Refurbished iPod 3rd Gen — 15GB White

All 3rd Generation iPods share the same controls and features — the only functional difference is storage (the 30GB and 40GB wear the deeper case). Apple's period estimates (128-Kbps AAC): 10GB ≈ 2,500 songs, 15GB ≈ 3,700, 20GB ≈ 5,000, 30GB ≈ 7,500, 40GB ≈ 10,000. This 15GB unit holds about 3,700 songs. Most listeners' libraries fit comfortably in 15-20GB; the 30/40GB thick-case models suit big collections.

They are the same iPod. M8946LL/A is the April 2003 launch 15GB, which Apple sold at US$399 with the dock, the wired remote and a carrying case in the box; M9460LL/A is the January 2004 reissue of the same 15GB hardware at US$299 without those accessories. The US$100 was the accessory bundle, not the player — same thin 0.62-inch case, same battery, same touch wheel. This listing is the M8946LL/A. Because every refurbished unit here ships as the iPod only, the historical bundle does not change what arrives; choose on the order number for your own iPod if you are matching one, or on price and condition if you are not.

This is the iPod 3rd Generation, Apple model A1040. "Classic" is search wording that came later — Apple did not use it until the 6th Generation in 2007 — but it is what most people type, so we list the iPod under both. Recognize the hardware by the row of four touch-sensitive buttons in a line above the touch wheel and by the 30-pin dock connector. For case depth, stand it on edge: the 10/15/20GB build is the thin one, about 0.62 in (15.7 mm) deep and 5.6 oz, and the 30/40GB build is visibly deeper, about 0.73 in (18.5 mm) and 6.2 oz. This one is the thin build.

No. The 3rd generation charges over FireWire only. A USB dock cable fits the 30-pin port and syncs perfectly well, but Apple’s own user guide for this iPod says plainly: "You can’t charge iPod using USB." Use a FireWire wall adapter, a computer FireWire port, or the FireWire side of Apple’s combination cable — and note Apple’s own warning not to plug that cable’s USB and FireWire ends into the same computer at the same time. An iPod that seems dead on USB is very often only flat.

Charge it before you judge it, and charge it from FireWire: this model takes no charge at all from USB, so a unit that looks dead on a USB charger is usually just flat. Then check the Hold switch is off, run the touch wheel and the four buttons above it, listen to both headphone channels, look at the display against a plain white screen, confirm Settings > About shows 15GB (the back reads A1040), and let one sync finish. If it will not respond at all, reset it: slide Hold on and then off, then hold Menu + Play/Pause until the Apple logo appears. Anything you are not happy with, tell us inside the warranty period rather than opening the case.

Apple rated the original battery at up to 8 hours of music. Those cells are twenty years past their design life, so a refurbished unit here gets a new replacement cell unless this listing says otherwise; it matches or slightly exceeds the iPod's original capacity and fits both the thin and the thick case. Runtime on any twenty-year-old player depends on the drive, the volume and the file format, so treat 8 hours as the original rating rather than a promise.

Reset: slide Hold on and then off, then hold Menu + Play/Pause until the Apple logo appears. Disk Mode: do that reset, and as the logo appears hold Previous + Next until the Disk Mode screen shows. To leave Disk Mode, reset it again: Menu + Play/Pause until the Apple logo appears. This is a touch-wheel iPod, so the Menu + Select reset and the Center + Play/Pause Disk Mode that later click-wheel iPods use do nothing here.