iPod Classic Rear Panel Replacement

Actually, there are only 11 metal clips. From the face side:

On the top, only 1 clip centred 35mm from LHS. Avoid the first 30mm on the LHS, and the last 20mm on the RHS

On the RHS there are 4 tabs centred at 20mm, 40mm, 65mm and 85mm from the top. Take great care to avoid the topmost 15mm

On the LHS there are 4 tabs centred at 20mm, 40mm, 65mm and 85mm from the top

On the bottom, there are 2 tabs, each one 10mm in from the edge.

Also, I bought 2 spudger bars with the battery, and found them invaluable. The plastic ones supplied are nearly useless

take your time, be patient, it’s hard but you can do it. Watch other videos from youtube for battery replacement for your model to supplement this written procedure - particularly with regard to releasing the battery ribbon connector. I have the hardest one to crack open I and got it done and I’m 63 years old with bad hands…..my ipod classic now works good as new!!!!!!

I think this must be a 5th gen ipod class and the gap is larger. I have a 6th gen ipod classic, the plastic open tool can't insert in!

The battery(thick) I bought from ifixit has problem: the cable is not same length as the original one. Be carefully.

AWESOME!!!! Couldn't b happier,1 hour and 10 mins to switch out headphone jack (had music through one speaker) and battery since I had it open. Really only had to use plastic spudger,metal spudger and 1.5 inch puddy knife. Plastic separators didn't really help,for 3 bucks I'm not complaining. Already had a 00 screwdriver. All told,$43.00 for parts and I have my 120 gig iPod back.

Before starting to pry open the case, look closely at the pictures in steps 21 and 23 to better understand the clips to be released and the location of the clips. It will make the probing with the spudger more effective.

Don’t waste time here…just use the metal spudger.

what jim says. that pic of the clips should be up here so you can visualise what you’re trying to do, before you trash the rails.

I agree with Hwyman. I spent quite a bit of time trying to open the case with the plastic opening tools but could never get it into the joint. Then I went tried the iFixit Jimmy tool along with the metal spudger for the rest of the steps. It made is so much easier. I completed the entire job within an hour.

I used a watch back removing tool, it is thinner and made of metal and opening my 5th generation classic iPod was a cinch …. really ….. and I am usually quite clutzy. I inserted it and moved it slightly to the left very gently to separate the back and front and those clips just popped open.

It must have been okay because it all popped back together again after I replaced the battery. No issues with bent seam, back or anything I had read here.

Thank you original poster, these instructions were great.

I also ended up putting a small piece of electrical tape over the Hold switch as I kept bumping it with my fingers. That worked really well but it did leave a residue that I then needed to clean up with isopropyl alcohol afterwards.

Stick yer dick in. Yer gonna f it up folks

At my local hardware store they offer stiff and flexible putty knives - which kind is better for this purpose?

Don’t do this! The putty knife is too wide and will damage the inside of the case. You can see in the photo for step 19 how the metal clip rail has been bent out of shape. You need to use a narrower tool the will fit between the protrusions on the clip rail (which is where the clips actually are). This video shows a better, albeit more dangerous, method using an x-acto knife. I used the method shown in the video but with a #18 chisel blade on the x-acto knife. With the iPod on its back, I inserted the blade with the beveled side down. Then I pried the side out slightly and peeked through the crack with a flashlight to make sure that the blade was positioned between the protrusions, readjusting as necessary. I used multiple knives to prevent released clips from reengaging. Use this technique at your own risk, and wear adequate hand and eye protection as the blades are very sharp and somewhat brittle.

I used the iFixit Jimmy instead of a putty knife. I also watched the x-acto knife video that Robert Watkins linked to in order to find where the clips are located. I slid the Jimmy into those locations until the tool bottomed out and then move on. I only used the metal spudger (to initially open a gap), the Jimmy (to open the clips), and occasionally a plastic spudger (to hold open gaps while I relocated the metal tools to a new section). Pro tip: Use the Jimmy as a letter opener after you fix your iPod.

I used two small putty knives manufactured by a company called Albion Engineering. They make caulk spatulas in multiple sizes. Took me less than 2 minutes to get the back cover off, with no damage to the sides or clips. And - it was my first time! Highly recommend these, especially if you are in the business.

I disagree with the “theory” here. You don’t have to bend the case at all. Watch the x-acto blade video on youtube (it’s linked above in the Step 4 comments). The idea is to slide whatever wide flat tool (putty knife, x-acto blade, iFixit Jimmy, etc…) in between the clip and the body. Setting the iPod flat on the table instead of holding it will help and you won’t cut yourself if a tool slips out. As you disengage clips, you will find that the body will start coming out on it’s own without having to flex your wide tool and bending the case in the process.

The clip holding this part of the iPod together is different from the others around the iPod and you might want to keep the spudger in place until you've opened the iPod completely.

This is how I broke my whole entire screen.

This was the most difficult step in opening for me. Place the device on a hard surface and press with increasing force until you feel the clip push down and out of the way.

Συνεχίστε να πιέζετε προς τα επάνω το μπροστινό πάνελ με το spudger μέταλλο έως ότου ελευθερωθεί το μεταλλικό κλιπ.

I couldn't have said it better.

Be careful here. I screwed up and ruined the iPod's motherboard when trying to reconnect the battery cable.

totally screwed up, pulled out the whole

the connector came out with the battery cable ,almost lost it. I did get it back in though.

Yeah, this battery connector is extremely fragile if you pry too hard you will lift the whole connector plastic off the board. A really, really bad design from Apple having that type of connector like that. The white plastic part is not secure at all to the logic board so when you pry the tab up, you may lift the whole thing up.

Had no problem disconnecting the cable, I used a nylon spudger to press the connector down while using a plastic pry tool to pull the cable up, be patient, it might take time.

Tip for reassemble: Use a tweezer to reinsert the cable, again, it might take time.

ifixit fail. Be VERY careful pulling up that lever or the whole connector will pop right the !&&* out and you will never, never, NEVER get that sucker back in. Time to buy a new one, %#*!^@.

Just poke this latch up from behind. It's a little scary, but it literally just popped straight up for me.

You MUST put the warning in the instructions not to pull out the connector. Everything worked perfectly, seriously perfectly, until I went to put the battery cable back in and realized I had popped the connector out and it pulled all of the metal prongs out. Without a way to reconnect metal to metal, this basically just killed my ipod. It's trash now. Such a disappointment. Will not be recommending this site until you fix this one instruction.

Took me a long time to figure it out. The retainer literally pulls up ... straight up, not hinged. The retainer is the (at leeast on mine) grey thingy with a rounded top. I finally got the courage to gently pry it up (2 mm = 1 smidgen) and tthe connector pulled/fell out. Gods know if I'll ever get it back.

1 use a fine tool to lift the brown tab of the latch vertically up

2 use tweezers to grip the ribbon along its horizontal run then lift out. Don’t grip the last section that bends into the motherboard connector or you might short circuit the battery conductors, which are not insulated for the last 12mm or so

3 make sure the latch is fully up when you want to connect the ribbon of the new battery, as it falls down very easily and stops the new battery ribbon entering the connector

I released the battery first (with the spudger), which enable the whole case to be butterflied. Then, using a splinter probe with a slight hook lifted the retaining clip, and removed the existing battery lead. Then using a very fine tweezers inserted the new battery cable, and pushed the retaining clip back into place, while holding the cable with the tweezers. All good.

It would be extremely helpful if we had a better closeup of these parts. It seems the color of these parts is different from model to model. Maybe even from MB to MB. Getting the cover off was easy. But now I have no idea what I am looking at.

Definitely need to hold the retainer in place while you pull the ribbon. Worked like a charm!

1. Looking directly down on the iPod, use a small tool, apply a very light force on the back of the brown retainer pushing toward the front of the iPod.

2. Looking directly down on the iPod, use a small tweezers to apply a very light force to grasp the battery cord as close to the brown retainer as you feel comfortable, Try not to touch the brown retainer. While still holding the tweezers, use another very light force to lift the battery cord end toward the back of the iPod.

(I skipped to step 24 because none of my tabs were bent. Also, I was very careful with the headphone cable/keep the two halves together. )

List the caution first before the step. This is crucial and I thought I did it myself. Turned out I just didn't put it back together correctly and didn't get the battery connected. When I opened it up the second time the battery cable was just dangling. Need to make sure the connection is snapped back down and give a slight tug on battery cable with plastic spudger.

Yup, I’ve joined the flock of people who pulled the whole connector out. I was trying my hardest to reassemble without breaking anything and thought something needed to be flipped down. LESSON LEARNED: The retainer hinge pops up and down VERTICALLY, like toast in a toaster. If the black head and white tongue are flush at rest, it’s closed. Hook the black around the convex side, then lift it up. When open, the black part is noticeably taller.

Yep. pulled the whole thing apart. the explanation and the picture are not clear enough. they should add a picture where the cable is pulled to show that you don’t want to pull the whole thing

Happened to me as well but not because of iFixit’s guide, I followed a Youtube tutorial that didn’t mention this could happen. Anyways, just leaving a comment here to say that it’s possible to reconnect the connector to the motherboard (assuming it’s not damaged beyond repair) as long as you know how to solder stuff (and have the tools for it). Otherwise taking your iPod to a repair shop might be your only option (other than throwing it away but please consider not doing that if the iPod can be fixed, we have enough e-waste already).

The best way is to pull the battery flat cable alone, and insert it after done.

Be careful not to damage the hold switch ribbon there...

I don't know if this step is totally necessary. If its not feel free to skip it just be careful to avoid tearing the ribbon.

I recommend not doing this. I couldn't figure out how to reattach and broke the jack in process. There is no need to do this step, just be careful not to strain this connector.

I just pulled. The thing flipped up automaticly 90° degrees.

This step (and next few “repair” steps) is not worth doing unless you mangle the case when you pry it open. If it doesn’t look all bent up, leave this ribbon attached and skip ahead.

I detached the cable by flipping the clip as described.

Attaching the cable again was no problem using the plastic spudger to turn the clip back to its ‘close position’.

Right, I thought the way that this was phrased is a tad confusing. Basically, once you've separated the front and back panel, insure all the prong-like-clips around the sides of the back panel are all down - not sticking up after opening the ipod. I skipped the step because it was confusingly put. I ended up successfully swapping the battery, however when I went to put the ipod panels back together, they wouldn't clip back properly. This made it very fiddly. Anyway, hope that helps.

Please post a picture of what they are supposed to look like? I think you mean bent outward.

My iPod wasn’t closing very well, then I noticed that I didn’t do this. Thanks!

I ended up used a set of squeeze clamps with soft rubber jaws to very carefully apply pressure to either side of the case and top and bottom all around the perimeter in order to square it back up.

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to whoever made this tutorial!! Kinda unclear in some areas, but I got it! Thanks so much!!!

I just want to say that with out this tutorial I could never have taken my iPod apart the biggest help was the addition of the putty knife. It took about 30min cause I took it slow. My iPod is charging and seems to be working thank you

Thanks for this. It worked for me without any hitches. Your presentation, products and packaging are all first rate.

All very easy to do. Ive just "frankensteined" a 100Gb classic and working all fine. Very simple and clear instructions.

Been using iFixit for almost 10 years in my data recovery company and always been informative in getting Macs opened easily and with great results

Absolute waste of money. I have been working on it for an hour and half. Blue tools wore out the first 1/2hour

There are several hard tasks in this process and this step was hard for me. Took me a while to detach the battery without damaging the cables. But with some patience I succeeded.

Great guide, by the way.

I have been trying unsuccessfully to get into my ipod to replace the duff battery for a long while. Now, armed with your instructions and the right tools I have done it! (not without considerable frustration with those pesky clips I might add). The plastic spudgers are useless by the way. It took a while to work out how to release the battery ribbon cable and larger picture of the clip action would help. I too found the battery glued to the ribbon cable beneath it. Perseverance, patience and a steady handed are a must for this one. Well done and thank you!

I did it all, plugged into the charger for 10 hours and it shows charging… I unplugged it and is dead.

Battery replaced. MB spooled up when I plugged the unit in. Now waiting for it to charge. This process was actually pretty easy with the help of this tutorial. A lot easier than an iPad repair with all the glue. No way could I have done it without the help. So far: every iFixit! repair I have done has been a success. Thanks!

The instructions were great! I completed the repair with an hour. I can’t ay enough about the parts, tools, and repair guides from iFixIt. I recently replaced my hard drive with an SSD drive on my iMac and the repair guide for that was spot on as well. Thank you, iFixIt!

Any luck fixing the hold button ribbon Greg? Mine ripped too.

I saw some YouTube videos where they were able to reuse the black tape on the new backplate, so I took some time to carefully remove it, without success. However, since I was replacing my iPod 7th Gen with a 240GB disk (thicker than the original), the new thicker back plate did not need the tape since the cables are separated form the case.

One tip when reassembling. These screws are very tiny and difficult to handle even with magnetized drivers, so I used the PH000 tip of the iFixIt kit to pick the screws and screw the first turns. Then switch to a PH00 to tighten them. Actually, using a PH00 of a cheaper set I bought to open the iPod, worked better since the length of the screwdriver was shorter than the case.

You can also use a Phillips 000 for these. I also accidentally picked up the wrong screwdriver and got one out with a Phillips 0, but I think there's a definite risk of stripping your screws if you're not careful with this one.

When re-assembling, if you dip the tip of the screwdriver a couple of mm into a pot of vaseline, then place the screw onto the tip, it will hold the screw nicely in place until you tighten the screw (ie it will stick to the tip without dropping off)