USERS of Apple’s iPod music player, alarmed at reports that the unit’s non-replaceable battery will be useless after 18 months, were reassured last night that a solution is at hand.

Apple said that a replacement service would soon be available in Europe, as it now is in the United States.

Since its introduction two years ago more than two million people have bought an iPod, which can store up to 10,000 songs in a high-quality format. However, buyers labelled it a rip-off because its power source stopped working shortly after the warranty ran out. The news came as a shock to the 730,000 or so people worldwide who bought the players in the run-up to Christmas, often as pricey gifts.

Some distraught iPod users in the US have been told by Apple’s customer service agents simply to throw away their $499 (£269) pride and joy and get a new one. In Britain, the same top-of-the-line iPod model costs £399.

Two New York-based iPod buyers, Casey Neistat, 22, and his brother Van, 28, were so outraged that they made a short film of their experiences with the Apple telephone help-desk.

A San Francisco law firm, Girard, Gibbs & De Bartolomeo, is also thought to be filing a class action lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit will claim damages on behalf of any American who bought an iPod assuming that its rechargeable battery would last longer. Apple executives, however, point out that all batteries eventually run flat and that frequency of use will affect the iPod’s lifespan.

The Neistat brothers’ film, which can be found at www.ipodsdirtysecret.com, shows Casey Neistat’s call to customer services, in which the agent, Ryan, tells him bluntly to buy a new iPod.

The brothers, both artists in Lower Manhattan, claim that nearly one million internet users have watched the film online and that they have been deluged with thousands of e-mails from angry iPod buyers.

“We got close to 1,000 e-mails the first couple of days,” Casey Neistat told the San Jose Mercury News, the newspaper for Silicon Valley. “A lot of people were in my exact position and had to buy the new iPod.”

Apple has, however, changed its US policy on the iPod battery, offering an expanded warranty for $59 and also a $99 battery-replacement scheme, which involves users sending their devices to Apple in the post. It is also possible to buy conventional external battery packs. Consumers can also attempt to change the iPod’s internal batteries themselves using kits available on the internet.

Several unofficial sites supporting the iPod have sprung up in the wake of the Neistat brothers’ film. One of them, www.ipodbatteryfaq.com (faq stands for “frequently asked questions”), says that the iPod’s internal lithium ion battery is good for between 300 and 500 charges.

According to the site, a fully charged iPod battery should give eight hours of continuous use — although that is with some iPod features switched off. Some users have complained that battery life falls to as little as one hour after a year.

A battery that lasts for four hours or less could be considered defective and replaced under Apple’s warranty plan, the website says.

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