There are 6 to 8 different iPhone 3G Models

There may not be a "latest" one. The different models could simply correspond to different parts being used in the phones.

Its not uncommon to have multiple part suppliers for a product simultaneously.

I bought 2 iphones; one for my girlfriend one for myself. Both were MB499LL/A . Mine works flawlessly except for the application lag issues however my girlfriends got the apple logo of death (where it get stuck on the apple logo and there isn't anything u can do).. So I returned hers to the store and got a new iphone which happened to have the same MB499LL/A part number; her new iphone has no problems. I had them update hers to 2.0.2 in the store to be safe (with no problems). So, just because you have a certain part number doesn't guarantee failure.

I work in I.T. so I have some experience diagnosing problems. In my humble opinion I believe there are 2 issues that could be causing all these problems.

1) A hardware issue created during putting together manufactured parts (the parts all work fine). i.e One of the parameters during part placement is incorrect creating a malfunction. So the theory floating around of an immature chip set is bogus (especially since most iphones work). If it was a chip problem all iphones would have problems which is not the case (according to Apple only 2% have issues).

2) A software problem: If I had to point fingers it would be at the Apple Application Store and/or 3rd party apps. In which case we will be fine. Bugs will be found, updates will be made... All will be good.

This is all just my opinion based on my own experiences.

From the numbers posted, it seems that, at least for the us,

The first three are the three sku's for phones sold in the Apple Store, the second three SKU's are for phones sold in the AT&T store. Since the SKU as it appears on the box is a sticker, it could be applied to any box depending on where it's being shipped to, not because there's something different inside the actual phone.

who has time to put these #s into google changing the part # from the list Infineon may have a result on one of the #s revealing some info on it, also ATT, or just plain google... I would but have to go to church 1st, good luck

site:www.infineon.com MB046LL/A

found this in google:

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-521826.html

MB046LL 8GB 3G Black
Bought 8/12/08 (because I dropped my other in water dooah!)
Apple Store, Mission Viejo, So Cal
Ver 2.0.2 (Battery Seems better also after 2.0.2)

I keep the screen 1/4 on brightness, Wifi Off, local services off, bluetooth off, 3G off, Push off, everything is set to max battery life, I get as much as 2.5 3 days out of it

Not many issues for me ((touch wood)), no crashes, no sync issues, Recep is fine (2G), 5 screens of apps, browser doesnt crash, keyboard not slow, have had an app or two randomly reboot the phone to the apple logo, but came back rather quickly. My only issue is with photos getting stuck & sometimes my mail stops fetching every 15m, and I have to reboot the phone, but I leave it on 2G not 3G for battery reasons:

I purchased one iPhone through the AT&T Premiere website, model # MB702LL/A (8GB black iPhone), and I have purchased two iPhone's through the Apple Store online, both model # MB046LL/A (8GB black iPhone's). The one from AT&T was manufactured week 33, the two from Apple are week 34. Just received them all and we love them...so far.

I believe the person suggesting ATT got one stock number, and Apple a different set, is likely correct:

White 16GB
ATT purchase, MB705LL/A
replacement (in attempt to get rid of white logo of death issue), via Apple Store: MB499LL

Seems to be a trend there.

1) MB046LL/A (Purchased 8/9/2008 from Apple Store in Knoxville, TN)
2) The only issue I have encountered is the occasional key lag while typing in SMS or Email. That is fixed by holding down the home key until the screen blinks and goes home... Other than that, I've had no problems and I love my 3g.

It could mean that, though its doubtful that something as major as a different chipset would be used as that would require rewriting the OS to accommodate it.

In the US it might be to delineate the one's sold through Apple Retail from the ones sold through AT&T. I've no information to back this up, though.

If you are trying to figure out which came from where and when, here is my info.
Model MB705LL - 16gb White
Purchased from AT&T Store
It shipped out on 8/6

Model MB704LL
black 16 gig
att store

Mine is....

MB499LL
16gig White......purchased at the Apple Store on Launch Day!

MB048LL
16GB Black
Apple Store - Launch Day