Apple Begins Transition to Randomized Serial Numbers With Purple iPhone 12
MacRumors previously reported about Apple's plan to switch to randomized serial numbers for future products starting in early 2021, and this transition has now started with the new purple iPhone 12 model in multiple countries.
With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can confirm that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a new 10-character serial number format, compared to the usual 12 characters for most other Apple products. Apple previously said its randomized serial numbers would initially be 10 characters long, so the purple iPhone 12 appears to be the first Apple product with a randomized serial number.
The change likely extends to the purple iPhone 12 mini, but we've yet to confirm this. On the contrary, the randomized serial number format does not appear to apply to the AirTag at this time, with multiple MacRumors editors and others we've spoken to still seeing 12-character serial numbers for the item tracking accessory.
It remains to be seen if the new iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV have randomized serial numbers when they launch in the second half of May.
In a memo obtained by MacRumors in March, Apple said products already shipping at that time would continue to use the company's previous serial number format, which has for years allowed customers and service providers to determine the date and location that a product was manufactured. The first three characters represent the manufacturing location, the following two characters indicate the year and week of manufacture, and the last four characters reveal a device's model, color, and storage capacity.
The new serial number format will consist of a randomized alphanumeric string of 8-14 characters (10 characters initially) that will no longer include manufacturing or configuration details, according to Apple's memo. Apple advised authorized resellers to prepare for the transition to the new format ahead of its "Spring Loaded" event last month.
Popular Stories
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen two more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 26 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released in December. 1. Help You...
With all the discounted deals on Apple tech currently available, you might be thinking about upgrading your Apple Watch or buying one for the first time. But if your current smartwatch is doing its job just fine and it's only the idea of a good deal that's piqued your interest, it could be worth holding out until next year when Apple unveils its latest and greatest version. There are already ...
Black Friday 2023 has officially ended, but we're still tracking some of the best deals of the year on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, iPhone, MacBook, and many more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Specifically, in this article we're...
Cyber Monday has taken the place of Black Friday, and you'll find many of the same deals still around today. This includes dozens of record low prices on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iPhone, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the...
Over 800 days have passed since Apple last updated the iPad mini, as outlined in the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. Fortunately, a new iPad mini is rumored to be released next year, and we have outlined what to expect from the device below. Apple released the current iPad mini in September 2021, with new features at the time including a larger 8.3-inch display, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power...
Top Rated Comments
Serial means in series. Randomizing a number by definition means it cannot be in series, so it's not a serial number.
The new serial numbers aren't truly random. They're generated using a complex pseudo-random deterministic function, for which the input is a series.
In general, computers don't produce true randomness, they try to approximate it, so this is true in many cases outside of Apple.
So, instead of being a conventional series like 1, 2, 3, 4..., it's a series of functions like f(1), f(2), f(3), f(4)..., which I think is still fair to call a series.
Edit: I saw someone refer to it as "still a serial number, but encrypted". This is kind of what they're doing indeed. True randomness on the other hand would not be decryptable. I am not sure if the current format is actually encrypted though (implying the function is bijective), or if it just outputs a hash.