New 13” MacBook Pro has two serial numbers

[AshX]

I recently bought a brand new, sealed 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 Touchbar with 24 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. Everything seems to work fine, but I noticed something odd. The brown shipping box it came in from the retailer has one serial number, and the computer and Apple box have another. Both serial numbers show they were purchased on the same day.

Is this a refurbished model? Battery cycle was 1. It works fine, but interestingly one of the stickers on the back says copyright 2022, but the one with the raw model number, with the part, accurate serial number, etc. says copyright 2024. It came pre-loaded with Ventura 13.2.1 instead of the original Monterey 12.4. Was able still making these in 2024?

Thanks!

 

[MacMorrison]

That sounds kind of weird. Maybe it was a returned unit put in another MacBook's box. The M2 were officially discontinued October 2023.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...-m2-8-core-cpu-10-core-gpu-13-2022-specs.html

If you have an Apple Store nearby, you could take it there and have them look up the details. Apple should be able to tell you from the MacBook's serial number whether it was refurbished, and they can scan your box's serial number (or you could take pictures of the serial numbers and try to call them in).

 

[AshX]

That sounds kind of weird. Maybe it was a returned unit put in another MacBook's box. The M2 were officially discontinued October 2023.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...-m2-8-core-cpu-10-core-gpu-13-2022-specs.html

If you have an Apple Store nearby, you could take it there and have them look up the details. Apple should be able to tell you from the MacBook's serial number whether it was refurbished, and they can scan your box's serial number (or you could take pictures of the serial numbers and try to call them in).

Thanks for this. I’d very curious to know.

 

[Fishrrman]

Important questions:
Where did you buy the MPB FROM...?

Brick n mortar Apple Store?
Apple's online ordering page?
Apple's online refurbished page?
or...
From somewhere else...?

 

[ThailandToo]

Was it in a sealed white Apple box specific for that Mac? Or was it in a brown box? When a Mac is refurbished they change the serial number and it ships in a brown box not the retail box.

 

[AshX]

Important questions:
Where did you buy the MPB FROM...?

Brick n mortar Apple Store?
Apple's online ordering page?
Apple's online refurbished page?
or...
From somewhere else...?

A local computer store.

Was it in a sealed white Apple box specific for that Mac? Or was it in a brown box? When a Mac is refurbished they change the serial number and it ships in a brown box not the retail box.

I got it in a normal, sealed (with the pull tag) Apple box for that model with the image of the MacBook and everything. That came in a brown shipping box that I got once before years ago at Costco, that all retailers get the Macs shipped in. The brown shipping box has a different serial number than the serial number on the Apple MacBook white box. The white box serial matches that of the MacBook, but the brown serial also shows as being valid and purchased the same day on Apple.com.

So I’m confused how I can have 2 valid serials.