Apple settles on iPod batteries, power adapters

Owners of yesteryear Apple products (and consumer advocates) had a pretty solid week. Friday it came to light that more than two million 2001-era PowerBook owners could be eligible for refunds between $25 and $75 in a class-action settlement (which is set for final approval on September 8th) over faulty, sometimes even sparking power adapters. But that's not all: Apple is also offering up $45 credits to any Canadian iPod owner that bought before June 24th, 2004 as part of a class-action suit claiming Apple misrepresented the advertised battery life of the players.

Read - Power adapters
Read - Canadian iPods [sub req'd]

[Flashpoint @ May 11th 2008 3:15PM]

When businesses take the cheap way out (read: build their products in China) rather than keeping those jobs in America... I laugh heartily when they get sued, FAIL or otherwise suffer.

China has crappy quality control as we already have seen, and combined with APPLE's "everything has to be pretty and poorly functional" mentality, you get a recipe for disaster.

So I hope apple loses BIG.

[generally @ May 11th 2008 3:22PM]

And here I was thinking those iPod boxes and receipts were sitting up there in my closet all this time for nothing. Cash $$$.

[happy_penguin @ May 11th 2008 3:27PM]

You're partially right. But the real problem is that we allowed Washington to be bought out by corporations to get the work sent to the third world in the first place. We should not be doing business with communists. Communists should not be doing business. It's anti communist.

But this isn't an Apple problem. It's a problem with all businesses and your hatred for Apple is on the verge of psychotic. What did they do, rape your mother?

[kccboy2004 @ May 11th 2008 4:00PM]

@Flashpoint,

I don't understand this mentality. What do you have against the Chinese ? Is it racism? Are we not spreading democracy through the holy vessel of capitalism ? Does not the provision of jobs in China to the chinese people not mirror the kindness towards all men, shown by our own Lord Jesus Christ. Is this not Christian behaviour ?

Maybe I am judging you too harshly and hastily, maybe you meant that we should bring the Chinese over to North America to work. Yes, that must be it. I have judged you too quickly. I apologise.

Crumbs, let me think now. The price of a loaf of bread has gone up 200% in hte last 6 years. The price of a

[kccboy2004 @ May 11th 2008 4:04PM]

I also kind of agree with you though.

[Pingmeister @ May 11th 2008 4:08PM]

If retail customers cared enough about quality the manufacturers would never go to the cheapest labor available.

Don't blame the manufacturers, blame every consumer who buys the product that is 50 cents cheaper to save what few extra pennies they have.

If I remember correctly (that phrase usually means an urban legend is about to be quoted) some giant retailers actually demand that products are below a certain pricepoint.

If you are running a publicly held company and manufacturing a product I don't think your shareholders are going to care much about your pursuit of quality if you are losing a lions share of the market.

[Ryan Waskewich @ May 11th 2008 4:25PM]

you mean a leopard's share in the market

[Peter @ May 11th 2008 6:03PM]

@Flashpoint - You can't seriously be suggesting that every American made product is better than every foreign made product. There are PLENTY of crappy American products.

The problem is that companies only care about the bottom line. Apple probably could have made a properly functioning product in China for a few cents more than a crappy one, but they decided to take their chances.

There is so much money at stake and the fines and penalties are relatively low, often it makes sense to play the odds.

[Nomi @ May 11th 2008 6:14PM]

ya Pingmeister...all those idiots trying to save their hard earned money. Shame on them!

[Raja @ May 11th 2008 6:15PM]

PingMeister,

Apple products are usually the more expensive in their respective product classes. People don't pay the premium for Apple products because they want something chip - they pay the premium because they like what they see.

And that's were the problem is. What people see is usually a very well packaged and designed Apple product - on the outside. On the inside they don't know what they're getting. Any Systems Engineer who can put together an iPod, MacBook Air, or Airport knows the difference between 5 cent capacitor and 50 cent capacitor, for example. Its Apple who decides to maximise profits by using cheaper electronic components. The Chinese manufacturers will install exactly what you ask them to and what you pay them to.

Apple just needs to choose to match product quality with the price they seek for their products.

[Raja @ May 11th 2008 6:17PM]

... that's 'cheap' not 'chip'

[salut @ May 11th 2008 6:47PM]

lol, imagine Apple manufacturing in the USA while the likes of HP & Dell are manufacturing in China -- the companies push out the most cheap & nasty computer systems available. Sure, it would be great if all these companies could manufacture and ultimately generate jobs in the U.S., but realistically customers care more about upfront cost, then quality -- the Windows PC market is a prime example of this.

And although Apple doesn't make hardware that's always 100% perfect, their overall quality is still a lot better then others, as Apple controls the process from start to finish, and everything in between. The likes of Dell & HP simply select components from anywhere, assemble it in a box, and cross their fingers that everything works nicely with each other.

[Travis Pulley @ May 11th 2008 7:35PM]

I actually had a powerbook with a faulty sparking power supply. The fault wasn't due to inferior capacitors or outsourced chinese manufacturing. It was a faulty design where the dc power cord met the supply, perhaps made by someone in cupertino.

When the problem happened, apple was quick and thorough with handling the issue (directing me a specialist in fire hazard issues even) and promptly sent me a replacement whose packaging I used to return the defective unit.

Cutting costs by outsourcing is how things are done in the modern world of globalization, and it's just ignorant to think that this is somehow wrong in and of itself. All those jobs we're losing to outsourcing? Too f'ing bad. The US and all its abundant natural resource has had it good for so long that they've become spoiled. Now that china has developed itself, workers are able to demand higher compensation and safety standards to the point that their products are becoming less cheap in terms of price and quality. This is a good thing.

The problem with quality control (like lead paint in toys) is expressly due to companies that do not independently verify their own products, and that happens all the time without the scapegoat of chinese production.

The real problem with globalization is allowing profits to flow across borders while restricting the people who want to work hard at an honest job to feed their family by crossing those same borders. Research the effects our (the youess) dumping of heavily subsidized cheap corn on mexico has had with regard to food prices and economy there, and you'll find a true evil.

[tim @ May 11th 2008 9:36PM]

@salut, you are clueless:
"as Apple controls the process from start to finish, and everything
in between. The likes of Dell & HP simply select components from
anywhere, assemble it in a box, and cross their fingers that
everything works nicely with each other."

What "components" does Apple select that Dell and HP don't also?
Would it be the processor, chipset, graphics card, NIC, hard drive,
DIMMs, BMC, fans, power supplies, LEDs, connectors or cables? Yeah, didn't think so. Even Intel handed Apple the BIOS (EFI). The only thing that separates Apple hardware from HP hardware is sheet metal and paint.

Apple, Dell and HP share the same ODMs: the likes of Foxconn,
MiTAC, Quanta, etc. That Macbook Air and Dell laptop are assembled
25 feet from each other in the same Chinese factory.

The only "component" that's "Apple" enough to make a difference is
the OS.

[salut @ May 12th 2008 11:53AM]

@ tim
- "The only component that's "Apple" enough to make a difference is
the OS."

The "only" component? The software that drives the hardware is just as important as the hardware itself -- both are useless without one another. The fact that Apple have full control over the OS instantly gives them an advantage when it comes to the "quality" of the end product.

HP & Dell don't really know for sure that this video card, and that motherboard are gonna work nicely together under Windows... Sure, the OEM manufacturer says "Windows compatible", but it's yet another component in the overall quality process they have no control over, what so ever. And when your Dell PC does encounter a video card driver issue, you call Dell and they'll tell you, "huh, it's a Windows problem, try Microsoft". While Microsoft tell you, "no, it's a driver fault. Contact the OEM manufacturer". Yep, that's what I call QUALITY customer service, ha!

PS. Funny you mention the MacBook Air, as Apple & Intel actually did work together on this project in designing the particular CPU that it uses.

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ May 11th 2008 3:19PM]

Canadians have all the fun...

[tuaamin13 @ May 11th 2008 3:20PM]

So is it a $45 Apple store credit like they did with the iphones?

[leak @ May 11th 2008 3:22PM]

I'd assume it's a $45 credit, since the article states "$45 credit"

[Seth @ May 11th 2008 6:09PM]

I like Apple's idea with the $45 store credit. Because there is barely anything in there store notable that costs less then $45. So, people spend more money to buy something big with that $45 credit. Good 'ol Apple and there money making ways.

[Rich @ May 11th 2008 7:02PM]

You can buy an adaptor so that you can use regular headphones with your iPhone. I'm sure that only costs $45.

[weg @ May 11th 2008 3:29PM]

Yeah, on that note:

"A magnet built for the Large Hadron Collider by Fermilab (such as this one installed in June 2006) failed in a recent high-pressure test because a fiberglass support was not up to the task."

( http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=particle-collider-magnet )

You can find more on Fermilab on http://www.fnal.gov/ .

[weg @ May 11th 2008 3:32PM]

Damn, this should have been a followup message to Flashpoint...

[Zed @ May 11th 2008 3:31PM]

does anyone know how to redeem this credit? i have looked but there is no information available..

[dale_nx26 @ May 11th 2008 3:42PM]

you cant redeem it now, wait after september 8

[Dom @ May 11th 2008 3:59PM]

Unfortunately, Apple is *still* selling faulty power adaptors that catch fire, and *still* denying responsibility.

My PowerBook adaptor caught fire a couple of years ago and since posting the photos I regularly get contacted by PowerBook & MacBook owners reporting similar experiences.

Unfortunately, it's probably going to take someone dying before Apple really takes notice.

[NG @ May 11th 2008 5:10PM]

Exactly

[Reader @ May 11th 2008 7:53PM]

Who wants to volunteer? Anyone?

[sypod @ May 11th 2008 4:38PM]

Is Engadget going to post info when this becomes availible on how to redeem?

[nick @ May 11th 2008 5:00PM]

What about macbook's 6 hours battery life? Could we sue apple too? And my old 27GB ipod?

[Engadgetluvsappl @ May 11th 2008 5:18PM]

Yeah, what about Apple's claim that the iPhone gives you the full internet in your pocket, can I sue them for that, too?!?!?!?!

[Ruben @ May 11th 2008 5:33PM]

Yes, Yes you can!

Quite frankly, there are too many pages with flash embedded, and with the iPhone not handling flash, your entitled, since your not seeing the "full internet experience."

You only need to satisfy a few conditions:

1. Get enough people to join you on this crusade.
2. Be prepared to fork over quite a large sum of money should you lose.
3. Get a layer with balls.

But do the ends justify the means?

[craig#2 @ May 11th 2008 5:45PM]

I have a 2 year old MBP with a magsafe adapter, and just last week it made some horrendous sounds, blowing a hole in the cord just half an inch up the cord. The wires had separated, so I used electrical tape to put them back together and close the hole. Two days later (yesterday) the same thing happened just half an inch below the magnetic part of the magsafe! It makes some the scariest sounds you can possibly imagine coming from a beloved notebook. I'm so looking forward to bringing this into the store and telling them to try it out on one of their computers and see what happens.

[redbellyman @ May 11th 2008 6:06PM]

To all,
I was born and raised Apple, and I turned and never looked back when I saw that the whole world uses pc, and I started working on pcs. I still can appreciate some of their inovations, and their OS, but the quality is going down the drain. I will give a cpl examples, they sell their towers/desktops at an incredible high price, but guess what, they have a $1-200 prosc, a $100 video card and maybe $200 ram, what else? nothing lol and the price is 3gs. I put a mock computer together at the apple store and their 5g tower offered a geforce 8400 256mb video card, now I am not an expert, but my 8800gtx costs $350 minus rebates and they were selling a 8400 for 1150$ even if you mark it up slighlty you dont come up with that price! This was less than 2 months ago, and the 9600 was just dropping. Intel may have the leading edge in aftermarket world, but why o why would you pull out of ibm. So I am happy to see their products are biting them in the behind! P.s. My pc scored a 298.5 in the osx bench score on my osx86! My friend who is dumb and bought the 3500 tower I referred too scored a 189, he bought his 2 weeks after I bought my components! muahhaha

[Alex Yee @ May 11th 2008 6:11PM]

My macbook (2007) adaptor (UK one) sparks when i put the plug into the socket. Should i be worried?

[salut @ May 11th 2008 6:48PM]

um, when plugging electronic equipment in, the power at the wall should always be off first.

[Frank @ May 11th 2008 6:46PM]

I hate these Apple ipod settlements. They just give you a nontransferable store credit valid only on Apple products. Seriously what apple made product can you buy for $45?

[7on @ May 11th 2008 7:01PM]

Cocaine by Eric Clapton on the ITMS...

45 times

[sinai @ May 11th 2008 8:14PM]

and the moral of this story (again) boys and girls, is that apple is full of lies.

$45 apple store credit, considering apple's 200-300% markup at retail, is really ~$15. and considering it's store credit, it's really worth $0 in real money.

[sinai @ May 11th 2008 8:14PM]

and the moral of this story (again) boys and girls, is that apple is full of lies.

$45 apple store credit, considering apple's 200-300% markup at retail, is really ~$15. and considering it's store credit, it's really worth $0 in real money.

[9bit @ May 11th 2008 9:14PM]

So they got a defective product, and to make up for it they have to buy more Apple products? Will the tormrnt ever end?

[Virtuous @ May 11th 2008 10:59PM]

If the price difference was 50-100% most people would dump American-made and buy Chinese. American long ago have priced ourselves out of the world labor market.

[charles @ May 12th 2008 2:26AM]

how do you collect on the $45 ipod credit?