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I have bought a new MacBook Pro 13, 2015.

How can I check whether it is a new or used one? I don't mean optical checks. Maybe some kind of system values, etc.

klanomath
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MikroDel
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    Installed macOS version, timestamp of key system directories, package it came in, trustworthiness of vendor etc, there might be a lot of indicators – nohillside Jan 20 '17 at 09:20
  • @patrix it was some not actual OS and I have updated it after first start. I don't know which one it was. – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:28
  • @patrix the rest of your comment - I don't know how to check it :) thats why this question – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:28
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    Perhaps filling in the serial on the Apple warranty site can give you sufficient information to determine if it's new? I don't have my mac with me to check what information is provided on that site. – Saaru Lindestøkke Jan 20 '17 at 09:30
  • @SaaruLindestøkke - I have checked it on this site. This information is ok - 1 year after the first day I have used it. – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:32
  • @MikroDel If you have updated it already it will be rather difficult to check. The timestamp of /var/db/.AppleSetupDone might give a clue. – nohillside Jan 20 '17 at 09:41
  • @patrix I have started terminal paste "/var/db/.AppleSetupDone" and got "permission denied" – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:46
  • "/var/log/cups/error_log" show last change some months before I have got it. Does it mean anything? – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:48
  • And also under software some utility for fax and scanner are changed in 2015. Or maybe its simply the date the software were changed – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 09:50
  • Try ls -l /var/db/.AppleSetupDone. The CUPS error log gets installed empty on a major upgrade, so if has older entries it might be a clue. – nohillside Jan 20 '17 at 10:00
  • "ls -l /var/db/.AppleSetupDone" this shows me the first day I have used it – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 10:02
  • "/var/log/cups/error_log" has size of 0 – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 10:37
  • What makes you doubt that it's new? Was it not bought in original sealed packaging? – barbecue Jan 21 '17 at 02:57
  • @barbecue it was interesting for me whether its generally possible or not. And how to check it. It was original sealed. Other way Im not an expert in the question original sealed or not :) – MikroDel Jan 21 '17 at 10:21

3 Answers3

23

The only thing I can think of that cannot be tricked by an Erase and Install of the OS is the cycle count on the battery, provided it's the original battery. Essentially this number tells you how many times the battery has been depleted and recharged.

Cycle count of the battery: Click the Apple menu and then 'About this Mac > System Report... > Hardware > Power' and look for "Cycle Count" under 'Battery Information > Health Information'

The lower the number the better. Now there is a chance that the reseller you bought it off of replaced the battery, but it's highly unlikely. It's a lot of work to remove and reinstall a battery in these models (see the full 34 steps here) so unless the battery is faulty or nearing the end of its life cycle, it just wouldn't make sense to replace it.

You could also call Apple Support and ask if the serial number of that machine has been previously registered under a name other than yours. They cannot tell you the previous name or any other information on the account if it has been registered before (due to privacy laws), but I don't see why they couldn't just let you know if the machine has already been registered with them in the past.

Allan
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NYKg
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    cycle count = 1 – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 10:04
  • Its not possible to trick the system to show any number under cycle count without battery replacement? – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 10:14
  • I have called apple support and they told me this serial number was not used earlier and the first time was the date I have become it. – MikroDel Jan 20 '17 at 10:44
  • @MikroDel No, it is not possible to trick the system to show the incorrect number under the battery cycle count. The only way to change this number is to replace the battery. – NYKg Jan 20 '17 at 11:41
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    @NYKg, what makes you so sure that it's not possible to spoof the number? (Genuine question.) I don't doubt that the battery cycle count is generally a very good indicator of a MacBook's usage. But I wouldn't be sure that the counter couldn't be overwritten with some trickery. – Emil Jan 20 '17 at 12:07
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    @Emil Fair question. When I worked for Apple this is actually a question I asked an engineer when I had to escalate a particularly difficult case and I was told at that time that it was not possible. My mind has also wandered and sometimes I think maybe there is a human out there smart enough to figure out how to write a script or execute something in Terminal to change that number, but it would be software-based (for lack of better terms). After an E&I (which is usually done before or after a resell) it would revert back to its natural state. – NYKg Jan 20 '17 at 12:46
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    @Emil: Modern high-performance re-chargeable batteries have their own microcontroller with their own OS. The battery itself is doing the counting, macOS just gets the data from the battery. Now, it could be possible to hack the microcontroller on the battery, but I highly doubt that. – Jörg W Mittag Jan 20 '17 at 18:58
  • The SMART counters on the hard drive can't be reset either, but I don't know what the numbers for a new system would look like. – Mark Jan 20 '17 at 22:19
  • @NYKg what does "E&I" mean? – MikroDel Jan 21 '17 at 10:22
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    @MikroDel My apologies, it means 'Erase and Install'. It's where you erase your Macintosh HD (usually after backing it up) and reinstall the operating system from the Recovery Partition instead of simply reinstalling the operating system from the App Store. – NYKg Jan 21 '17 at 10:45
  • @NYKg thanks! And if I use my macbook, after cycle count number = 3 I will return it to the store. It will be sold again. Will the next person become the information (via support hotline) that this notebook was already sold January 2017? – MikroDel Jan 21 '17 at 10:53
  • Apple states that 3 or 4 battery cycles can be normal on a new Mac, anything above that would be questionable. The first time the new owner calls Apple Support they may be informed that it was previously registered and asked to re-register it, but as my original answer states Apple advisors cannot give them ANY of your information. – NYKg Jan 21 '17 at 11:33
  • @NYKg is it suspicious that my battery was manufactured November 2016? I have checked it with "Battery Health 2". The MBP 13, 2015 is from early 2015. And battery is from late 2016. – MikroDel Jan 22 '17 at 23:46
  • @NYKg I have asked it as a question: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/269953/mbp-13-early-2015-but-battery-was-manufactured-at-november-2016-why – MikroDel Jan 23 '17 at 08:35
5

Take a look at the hard drive. The SMART statu should have lots on informations.

Here is how to look at it:

Is there a utility for mac that shows the information of an SSD like the health etc…?

A samble output from my computer:

0x01  0x008  4           17080  ---  Lifetime Power-On Resets
0x01  0x010  4           13034  ---  Power-on Hours
0x01  0x018  6     71009610622  ---  Logical Sectors Written
0x01  0x020  6       689785468  ---  Number of Write Commands
0x01  0x028  6     96669153261  ---  Logical Sectors Read
0x01  0x030  6      1474232041  ---  Number of Read Commands

It's even less likely they would have replaced the hard drive than the battery :)

Community
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Antzi
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One approach is to look in the Library/Receipts folder; this will show you a lot of installations/updates, with dates, and gives a good indication of usage that isn't tied to any user (the user info can be easily removed). That seems to work for older OS X (10.9).

On recent OS releases, the Receipts folders are deprecated; instead of looking for install/update traces there, open System Information, and look at Software/Installations for a listing of installed patches/updates etc., with dates. In the last six years, keeping my system updated has logged hundreds of entries there.

Whit3rd
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