It will be something like the Apple Product Protection Identifier or something ..
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Apple Preparing Rollout of New Randomized Product Serial Numbers Ahead of 'Spring Loaded' Event
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I brought this to Apple’s attention a few years ago.
When I suggested it, I also asked for a free lookup tool and API, but more importantly, getting rid of at least some of the redundant identifiers Apple uses. Let’s see if they do that too.
The point is that when it comes to identifying assets of a company, school or for insurance, the Apple Model Number (A-Number) was/is absolutely useless.
Instead, I suggested something similar to what Boeing does when they build an airplane. For example, they have a 787, and the next 3 digits are an “Effectivity number”; signifying what changes are made to the airframe, such as type of engine, fuel capacity on wings, space dedicated to passengers (vs luggage/freight) and changes required at
the factory.
A 737-800 is different than a 737-500 for example, but both airplanes share a good deal of technology related to the the airframe.
To identify “as flying” condition, the airplane also gets a “Tail-Number” which is what is used to lookupmanage maintainence logs, ownership/leasing information for things like recalls, and other maintainence items which are often electronic now.
I then pointed to Dell and their “Service Number” option. A Dell 4300 with Service Number FYX2482 is also easier to read (and say) over the telephone. Dell often omits 0s, 5s and 1s as they can be mistaken as letters O S, and L as labels fade and laptops are scratched, causing rework on the phone during lookup.
The point is customers get confused all the time and the process involved with multiple models, sometimes defined by free form text field is terrible.
The A-Number was really a joke. It should’ve been rendered useless years ago when Apple started making laptops that even varied on chipsets, much less 32/64 bit processors.
That said however, the process of creating a completely new serial number should replace the useless A-Number which just adds overhead to companies who manage it. The free form text field of “MacBook Pro late 2025” is freaking nuts.
I also asked Apple to make the IMEI on an iphone a scannable barcode when you dial *#06#, something they implemented already.
If SN remained alphanumeric, had an online lookup tool, a short 4-digit A-Number could identify millions of devices uniquely, but I also suggested extending it to 8 characters for a check digit and randomization.
So no serial number on the box or on the device?
Thats going to mess with inventory for Enterprise customers.
Thats going to mess with inventory for Enterprise customers.
Only twenty four digits to go... oops, Windows detected a hardware upgrade and is now calling you a pirate. Alt-Ctrl-Delight!
I had a situation a few years a my son's phone under 3 year Apple Care that needed replacement. Apple Care insisted the phone had been stepped on and destroyed several hundred miles away from where my son was that day and had already been replaced so we could not make another claim on that phone. My guess was someone at the Apple store in that distant place typed in the wrong serial number or maybe that replacement was an Apple Care scam.
We did get the phone replaced in the end, but it took about 3-4 phone calls to different levels of the Apple Support group and literally about 3-4 hours of my own time on the phone (including time on hold.) This experience makes me think twice about Apple Care. With completely random serial numbers, I will be less concerned.
We did get the phone replaced in the end, but it took about 3-4 phone calls to different levels of the Apple Support group and literally about 3-4 hours of my own time on the phone (including time on hold.) This experience makes me think twice about Apple Care. With completely random serial numbers, I will be less concerned.
I'm sure they will use this excuse of scams and say they are making more "secure" devices. It happens, but it is far from majority. In reality they just don't like people knowing about their product.
These new serial numbers mean two things:
1. All of the new redesigned Macs with Apple Silicon chips will have these new serial numbers.
2. The fact that Apple is advising resellers right now means that a new redesigned Mac is coming at the event next week. (New iMac)
1. All of the new redesigned Macs with Apple Silicon chips will have these new serial numbers.
2. The fact that Apple is advising resellers right now means that a new redesigned Mac is coming at the event next week. (New iMac)
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I think you missed something. The *current* system for serial numbers *looks* random, but in fact can fairly easily be decoded as every position in the serial number relates to a distinct piece of info. But the *new* serial numbers apparently will be completely random.
Except a VIN is like Apple's old serial number. A VIN identifies the make and model.
completely irrelevant to hackintosh, this is for new products, still plenty of unused intel mac serial numbers
More to the point, Apple silicon has effectively killed any future chances of running macOS on anything non-Apple.
indeed, once the final intel mac has been discontinued we will have a better idea of how many more os updates hackintosh can expect
