If you’re looking to buy a new Mac, there are a few things you need to know. First, find out what model and year of Mac your computer is. Second, check the serial number to see if it’s eligible for a free upgrade to macOS Mojave. Finally, compare prices and find the best deal on a new Mac. To find out what model and year of Mac your computer is, first open the Apple menu (in most cases, this is located in the upper-left corner of your screen) and select “About This Mac.” In the “About This Mac” window that pops up, look for the section that says “Model Identifier.” The first three numbers in this section will tell you which model of Mac your computer is. For example, my computer is an Early 2019 MacBook Pro with a serial number of A1418 EMC. If you don’t have access to your computer’s serial number or if you want to upgrade to macOS Mojave even if your computer isn’t eligible for free upgrades, you can still find out which model and year of Mac your computer is by using another method. To do this, open System Preferences on your Mac and select “Display.” Under “Macintosh HD,” click on the icon that looks like an iPhone with two lines coming out of it (this icon may be different depending on which version of macOS you’re using). In the “Display” window that pops up, look for the section that says “Model Identifier.” The first three numbers in this section will tell you which model of MacBook Pro or iMac your computer is. For example, my MacBook Pro has a serial number of A1418 EMC and my iMac has a serial number of B2817 MCK. Finally, if you want to compare prices and find the best deal on a new Mac, open Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) and search for “Mac.” You’ll ..


When you need support for your Mac—or you’d like to install some kind of upgrade—you usually need to know the exact model and year of the Mac you’re using. Here’s how to quickly find out.

First, click the “Apple” menu in the corner of the screen and select “About This Mac.”

A window will pop-up showing a summary of your Mac’s specifications. Look for the first line below the macOS version name and number. It will show the model name and the year of your Mac. In this example, the model name is “MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020).”

Modern Mac model names usually consist of the variety of Mac followed by the display size and time of year it was released. So you might see something like “iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015),” or “MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017).”

(If you need to provide more detail when getting assistance from Apple customer support, Apple’s representatives may also ask you for your Mac’s serial number, which is also listed in this window but blurred our in our example for privacy reasons.)

If you’d like a slightly more detailed view, click the “System Information” button just below the list of specifications.

In the “Hardware” section of System Information, you’ll see your Mac’s model name, model identifier, and serial number listed. The “model identifier” listed here is more of a family name for a group of similar Mac models used for software purposes and is less specific than the “model name.”

When you’re done, close “System Information.” Whenever you need to check it again, just visit “About This Mac” in the Apple menu. Very handy!

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