Apple Begins Transition to Randomized Serial Numbers With Purple iPhone 12

MacRumors previously reported about Apples plan to switch to randomized serial numbers for future products starting in early 2021, and this transition has actually now begun with the brand-new purple iPhone 12 model in numerous nations.
With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can validate that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a brand-new 10-character serial number format, compared to the typical 12 characters for a lot of other Apple items. Apple previously said its randomized serial numbers would at first be 10 characters long, so the purple iPhone 12 seems the first Apple item with a randomized identification number.
The modification most likely reaches the purple iPhone 12 mini, however weve yet to verify this. On the contrary, the randomized serial number format does not appear to use to the AirTag at this time, with numerous MacRumors editors and others weve talked to still seeing 12-character identification numbers for the item tracking device.
It remains to be seen if the brand-new iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV have actually randomized serial numbers when they release in the second half of May.
In a memo gotten by MacRumors in March, Apple stated items already shipping at that time would continue to utilize the companys previous identification number format, which has actually for years permitted customers and provider to identify the date and area that an item was produced. The very first 3 characters represent the production location, the following two characters suggest the year and week of manufacture, and the last four characters expose a devices design, color, and storage capacity.
The new identification number format will consist of a randomized alphanumeric string of 8-14 characters (10 characters initially) that will no longer include manufacturing or configuration information, according to Apples memo. Apple recommended authorized resellers to prepare for the shift to the new format ahead of its “Spring Loaded” event last month.