How does System Profiler retrieve the full Mac hardware identifier?

ServerKit.framework has a property list within its resources that can help you with model identifier <-> model name string translation:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ServerKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/XSMachineAttributes.plist


Did check the network traffic. System Information is connecting to

http://support-sp.apple.com

A full query looks like:

http://support-sp.apple.com/sp/product?cc=DJWR&lang=de_DE

Where 'DJWR' are the last four characters of the serial number

More info here: http://blog.coriolis.ch/get-your-apple-device-model-name-in-a-readable-format/

Tags:

Macos

Cocoa