M4 Mac mini has no serial number, no way to retrieve it. Help?

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M4 Mac mini has no serial number, no way to retrieve it. Help?

I have an M4 Mac mini, bought at Best Buy a few months ago. I have the reciept, which shows a serial number. Trying to contact Apple support they want a serial number but the one from the receipt is rejected as not being valid. I cannot start up the machine (it's in device lock mode due to a long story) so there is no way to "About this Mac...". I no longer have the box.

AI is insisting that the serial number is laser etched into the bottom of the machine next to the air intake. It is absolutely not. AI also insists there is a menu option to see the serial number inside Recovery Assistant. There is absolutely not.

Where can I go from here to get the serial number? Any suggestions. Thanks.

Mac mini (M4, 2024)

Posted on Jul 7, 2026 5:13 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SpiderMac

Level 4

1,932 points

Jul 7, 2026 5:46 AM in response to alaninsitges

If you signed into your Apple ID when setting up the Mac mini a few months ago, Apple already has the serial number saved to your account profile. You can view it from any other device:

From an iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > [Your Name], then scroll all the way down past your settings to your device list. Tap on the Mac mini to see its serial number.

From any web browser: Go to appleid.apple.com or icloud.com/find, sign in with your Apple ID, and look under the Devices section.

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Answer 2

alaninsitges Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 7, 2026 6:34 AM in response to VikingOSX

Amazing. I've been looking at this thing under direct sunlight for an hour and couldn't see anything. I just put an oblique light and took a pic with my phone and there it was, clear as day. Thank you so much for the push!

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Answer 3

l3xor88

Level 1

48 points

Jul 7, 2026 5:49 AM in response to alaninsitges

If you can access macOS Recovery, then in the Terminal run:

system_profiler SPHardwareDataType

which gives a overview of the Mac hardware, including the serial number.

Well, if it doesn't power on, then go to Apple

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

128,824 points

Jul 7, 2026 6:27 AM in response to alaninsitges

The M4 Mac Mini [Pro] has the serial number etched in the black plastic bottom cover. You will need a bright LED light source at a 45° angle and the last miniscule text in the Apple etching is the serial number. Additional to the light source, you will need magnification to actually identify the serial number. Just checked on my M4 Mac Mini Pro and the S/N is there.

Simpler is to shutdown the M4 mini. Then, press and hold the power button until you are asked to choose the administrator and supply that password. Then you will see Macintosh HD and Options icons. Select the Options and click Continue, then immediately press and hold cmd+R to boot into Recovery.

You will see the main Recovery panel, but select Terminal from the Utiltiies menu. In the Terminal, enter the following:

ioreg -l | grep IOPlatformSerialNumber

and you should instantly see your Mac S/N.

Quit the Terminal and on the menu, Reboot.

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Answer 5

alaninsitges Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 7, 2026 6:30 AM in response to alaninsitges

No terminal option (or option of any kind) in the Recovery Assistant / Acivate Device screen. Just put in the device password.

I did that and it kept saying it couldn't contact the activation server and to try again in a few minutes. Then it changed to saying the password couldn't be used to activate it because it had been input incorrectly too many times. That is super frustrating.

This was my mom's computer. She died last week and I'm trying to get it going again. I have the device password (I set it up for her) but not her icloud account.

I've since put it in DFU mode and connected to my other mac with Configurator but Get Info... only shows the ECID and no serial.

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Answer 6

Jul 7, 2026 12:15 PM in response to alaninsitges

alaninsitges wrote:

This was my mom's computer. She died last week and I'm trying to get it going again. I have the device password (I set it up for her) but not her icloud account.

Sorry for your loss. You may find the following Support article of use:

Request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account - Apple Support

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