Recalled iPod nanos replaced by Apple with current-generation models

Some customers who have had their recalled iPod nano replaced have received a new, seventh-generation model in return.

Apple initiated a recall program for the first-generation iPod nano in November in response to overheating issues with the media player's battery. The company acknowledged that the battery in iPod nanos sold between September 2006 and December 2006 could overheat "in very rare cases."

"This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect," Apple said in a letter to customers. "While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages."

The first customers who signed up for the replacement program received an identical, older-model iPod nano from Apple for free in return. But some newer replacements have instead been current-generation iPod nanos with the touchscreen interface, according to MacRumors.

The original iPod nano came in capacities of 2GB and 4GB for $199 and $249 when it launched in September of 2005. Unlike the current multi-touch model, the original featured a click wheel for navigation, like the current iPod classic. The fact that new models are being sent out as replacements suggests that Apple may have run out of stock of the first-generation iPod nano.

Apple first acknowledged the battery issue with the first-generation iPod nano in 2008, and began offering replacements to customers who experienced overheating. Governments in South Korea, Europe and Japan initiated investigations into the matter, and in 2010 Japan ordered Apple to begin advertising the iPod nano battery fix on its website.