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Apple Planning Switch to Randomized Serial Numbers for Future Products Starting in 'Early 2021'
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I've used everymac a lot, and I've never looked up a Mac by serial number.
Nope.
If you think about it for even one second, you should conclude that randomized serial numbers don't prevent serial number theft. Serial numbers are marked on the outside shipping box, right on the big box that contains 10-20 iPhones. Besides, serial numbers can be stolen by anybody working at an Apple Store.
Same. I’ve been able to look up specs dozens of times without ever entering a serial. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So how will Apple handle recalls? Before, it was usually those items (model and year) plus serial numbers ranging from x to y. You could look up on their web site to see if you had an affected model.
Now how will they tell us, "Yes, that lithium battery in your MBP is about to explode!" ?
Now how will they tell us, "Yes, that lithium battery in your MBP is about to explode!" ?
Go find me the electronics in your house that you can identify the manufacture year and factory based on the serial number.
In an ideal world they'd use a push notification, I imagine.
Due to the downvotes I got. I guess lots of you want to play the screen game. I want the best possible screen. Not one that is yellow. Or one that is greenish.
This doesnt work when the device hasn't been setup. You read his post wrong.
Ugh,
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Back in the 3GS days, there was an issue with phones appearing DOA at the 5th Ave store. A high priority engineering ticket was created with IS&T (I forget what they are called now). I came in for my BOH shift and was told about the issue and sequester any "defective" phones. I looked at the serial number and was immediately able to identify the issue: the phones were 8 months old and the partial charge they shipped with had been depleted. Plugged one in and after a few minutes it was powered up and ready for activation. The BOH manager and ICS team were pretty red in the face that they did not know about the serial number "trick" and unnecessarily escalated this to that level.
I cannot remember if I was twilight or iKnight at the time, but it was one of several such tales for which I am quite proud of myself.
I cannot remember if I was twilight or iKnight at the time, but it was one of several such tales for which I am quite proud of myself.
Yes and no, with the difference being power source. See my post at https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-starting-in-early-2021.2287714/post-29672397 for an example of when this was a means of resolving what was considered a serious issue back in the 3GS days at the busiest store in the world (at least at the time - I have no idea if it still holds that title).
This seems like a consistent move in alignment with Apple's ongoing privacy push. One of the Meta data metrics that has long been used to identify people and their devices by Apps and Law enforcement alike has been serial number. When conversations in encrypted communication apps cannot be read, the parties in communication can still be identified by their respective device serial numbers, which is a major privacy flaw for users and many people have been implicated in crimes by this metric alone.
I think Apple could take things even a step further and do something like assign a digital serial number to a device only once it has been activated by a user, which remains encrypted and undetected to anyone besides Apple. This way when someone finds an iPad for example, they can determine what year & model is, but otherwise it remains indistinguishable from any other iPad of the same specs. This is Privacy.
I think Apple could take things even a step further and do something like assign a digital serial number to a device only once it has been activated by a user, which remains encrypted and undetected to anyone besides Apple. This way when someone finds an iPad for example, they can determine what year & model is, but otherwise it remains indistinguishable from any other iPad of the same specs. This is Privacy.
Interesting to learn the format of the old serial number system. It seems to imply there were only 46656 possible combinations per week per product. Could Apple's manfacturing speed be fast enough now that they need more? Or maybe their serial number system is approaching their max of 24 years
This is useful if the machine you're looking at isn't given specifications, or is broken and you want to know what model it is. For example, if you are looking to buy a used MacBook on eBay, but the seller didn't provide the specs because they don't have a charger or something, you can quickly find out what that model was by using the serial number. I use everymac a lot too, but both methods are useful.
Here's hoping there is still some way for the serial to identify what model it is, just not the other info that is apparently bad to know.
My guess is to combat counterfeit Apple products.
Under the current serial number scheme it would be rather simple to identify a block of serial numbers to use for a given device.
Nah. You can set one of the older products in your SMBIOS (are any new Intel Mac models even going to come out?), and even if that wasn't possible there's always the backup of pulling the MLB from a real Mac.
I do not care if I can or can not, and I feel I probably should have clarified beforehand in big letters that I wasn’t blaming Apple.
I thought I heard about this happening awhile ago on here? Glad it will be random soon.
Huh?
What does “set up” mean to you??
You’re saying there’s a big market for devices that won’t power on to the point that you can view settings?
It is because the screen cannot be identical as manufacture imperfection is inevitable. Yellowed or greened screen is bad, but that’s just how it is.