Apple Begins Transition to Randomized Serial Numbers With Purple iPhone 12

[JPack]

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that apple products have an RF like chip that only responds to an Apple scanner.

If such a chip existed, it would have been identified a long time ago along with the antenna.

 

[JPack]

Wasn't there a way of using the serial number in the past to figure out which wireless modem was in your iPhone? I feel like I read a story about this on MacRumors years ago.

The model number told you which modem was in your iPhone. But that was when Apple used Intel and Qualcomm in the same product in different regions.

 

[diego.caraballo]

Anyone has an example of what a new serial number looks like?

🧔🏻‍♀️👰🏻‍♂️🈶🈚️⭕️🚫⚠️〽️⁉️😶‍🌫️

 

[Glideslope]

Anyone has an example of what a new serial number looks like?

Obviously not mine, but this is an accurate representation of what mine could look like given what we have seen:

RU0PXTH32H

 

[JPack]

More examples of the purple iPhone 12/mini, right from the Apple Store.

 

[MICHAELSD]

When Apple does mid-cycle releases like this it’s usually a test in some way.

Example: Product (RED) iPhone 8 Plus. The following generation Apple released iPhone XR in multiple colors, so it seemed to be a manufacturing test.

 

[Apple_Robert]

There goes the great Apple customer service we used to know and love. Now all you are is a random serial to Apple. What happened to our love? I thought we had something special serial handpicked just for my eyes.

 

[delnerdo]

Not sure of the motive here but in WWII, Allied mathematicians figured out how to infer production rates from S/N info, known as the German Tank Problem

 

[minik]

I added the purple iPhone 12 to my collection over the weekend. Random 10-digit serial number indeed.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Someone will be out there to start decoding it.

 

[JPack]

When Apple does mid-cycle releases like this it’s usually a test in some way.

Example: Product (RED) iPhone 8 Plus. The following generation Apple released iPhone XR in multiple colors, so it seemed to be a manufacturing test.

When iPhone 7 was made available in RED in March 2017, neither the iPhone 8 or X got new colors.

New colors are simply an easy way to boost sales mid-cycle.

 

[MICHAELSD]

When iPhone 7 was made available in RED in March 2017, neither the iPhone 8 or X got new colors.

New colors are simply an easy way to boost sales mid-cycle.

That may be true and a good point, but iPhone 7 had a different design with its aluminum back. For all we know they were testing the merits of colored aluminum vs glass at that point.

 

[DrV]

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.

Is this specified somewhere? It is possible, but equally possible is that the numbers are true random numbers.

In general, computers don't produce true randomness, they try to approximate it, so this is true in many cases outside of Apple.

Deterministic algorithms do not produce true randomness, that is true. However, computers may collect entropy from the outside world. For example, it is possible to time keyboard clicks or network packets, i.e. external phenomena. There are a lot of useful counters and timers which can be used here. In practice, all modern computers (and many small microcontrollers) have hardware random number generation capability, as well. The actual way of doing this varies, but it may be shot noise in a semiconductor junction or a group of asynchronous ring oscillators. The result is truly random in the sense of being non-deterministic to the quantum level (i.e. no Laplacian determinism).

(True randomness in this sense does not guarantee 1 bit of entropy per 1 bit produced by the random number generator, but the result is relatively close in practice.)

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.

Hashes are vulnerable to birthday problems. If the code is 10 symbols long, each symbol has 32 states, and 100 000 000 such codes are produced, the collision probability (there are two same hashes) is around 98.8 %... With codes this short it is not a question of if but when. Hashes need to be long in order to be unique with good probability.

So, if there is a relation between the unique identifier ("new style serial number") and the more human-readable serial number, it has to be a 1:1 relation, i.e. symmetric encryption.

However, I do not really see why Apple would've done it that way. I have actually created a couple of serial numbering/identifying schemes for different HW identification uses, and using random or pseudorandom unique identifiers works well. It just requires a database connection whenever you need to use the serial number for something. It can be seen as a one-time-pad encryption which is unbreakable.

 

[DrV]

So what would you call it?

Easy one for anyone with database experience... Unique identifier. That is what it is. The only purpose is to be able to identify each individual unit.

(Of course, it will be called "serial number", as that term is used in regulation.)

 

[DrV]

Not sure of the motive here but in WWII, Allied mathematicians figured out how to infer production rates from S/N info, known as the German Tank Problem

That might be at least one of the motivations. The same approach was used to follow Tesla's Model 3 production, as the standard requires VINs (Vehicle Identification Number) to have a sequential part.

I would be interested in knowing what information Apple needs to tell consumers, i.e. will there be a serial number checking service giving manufacturing weeks, locations, etc. (There won't be unless it is absolutely compulsory.)

 

[5105973]

Obviously not mine, but this is an accurate representation of what mine could look like given what we have seen:

RU0PXTH32H

No, that’s what Elon Musk and Grimes named their kid!

 

[B4U]

… by your definition.
Series means one comes after the other, it doesn't mean it has to be "one higher" than the previous one.

Here's a bunch of examples:

List of mathematical series - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Honestly, that is the first thing on my mind when hearing the word "series".
Guess the mathematics education stuck in my head a lot longer than I thought!

 

[Apple_Robert]

Anyone has an example of what a new serial number looks like?

424242424242424242 If you get the reference, kudos.

 

[hoodafoo]

I like this moved by Apple. Not sure what it's supposed to accomplish, but I like it. It adds to the mysteriousness of the brand

 

[IllinoisCorn]

We're reading about the SERIAL NUMBERS of Apple products.

I need to get a life.

 

[dampfnudel]

The serial number has information about the plant, date, and so on that the device was manufactured on.

Why exactly they want to hide this from the public I'm not so sure...

An obscure reason to keep the date of manufacturing secret would be to avoid devices which haven’t been sold for several months from possibly being returned because the battery has already aged several months. I can’t think of any possible reason to keep the place/factory where the device was manufactured secret.

 

[gene731]

O boy. Purple.
Samsung has a hidden under glass camera! that is BIG news.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a hidden camera?

The latest leaks say that for the first time, Samsung will build an under-display camera into the Fold. That's not all: S-Pen compatibility could be coming to the foldable phone.

www.yahoo.com

So? Go buy samsung if that will make you happy. By the way, your comment added ZERO to this story. In case you missed it, it is about serial numbers. Not colors. Not samsung.
Edit: I will give you the color thing since these serials are starting with the purple iPhone.

 

[brofkand]

This is super frustrating, only because I have to print labels on a label maker whenever I distribute new laptops at my job. When you have 100 at a time, it's much easier to change three characters out of 12 than all 10.

Get a $20 barcode scanner from Amazon

 

[MacBH928]

How do they ensure that that the random number does not comes up twice on 2 of the same product models?

I'm guessing it technically IS a serial number, just "encrypted."

Ackchyually...

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.

ok , but why? SO what if the competitor knew this product was number 12345 ?

 

[gnasher729]

is there a particular reason for this transition? as in, if apple didnt want people to discern that info off a s/n, what is the need to obscure it?

Prevent fraud by repair shops that charge Apple for non-existing warranty repairs. Since they have no device, they need to make up a seriel number for an existing device. That’s now a lot harder.