to are very detailed and don't show any soldering and the kit has only a screwdriver and spunge. The kit says it is good for all Minis, so that may be the difference. But then a similar product on Amazon has recent reviews that talk about using the kit on a Mini 2. So, you could order one kit and open one up to verify if the battery is really soldered to the rest of the guts or if it is just plugged in.
posted by soelo at 8:54 AM on January 9, 2018

Response by poster: Two different UBREAKIFIX outlets gave me two different (lame) reasons why they wouldn't fix it. So I'm still needing a solution to this.
posted by answergrape at 9:25 AM on January 9, 2018

So that iFixit guide shows that this is a lot simpler than I expected (no soldering, either). Certainly a lot better than some recent phones that actually glue things together.

You said you don't want to do it yourself, which is totally fine, but I wonder if you could get some results by going to one of the uBreakifix locations and said "Look, can you take a half hour and do this? What if I order the parts?"

Alternatively, do you have any tinker-y/gadget-y/maker/crafter friends you'd trust to do a swap like this? The guide is fantastically clear and looks easy to follow.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:10 PM on January 10, 2018