How to know how old is your iPad

To determine the age of your iPad, I recommend contacting Apple Support, especially for models released after 2021 due to changes in serial number formatting. These newer serial numbers are randomly generated, making it difficult to identify the manufacturing date directly.

However, for iPads made before 2021, the serial number can still reveal the manufacturing date through specific characters or by using an online tool designed for this purpose.

So, let’s delve into the available methods to determine your iPad’s age.

Methods to know the age of your iPad

• Contacting Apple Support with serial number

For instance, you can contact Apple Support through their chat service. You’ll need to provide the serial number of your iPad. They will then inform you in the chat about the month and year of manufacture. This method is relatively straightforward, but it might take some time as the support staff could be busy with other inquiries. So, you might need to wait a bit.

• Checking the purchase date

Another way to determine your iPad’s age, especially if it was bought soon after its release, is to check the purchase date. Apple’s website has a ‘Check Coverage’ section where you can enter your device’s serial number to determine the month and year of purchase and warranty information.

• Check the release date of your iPad model

Understanding the release date of your iPad’s model can be a method to estimate when it was manufactured. Each iPad model has a unique identifier, the model number, linked to its release year.

Using the model number of your iPad, you can match it to a specific model and generation. You can find the model number on the back of the device or in the device settings.

Once you know the model and its release year, you can deduce the earliest time your iPad could have been manufactured. For example, if a particular model was first released in 2014, your iPad could not have been made before that year. This method doesn’t give you the exact production date but provides a timeframe of when your iPad was likely manufactured.

• Decoding the old serial number

Since 2021, Apple has been assigning random serial numbers to their products. Before that, serial numbers contained information about the production date, manufacturing plant, and device characteristics. For iPads manufactured before 2021, you can determine the production date from the serial number. To decode an iPad’s serial number manufactured before 2021, focus on the fourth and fifth characters. These characters indicate the production date of the device, down to the specific week.

Now, let’s discuss each method in detail with steps.

How do you know how old your iPad is through Apple Advisor?

If your iPad was released after 2021, this is the only method for you to find out its age.

This approach applies to all iPads, regardless of their serial number format, making it suitable for models released before and after 2021. When you contact Apple Support, you’ll need to provide the serial number of your iPad:

• Open the Settings app on your iPad.
• Tap ‘General‘.
• Select ‘About‘.

• Tap and hold the Serial Number field.
• Tap ‘Copy‘.

• Go to Apple Support.
• Select Chat section.
• Type Apple Adviser copied the serial number and asked when it was manufactured.

How to find out the date of iPad purchase?

One way to determine the age of your iPad, if it was purchased soon after its release, is by checking its purchase date. You can do this through Apple’s ‘Check Coverage’ website.

• Open the Settings app on your iPad.
• Tap ‘General‘.
• Select ‘About‘.
• Tap and hold the Serial Number field.
• Tap ‘Copy‘.

• Open Check Coverage.
• Paste the Serial Number, complete the CAPTCHA, and tap Submit.

• View the information.

How to find out the iPad’s production date before 2021 using the serial number?

To begin understanding this, it’s essential to know that up until 2021, the serial number of an iPad contained a lot of helpful information. You could decipher the manufacturing plant, production year, and even specifics like color and memory from the serial number.

However, starting in 2021, Apple began assigning random serial numbers to its products. These new serial numbers don’t store such information, and they apply to all Apple products, not just iPads.

The serial number before 2021 includes encoded details about the year and week of production. You can decode this information either on your own or using online services.

Using online service:

For iPads manufactured before 2021, you can find out their production date using the serial number:

• Open the Settings app on your iPad.
• Tap ‘General‘.
• Select ‘About‘.
• Tap and hold the Serial Number field.
• Tap ‘Copy‘.

• Open a website https://sndeep.info/en.
• Paste the serial number and check it.

This way, if your iPad was released before 2021, you can use decoding services to find information such as the device model, factory code, production year, and production week.

For iPads manufactured after 2021, using these decoding services won’t yield any information due to the randomization of serial numbers.

Find out the encoded date in the serial number:

The serial number for models produced before 2021 includes digits representing the year and week of manufacture.

The crucial part for identifying the manufacturing date is the fourth and fifth characters in the 12-digit serial number. These characters indicate the year and production week, respectively.

For example, consider the serial number of a device: DX3CL052N737

Here, the fourth and fifth characters are – CL.

Detailed explanation:

• The fourth character represents the year, or more specifically, the half of the year. The first half spans from January to June, while the second half covers July to December. Apple uses two letters to denote the first and second halves of the year.
• The fifth character represents the week of the year when the device was manufactured. Apple uses a set of characters to denote the 52 weeks.

However, this method requires a table to read the characters correctly:

Month	Week of Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Jan	1	C1	F1	H1	K1	M1	P1	R1	T1	W1	Y1	C1	F1
Jan	2	C2	F2	H2	K2	M2	P2	R2	T2	W2	Y2	C2	F2
Jan	3	C3	F3	H3	K3	M3	P3	R3	T3	W3	Y3	C3	F3
Jan	4	C4	F4	H4	K4	M4	P4	R4	T4	W4	Y4	C4	F4
Feb	5	C5	F5	H5	K5	M5	P5	R5	T5	W5	Y5	C5	F5
Feb	6	C6	F6	H6	K6	M6	P6	R6	T6	W6	Y6	C6	F6
Feb	7	C7	F7	H7	K7	M7	P7	R7	T7	W7	Y7	C7	F7
Feb	8	C8	F8	H8	K8	M8	P8	R8	T8	W8	Y8	C8	F8
Mar	9	C9	F9	H9	K9	M9	P9	R9	T9	W9	Y9	C9	F9
Mar	10	CC	FC	HC	KC	MC	PC	RC	TC	WC	YC	CC	FC
Mar	11	CD	FD	HD	KD	MD	PD	RD	TD	WD	YD	CD	FD
Mar	12	CF	FF	HF	KF	MF	PF	RF	TF	WF	YF	CF	FF
Mar	13	CG	FG	HG	KG	MG	PG	RG	TG	WG	YG	CG	FG
Apr	14	CH	FH	HH	KH	MH	PH	RH	TH	WH	YH	CH	FH
Apr	15	CJ	FJ	HJ	KJ	MJ	PJ	RJ	TJ	WJ	YJ	CJ	FJ
Apr	16	CK	FK	HK	KK	MK	PK	RK	TK	WK	YK	CK	FK
Apr	17	CM	FM	HM	KM	MM	PM	RM	TM	WM	YM	CM	FM
May	18	CN	FN	HN	KN	MN	PN	RN	TN	WN	YN	CN	FN
May	19	CL	FL	HL	KL	ML	PL	RL	TL	WL	YL	CL	FL
May	20	CP	FP	HP	KP	MP	PP	RP	TP	WP	YP	CP	FP
May	21	CQ	FQ	HQ	KQ	MQ	PQ	RQ	TQ	WQ	YQ	CQ	FQ
May	22	CR	FR	HR	KR	MR	PR	RR	TR	WR	YR	CR	FR
Jun	23	CT	FT	HT	KT	MT	PT	RT	TT	WT	YT	CT	FT
Jun	24	CV	FV	HV	KV	MV	PV	RV	TV	WV	YV	CV	FV
Jun	25	CW	FW	HW	KW	MW	PW	RW	TW	WW	YW	CW	FW
Jun	26	CX	FX	HX	KX	MX	PX	RX	TX	WX	YX	CX	FX
Jun	27	CY	FY	HY	KY	MY	PY	RY	TY	WY	YY	CY	FY
Jul	28	D1	G1	J1	L1	N1	Q1	S1	V1	X1	Z1	D1	G1
Jul	29	D2	G2	J2	L2	N2	Q2	S2	V2	X2	Z2	D2	G2
Jul	30	D3	G3	J3	L3	N3	Q3	S3	V3	X3	Z3	D3	G3
Jul	31	D4	G4	J4	L4	N4	Q4	S4	V4	X4	Z4	D4	G4
Aug	32	D5	G5	J5	L5	N5	Q5	S5	V5	X5	Z5	D5	G5
Aug	33	D6	G6	J6	L6	N6	Q6	S6	V6	X6	Z6	D6	G6
Aug	34	D7	G7	J7	L7	N7	Q7	S7	V7	X7	Z7	D7	G7
August	35	D8	G8	J8	L8	N8	Q8	S8	V8	X8	Z8	D8	G8
Sep	36	D9	G9	J9	L9	N9	Q9	S9	V9	X9	Z9	D9	G9
Sep	37	DC	GC	JC	LC	NC	QC	SC	VC	XC	ZC	DC	GC
Sep	38	DD	GD	JD	LD	ND	QD	SD	VD	XD	ZD	DD	GD
Sep	39	DF	GF	JF	LF	NF	QF	SF	VF	XF	ZF	DF	GF
Sep	40	DG	GG	JG	LG	NG	QG	SG	VG	XG	ZG	DG	GG
Oct	41	DH	GH	JH	LH	NH	QH	SH	VH	XH	ZH	DH	GH
Oct	42	DJ	GJ	JJ	LJ	NJ	QJ	SJ	VJ	XJ	ZJ	DJ	GJ
Oct	43	DK	GK	JK	LK	NK	QK	SK	VK	XK	ZK	DK	GK
Oct	44	DM	GM	JM	LM	NM	QM	SM	VM	XM	ZM	DM	GM
Oct	45	DN	GN	JN	LN	NN	QN	SN	VN	XN	ZN	DN	GN
Nov	46	DL	GL	JL	LL	NL	QL	SL	VL	XL	ZL	DL	GL
Nov	47	DP	GP	JP	LP	NP	QP	SP	VP	XP	ZP	DP	GP
Nov	48	DQ	GQ	JQ	LQ	NQ	QQ	SQ	VQ	XQ	ZQ	DQ	GQ
Nov	49	DR	GR	JR	LR	NR	QR	SR	VR	XR	ZR	DR	GR
Dec	50	DT	GT	JT	LT	NT	QT	ST	VT	XT	ZT	DT	GT
Dec	51	DV	GV	JV	LV	NV	QV	SV	VV	XV	ZV	DV	GV
Dec	52	DW	GW	JW	LW	NW	QW	SW	VW	XW	ZW	DW	GW
Dec	53	DX	GX	JX	LX	NX	QX	SX	VX	XX	ZX	DX	GX

So, “CL” means that the device was manufactured in the second week of May 2020. Find the fourth and fifth characters from the serial number in the chart. This way, you’ll know the week and the year of manufacture for devices released before 2021.

How to know the year of the iPad model?

The model name is a unique identifier for each iPad version and can be found either on the back of your device:

Each model is associated with a release year, the earliest time it could have been manufactured.

iPad Model	Year of Release	Model Name
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)	2022	A2436, A2437, A2764, A2766
iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation)	2022	A2759, A2761, A2435, A2762
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)	2021	A2378, A2461, A2379, A2462
iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)	2021	A2377, A2459, A2301, A2460
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation)	2020	A2229, A2069, A2232, A2233
iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation)	2020	A2228, A2068, A2230, A2231
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)	2018	A1876, A2014, A1895, A1983
iPad Pro 11-inch	2018	A1980, A2013, A1934, A1979
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation)	2017	A1670, A1671, A1821
iPad Pro (10.5-inch)	2017	A1701, A1709, A1852
iPad Pro (9.7-inch)	2016	A1673, A1674, A1675
iPad Pro (12.9-inch)	2015	A1584, A1652
iPad Air (5th generation)	2022	A2588, A2589, A2591
iPad Air (4th generation)	2020	A2316, A2324, A2325, A2072
iPad Air (3rd generation)	2019	A2152, A2123, A2153, A2154
iPad Air 2	Late 2014	A1566, A1567
iPad Air	Late 2013	A1474, A1475, A1476
iPad mini (6th generation)	2021	A2567, A2568, A2569
iPad mini (5th generation)	2019	A2133, A2124, A2126, A2125
iPad mini 4	Late 2015	A1538, A1550
iPad mini 3	Late 2014	A1599, A1600
iPad mini 2	Late 2013	A1489, A1490, A1491
iPad mini	Late 2012	A1432, A1454, A1455
iPad (10th generation)	2022	A2696, A2757, A2777, A3162
iPad (9th generation)	2021	A2602, A2604, A2603, A2605
iPad (8th generation)	2020	A2270, A2428, A2429, A2430
iPad (7th generation)	2019	A2197, A2200, A2198
iPad (6th generation)	2018	A1893, A1954
iPad (5th generation)	2017	A1822, A1823
iPad (4th generation)	Late 2012	A1458, A1459, A1460
iPad (3rd generation)	Early 2012	A1416, A1430, A1403
iPad 2	2011	A1395, A1396, A1397
iPad	2010	A1219, A1337