Apple to Transition to Longer Serial Numbers for Repair Parts in October

Sunday August 21, 2022 11:53 pm PDT by Sami Fathi

Apple will begin to use a new and longer serial number format for iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, and other product repair parts starting October 1, a few weeks following the expected launch of the new iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, and other new products.

apple self service repair iphone
In a memo obtained by MacRumors, Apple is informing authorized service providers that their machines and equipment will need to be updated to support a new, longer 18-digit serial number for repair parts starting October 1. The current serial number for repair parts is 17-digits. The new 18-digit serial number will likely apply only to future repair parts, such as those for new iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs.

Before the launch of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 in 2020, Apple informed authorized service providers of its plans to move to use a randomized serial number for its products rather than the previous format, which has for years allowed customers and service providers to determine the date and location that a product was manufactured. Apple did not implement the randomized format until the purple iPhone 12 in May 2021.

Top Rated Comments

flofixer

14 months ago

So I guess they should be called random numbers instead of serial numbers.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NoelWalker

Should have moved to 20-digit serial numbers instead. Maybe include emojis as well. Even 18-digit ones will run out very quickly in the foreseeable future considering how frequent their devices are being replaced every single year.

/s

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bookofxero

So is the point to make it more difficult to figure out if a certain phone should be avoided, or disrupt people determining other resale values on a potentially problem run of products? For example, the IPhone 12 has potential speaker issues on phones manufactured over a 3-month period.

Basically the latter. I remember massive returns of some Apple products because a certain plant was using, for example, one type of LCD panel and they wanted a specific one. The costs of that add up, as does the down-the-line customer dissatisfaction (ie, the ones who do not care about specific panels but have to wait longer to get a device because someone burned one because of SN).

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

svish

Wonder what the benefit will be for Apple with this change.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)