About this replacement
Apple iPod Nano 3rd Generation — 3.7V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (616-0311)
This 3.7V, 400mAh lithium-polymer cell replaces the original battery in the Apple iPod Nano 3rd generation, covering both the 4GB and 8GB variants. It fits devices listed under OEM part numbers 616-0311, 616-0333, and 616-0337. If your Nano won't hold a charge or fails to power on after storage, this is the cell that needs replacing.
- 4GB and 8GB Nano G3 compatibility: Both storage variants share the same physical battery footprint, connector pinout, and BMS handshake voltage. One cell covers all G3 Nano units regardless of storage tier.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through a full charge cycle on a G3 Nano and confirmed the BMS accepted the charge without tripping a protection cutoff. Voltage at full charge read 4.18V — within the expected window for this cell chemistry.
- Post-install charge on the iPod Nano G3: After fitting this cell, connect the Nano to a charger before attempting to power it on. A freshly installed cell that has been stored may sit below the device's minimum boot voltage, and the iPod will not respond to the power button until the cell clears that threshold via trickle charge.
Battery percentage jumping after a cell swap on the Nano G3
The iPod Nano G3 uses a voltage-threshold method to estimate remaining charge — it does not have a fuel gauge IC that tracks coulombs. After a cell swap, the device has no baseline for the new cell's discharge curve, so the percentage reading recalibrates over the first few full cycles. Expect erratic jumps between 80% and 20% during this period. Run two or three full charge-and-drain cycles to let the firmware settle on accurate thresholds.
Playback cutting out before the battery indicator reaches empty
As a lithium-polymer cell approaches the bottom of its discharge curve, terminal voltage drops sharply under audio amplifier load. The Nano G3's amplifier draws enough current at that point to pull cell voltage below the BMS cutoff, shutting the device down even though the indicator still shows a few percent remaining. This is a normal characteristic of aged or cold cells — it becomes more pronounced in low temperatures. If it happens consistently, the cell voltage under load is sagging faster than the indicator can track; a full recharge typically restores normal behaviour until the cell ages further.