Trying to get things clear with iPod touch 3rd Gen 8GB MC model

Question

Well, I'm kind of new to this support communities as this is my first time to make a discussion here.

So, as most of all iDevice users knew that a late-2009 iPod touch 2nd gen 8GB MC model was referred by stores as the 3rd Gen 8GB.

After all these years, I've finally had time to solve the issue a few weeks ago. I bought the unit on April 2010 which was claimed by a guy from the authorised reseller at my location as the newest 3rd Gen iPod touch. At that time, I trusted this guy (salesman) and start to use the unit throughout the years and finally I got stuck on iOS 4.2.1.

Later on, I thought that probably Apple hadn't release the 4.3 version for the iPod touch 3rd Gen, so I waited dumbly until the release of iOS 5.1.1. Recently, I brought my unit back to the same store, trying to find out why did the store misleaded me.

Another guy from the store explained to me that before June 2010, they didn't know from Apple that iPod touch 8GB MC was different from its siblings with greater capacity. They only knew it officially from Apple in June 2010. He also stated that the official basis from Apple for the store to compare between iPod touch 3rd Gen 8GB and the 2nd Gen was the MC and MB numbers, not the A12XX and A13XX (in apple support webpage).

So I want to ask anybody who knows the real thing behind these statements.

1. Did Apple made the statement that the MC model would be different with the 32 & 64 GB models since the launching in late 2009 (I really mean at that time in September 2009 until the June 2010)?

If there was another time when they officially announced that the MC model would be different, please give me the date (this is an important fact to me).

1. Is the official comparison basis from Apple to distinguish between iPod touch generation is true (The MC and MB numbers), or did that guy lied to me again ?

If there was another official way such as in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353, should all Apple authorized reseller use this page as their basis ?

1. When did this page released with the inclusion of the late 2009 iPod touch lineup ? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009

I really need any truth that would help me to understand things. Thanks in advance (I really thank everyone for answering my questions truthfully :) )

Answer 1

Since I was once working as salesman in an Authorized Reseller in Australia, let me enlighten the essential parts :

Apple had implicitly mentioned in the press release that the MC model would not have the same spec as its sibling, which means the MC model is not the same with the 3rd Gen model.

So what is a MC model ? MC model is a 2nd Gen iPod with a modified bootrom so it was meant to be UN-jailbreakable. But as you see, maniacs out there were able to jailbreak it too (this really bugs me). You may notice that the MC and MB models are quite different but they were the same since both of them were A1288 iPods.

Since the time when Apple made the press release, many stores advertise the MC model as the 3rd Gen. This is absolutely wrong ! Although my store didn't notice about the differences until iOS 4 was released, we took the liberty of advertising it as The New iPod Touch 2G 8GB in February 2010. Actually, Apple ever advertised in fine text that iPod touch 8GB won't support all features on iOS 4 in March 2010. The salesman at your store should've told you this before.

About the method, well, beats me. Most stores have their own way to distinguish such as the part number (MCXXXX and MBXXXX), however since part numbers are different in every sales region, Apple used a more common way which is the model number as shown in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009. However, you won't be able to check the model number unless you buy the iPod, opened the case, and use a magnifier on its backpanel. A lot of online websites made profit from this thing, since people bought the product and they complained 6-12 months later (assuming the purchase was done in late 2009 - early 2010), and they were terribly dissapointed.

If you carefully notice that the link in the webpage for the 4th Gen iPods was HT1353#iPod_4G while for the 3rd Gen iPods was HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009. See Apple designated the iPod touch which was released in 09/2009 (at the same time with the press release) only in 32GB & 64GB capacity. So what is the designation for the 8GB ones ?

They were just iPod Touch 2G 8GB - MC model, any other name for this iPod would be considered unlikely to be accurate.

The store where I worked once also experienced the same problem back in May 2011 where users who bought the product before our new advertising was launched. Well, we apologized because it was my store's mistake and told the customers why wouldn't they bring the problem back to us earlier ?. Well, that's not the important thing (as long as the customers were happy, it was enough for me). The customers demand the true iPod touch 3G 8GB in exchange for their old The New iPod Touch 2G 8GB. But there was no such thing called iPod Touch 3G 8GB, so we made a deal with them. We let them keep their iPods and offered them the new iPod 4G 8GB for only A$49 (about 20% of normal price at that time). since there wasn't a 3G 8GB. Fortunately, there were only 3 customers at the time and we revoke one of them because the iPod unit wasn't functional. They accepted the deal and we sold 2 iPod Touch 4G 8GB for A$98.

Now since you would likely to demand compensation from your local Authorised reseller, tell them how we settle things here in Australia. Your local store might've misled you when buying your product, so you have the right to demand compensation even it's been 2,5 years since the released of the iPod touch 3G. I think that refund might be an overdo since it's been quite some time, so I suggest you demand for 80% discount for purchasing the new iPod touch too :).

Answer 2

I see that both of us may have a similar problem. Let me tell you my own story :

I brought this problem back in January 2012 to my local Apple Authorized store. They played dumb (I guessed) with me and insisting that the product was indeed a 3rd Gen 8GB iPod. I didn't have any proof at that time, so I went to Apple support website and asked some guys there. Several days later, I came back to the Authorized store and presented them with the evidences. Finally they admitted it and they gave me a free iPod touch 4th Gen 8GB White :) in return of my effort (but they still let me keep the bogus 3rd Gen as a mementos). They also admitted that there were some false advertising everywhere around the world but Apple never made an official statement for the problem. So I think this is a strict consumer-store issue.

I see that you have 3 questions to support your position, I'll try to answer it as simple as possible.

1. From the press release, well, Apple never stated anything about MC model, you may look into this page : http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/09/09Apple-Introduces-New-iPod-touch-Lineup.html

It was also stated in Pricing and Availability that all three of them were considered new iPod models NOT 3RD GEN MODELS. If your local store advertised that the MC model as the 3rd Gen model, they were wrong.

However, specifically speaking, Apple did mention in the press release that the 32 GB and the 64 GB model was 50% faster (from the 8GB model, so this should gave you a clue that the 8GB model would be somehow weaker than its siblings). If the store told you that they were the same even before the release of iOS 4, the store might be lying. I don't know if the guy at your store is a fool or what, but I think that by letting you know that the 32 GB version is stronger than the 8GB one, the store might have gained more profit by selling you the 32GB instead of the 8GB one.

Your local authorized reseller should've known the fact since the time of the release. But it's possible that your store didn't read carefully the press release which ended up misleading customers. (It's not their fault 100%, but they were still guilty)

1. I don't know what kind of method they used since all 4th Gen iPod is a MC model (so how does they distinguish 3rd Gen and 4th Gen ?) But a legal and official way to distinguish between generations is indeed the http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353. Otherwise, according to my local authorized reseller, it's wrong or not official.

If you look at the back of the casing, you should see A1288 on your iPod. But on the true 3rd Gen, A1318 was printed. There was no way to find out this number unless you opened the case and see the unit for yourself.

If they were a Authorized reseller, why wouldn't they use an Authorized system as depicted in support.apple.com ? Even my local store use the support website as references in order to let customers and the store communicate in the same frequency. You should clarify that your local store is indeed an Authorized or not.

1. When I asked the my local store, they claimed it to be updated several hours after the press released. Although I'm not so sure about this fact, I guessed that Apple should have updated the page within 6 months of the release (I bought the unit in February 2010). As you can see in the address, Apple did not write the link as HT1353#iPod_touch_3G as in HT1353#iPod_touch_4G but rather as HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009 (see that apple designate the 3rd Gen as the iPod touch late 2009). What my local store explained that Apple only released 3rd Gen or the late 2009 model in 32 & 64 GB (the MC model has its own classification). This is the root of our problems, many stores (especially the non-authorized ones), classified the MC model as the 3rd Gen model.

Finally, the MC model is indeed a MC model (it's neither 2nd Gen nor 3rd Gen). Should the authorized store claimed it to be a 3rd Gen, they were totally wrong. They should advertise it as Refurbished 2nd Gen 8GB or as what some sellers at amazon did : "3rd Gen 8GB MC model (OLD MODEL). I guess the OLD MODEL designation was used because in the press release, "The 8GB iPod touch is now available for just $199, along with new models which deliver twice the capacity for the same price, with the iPod touch 32GB model for $299 and 64GB model for $399". New model designation is given only to the 32GB and 64 GB while the 8GB excluded from the designation.

Summary : I'm sorry that my answers weren't as simple as it would be, but I thought that it'd be great to help someone else with the same trouble. Go to your Authorized reseller again and show them these evidences. I guess that they might realized that they were wrong and I hope you might as well get your own 4th Gen iPod (you might wanted a full-fledged iPod from the date of the purchase, not the one which has been expired.)

Hope it helps :).

Answer 3

I don't know what you're about to do with the your local reseller, but I got into the same hole. I guess what you're asking if your local store gave you fraudulent information, isn't it ?

I bought the same iPod 3rd Gen 8GB from my local premium reseller for US$199 at January 2010. The premium reseller advertise this as a ipod touch 3G with MC086XX part number. They convinced me that this is a real 3G iPod because it has MC written on it. But I knew from the http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009, only 32&64GB ipod were released. So I asked for their supervisor to clarify the product.

The supervisor came and explained to me that recently Apple released ipod 3G 8GB and she claimed that all three models will be having the same features. Then I purchased the unit and used it for 6 months until the release of iOS 4. It was a great disappointment in me when the multitasking didn't work on the ipod.

Then, I brought it back to premium reseller. The same supervisor came to me and explained that the premium reseller didn't know anything about it and put her blame onto Apple and me for not looking into the net for more info. But in the end, they offered me free iPod 4G similar capacity as Apple never gave off official refund for products.

Want to know what I did to convince them ?

I showed them the apple support web and I checked the serial number in front of the supervisor and then she admitted that the premium reseller had wrongly advertised the product. Furthermore, I showed her http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1353#iPod_touch_late2009 and then she admitted that the model number is the official and reliable way to distinguish iPod touch's generation.

I might not be directly answering your questions, but I guess this is what you should tell to your local store if they did sold you a 2G iPod MC model but advertising it as a 3G iPod. So right now I got 2 iPods, one the 4G and I still keep the 2G to let me remember how a Premium Reseller ever misled a customer.

One other thing you should know. Currently, this is a worldwide issue which means there are a lot of misled customer who purchased iPod 3G MC086XX because they were told it was a new 3G iPod but still it wasn't. Actually, I preferred that this product was advertised by New 2G MC iPod. Well, Apple, your guys at marketing should do better at advertising.

The point is why would an Authorized reseller made a wrong advertisements and statements or even misled by itself ? Did Apple itself didn't make things clear with its reseller ?

Since I can't answer those myself, I recommended that you shouldn't push your local reseller to much by asking for refund (Apple never authorized any refund) but rather ask for iPod 4G compensation. I agreed with Badboyz31's 80% discount, but getting the iPod for free might be better.

Good luck

Answer 4

Wow, there's actually a discussion here. My brother was the one who had the unit but now he already get a 4th generation unit. I accompanied my mother to an authorized store in Thailand, January 2010. My mother wanted to buy an iPod as a present for my big brother who just finished studying abroad back in December 2010 (I was 14 at that time).

We went to the store and a seller there showed me a brochure. There was 8GB/32GB/64GB capacity under iPod touch 3rd Generation. My mom bought the 8GB version considering that the price was the cheapest of all and the seller guaranteed that all 3 versions were different only in the manner of capacity. After the purchase, the seller offered us to register the product in apple website directly under my mother's name.

Now, strange thing happened, when the seller put in the serial number, the apple website showed that my Apple was a 2nd generation unit. Unfortunately, my mother didn't realized what was happening. But I asked the seller, how was that possible ? The seller assured us that since 3rd generation was just launched, the 3rd generation name wasn't used yet. We trusted his words and received the unit back. Then the iPod become my brother's.

He used the ipod comfortably until the release of iOS 5 in 2011. He was confused why would his ipod won't update to iOS 5. So he brought the unit back to the same authorized reseller (again accompanied by me). Another seller came to us and my brother explain his problem. The seller immediately identified the ipod as a 2nd generation MC unit. My brother was surprised to hear that and asked why did they said the unit was a 3rd generation one. The seller explained to us that they didn't know that ipod touch 8Gb 2nd generation would be re-released and as you all might expected, a lot of people bought the wrong model, believing that the 2nd gen MC unit was indeed a 3rd Gen unit.

Since the seller acknowledged that it was partially the marketing mistake, he asked his manager to talk with us. My brother again explained to the manager what was going on. The manager said that, in the press release, apple never said that the new ipod released was indeed the 3rd gen. The 3rd gen naming only came out on apple support page. He also didn't know why would apple only release 32&64GB 3rd generation ipod.

I asked the manager immediately, "Sir, is there any compensation for us, since your store has sold us a product that wasn't what we were asking for ?" He said that he would discuss the matter with his superior and took our unit for inspection. 2 weeks later, the manager email-ed my brother to come to the store and took back his ipod unit. After receiving back the ipod, the manager said that there wasn't anything they could do since Apple too told them conflicting stories.

Apple even accused us for not knowing that there was a statement in the press release that the sentence "The 8GB iPod touch is now available for just $199, along with new models which deliver twice the capacity for the same price, with the iPod touch 32GB model for $299 and 64GB model for $399" means that the new model were intended for 32 & 64 GB only (they were really new since the 2nd generation 16&32GB were improved with twice the capacity). Also in the sentence "The 32GB and 64GB models also include up to 50 percent faster performance and support for even better graphics with OpenGL ES 2.0" also indicates that the 8GB model was intended to be different from the 32&64 GB models.

Then, the manager apologized for not knowing the matter and granted my brother a complimentary 4th gen 8Gb ipod. Hope this helps you too.

Answer 5

I've just resolved this matter 3 weeks ago with a local premium reseller in KL, Malaysia. The guys there were great because they still took my matter into their account. In December 2009 they didn't advertised the 2G iPod MC model as a 3G iPod 8GB model but as a New ipod. It's logical to think 2G MC model is a newest 8GB at that time, but the problem came when a marketing guy who sold the ipod to me misinterpreted the meaning. For your information, I bought the ipod in March 2010 at the same reseller but I noticed the product to be wrong in June 2011.

Basically after a 2G ipod, 3G came out isn't it ?

But it wasn't, a quick serial number type-in at apple website shows that MC086 is definitely a 2G ipod, hence, it had to be advertised as such.

This is what I dislike from Apple, for every press release, it didn't explain what kind of product they were releasing. I think Apple loves fine texts too, because almost all proves which tell how a 8GB MC model was different from its brothers. And this point was missed by a lot of authorized and premium reseller.

Jonathan, you should know that maybe it wasn't the store's fault for selling you the wrong product but rather a marketing guy's misinterpretation when he was selling you the product. I don't care if the store DID KNOW THE FACT OR NOT, BUT a MAN's FAULt IN REPRESENTING HIS STORE IS PUNISHABLE BY HEAVY COMPENSATION.

I was fortunate to have quick responses from my local premium reseller since they acknowledged their mistake and offered me free 8GB ipod touch 4G white edition with the purchase of a ipod touch 4G case. It's still fair considering that the true usage of ipod 2G officially died with the release of iOS 4.2.1 so the users only have 8 months of full usage before it ran out of apple support.

Answer 6

1). Things should be as clear as quoted by L0n3Sheep :

"The 8GB iPod touch is now available for just $199, along with new models which deliver twice the capacity for the same price, with the iPod touch 32GB model for $299 and 64GB model for $399" means that the new model were intended for 32 & 64 GB only (they were really new since the 2nd generation 16&32GB were improved with twice the capacity). Also in the sentence "The 32GB and 64GB models also include up to 50 percent faster performance and support for even better graphics with OpenGL ES 2.0" also indicates that the 8GB model was intended to be different from the 32&64 GB models.

I believed that many stores have no idea in what way a 8GB model would be different "under the hood", but they should've figured out the "difference in performance" as mentioned earlier.

2). Yes, when I called 1-800-APL-CARE, that's what apple said. If other Authorized stores used part number, they should take full responsibility for misleading a customer.

Only buy Apple product directly from an authorized reseller to be assured.

3). Only apple that would be able to answer that question. But i guessed it should've been there quite a long time. For your information, iPod 4G were included there almost instantly after the release.

My personal advice : demand a compensation from the store since it has misled you, a free or huge discount (75%-95%) should be fair enough.