Apple is rumored to be making a big change to the way it handles serial numbers for its products before the end of 2020.
According to a report from MacRumors, based on an internal document that was sent to Apple Authorized Service Providers, Apple is going to make a shift to randomized serial numbers for its products later this year. The new randomized alphanumeric string will just be for newer products this year, with the older models not seeing a change to their serial numbers.
With the current alphanumeric serial number setup, it’s possible to determine when a product was manufactured, along with the location where it was manufactured. However, with a randomized format that would change. It would make it harder to ascertain that information, if not impossible, which could help cut down on fraudulent activity.
The memo was reportedly distributed today, and while it suggests the change will happen before the end of this year, nothing is official just yet. So something could change between now and then.
Still, if this plan does go through, what do you think?