Hi. Maybe anecdotal, Brother MDC-J480DW, had it about 3 years, always bought third party ink, two weeks ago I had to replace the color ones and it started saying there was no ink even though ink was clearly visible, it failed on two different colors from two different sources, and the three different black cartridges, then bought legit from Walmart and worked perfectly. I can’t speak for everyone’s experience, but mine was definitely changed recently to always say third party ink was empty, and I’ll junk it once this ink runs out.
I don't know about every Brother model. On ours, there's a key sequence you can press to reset the toner cartridge odometer letting you squeeze out toner until the text is a satisfying light grey.
I use a J480DW and had the EXACT SAME ISSUE last month. Ordered a different brand of aftermarket cartridges and they worked like a charm. Maybe a supplier issue.
I've had the MFC-J480DW for many years and have been happy with the cheap generic ink cartridges I've been able to use. I'm getting worried about what I'm reading here. I have it connected by USB to my PC, and I don't know if it gets any updates from the PC.
