It’s a bit of an odd change, but it’s probably been forthcoming for a while now.
Apple has apparently begun shifting towards randomized serial numbers with the release of its purple iPhone 12 handset.
Per MacRumors:
With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can confirm that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a new 10-character serial number format, compared to the usual 12 characters for most other Apple products. Apple previously said its randomized serial numbers would initially be 10 characters long, so the purple iPhone 12 appears to be the first Apple product with a randomized serial number. The change likely extends to the purple iPhone 12 mini, but we’ve yet to confirm this.
It’s unknown as to exactly why Apple may be doing this.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via The Mac Observer, MacRumors, and the ZolloTech YouTube Channel