Machattan
Level 1 (8 points)
Desktops

Q: Latest Security Update and Build ID


Hi folks,

 

Simple El Cap question here I hope...

Anyone know why the latest security update (Update 2016-001) changed the build number? Now our Mac Book Pros and our iMac 5k both show a build number of 15G1004. They had their own unique IDs. Which is what we used to identify our imaging process.

 

Thoughts?

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 6, 2016 1:33 PM

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Machattan

Q: Latest Security Update and Build ID

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 6, 2016 2:04 PM in response to Machattan
    Level 10 (269,995 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 6, 2016 2:04 PM in response to Machattan

    We are only users. We are not Apple. Only they can answer your question. For now, Apple wanted to change the build number in order to identify that the security update has been installed.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Sep 6, 2016 5:21 PM in response to Machattan
    Level 8 (49,623 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 6, 2016 5:21 PM in response to Machattan

    Build numbers are not unique to a specific Mac.

    A released OS version has a build number.

    On some hardware, Apple will create a special build of the OS that only works on that type of Mac, specifically built to handle new hardware unique to that model. When the next update occurs, the special build code will be rolled into the update.

    Depending on a build number to be unique from one Mac (or model) to another is not in any way reliable.

     

    Every Mac will have a unique serial number, and also unique MAC addresses for each network interface.

    They will also have a model identifier which is unique to that hardware.