If you recently bought it and are trying to locate the serial number of your iPhone, you will probably notice that its serial number has 10 digits instead of the 12 that were usual. Obviously it is a change that you will not even have noticed because this is not a relevant piece of information for the user beyond when they have to carry out a specific check or go to the technical service. However, this change is not something minor and it could be motivated by offering greater security to each device.
Apple had already reported this change
Almost 2 months ago, MacRumors echoed an internal report from Apple to its suppliers in which it informed them that the serial numbers of their devices would soon change, without specifying what it would be and from what date. It was simply commented that it would be from this year. The serial number of devices such as the iPhone was relevant for these because with it they could clearly identify where and on what date it had been manufactured. Specifically, these are the references left by the serial numbers of the iPhone:
- First 3 digits: place where the device was manufactured.
- Next 2 digits: year and week of manufacture.
- Last 4 digits: model, color and internal storage capacity.
For the owner of this iPhone, unless he was an expert on the subject, this went unnoticed, but it is extremely useful for technical services. Now the same media has been able to confirm that the change is already taking place and that Apple is integrating “random” serial numbers of between 10 and 14 characters in the new devices it is shipping, starting with the purple iPhone 12 and most likely with the iPhone 12 mini in this color. To see if this is also followed for the new equipment that comes out this month such as the 24-inch iMac of this 2021, the new Apple TV 4K or the iPad Pro 2021.
The possible explanation for this numbering change
As we said before, this serial number can be indecipherable even for those who know what each digit refers to. However, it can be somewhat dangerous for those who are aware of this type of numbering and take advantage of their knowledge for actions that are not exactly good. There are organized gangs that traffic in stolen iPhones, either to individuals or to stores, and precisely one of the ways they have to prevent these terminals from being tracked is by changing the serial number of each device. This is not in any case a simple action and in fact Apple has mechanisms to avoid them, but probably one of the most important is this new change that they are making.
It is not that the serial numbers of the iPhone and other devices are not going to make a certain sense now, since in a certain way the randomness that they will have will also leave these data patents for the providers. However, these identification mechanisms are now becoming much more complex and the aim is to prevent criminals from using this number at will in order to trade phones of dubious origin on the black market.