Obtain Model Identifier string on OS X - macos

Question

Every Mac has a model identifier, for example "Macmini5,1". (These are shown in the System Information app.)
How can I programatically obtain this model identifier string?

Answer 1

Swift 4+ using IOKit
import IOKit
func getModelIdentifier() -> String? {
let service = IOServiceGetMatchingService(kIOMasterPortDefault,
IOServiceMatching("IOPlatformExpertDevice"))
var modelIdentifier: String?
if let modelData = IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(service, "model" as CFString, kCFAllocatorDefault, 0).takeRetainedValue() as? Data {
modelIdentifier = String(data: modelData, encoding: .utf8)?.trimmingCharacters(in: .controlCharacters)
}
IOObjectRelease(service)
return modelIdentifier
}

Answer 2

You can use sysctl
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <sys/sysctl.h>
NSString *ModelIdentifier()
{
NSString *result=#"Unknown Mac";
size_t len=0;
sysctlbyname("hw.model", NULL, &len, NULL, 0);
if (len) {
NSMutableData *data=[NSMutableData dataWithLength:len];
sysctlbyname("hw.model", [data mutableBytes], &len, NULL, 0);
result=[NSString stringWithUTF8String:[data bytes]];
}
return result;
}

Answer 3

You can also use IOKit.framework. I think it's best choice.
This simple code example shows how to read model identifier from I/O Kit registry to NSString:
- (NSString *)modelIdentifier {
io_service_t service = IOServiceGetMatchingService(kIOMasterPortDefault,
IOServiceMatching("IOPlatformExpertDevice"));
CFStringRef model = IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(service,
CFSTR("model"),
kCFAllocatorDefault,
0);
NSString *modelIdentifier = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:(__bridge NSData *)model
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
CFRelease(model);
IOObjectRelease(service);
return modelIdentifier;
}
Strings "IOPlatformExpertDevice" and "model" in code above is used to read model identifier from I/O Kit registry. ioreg command line tool is your friend, when you want to find information from I/O Kit registry. This image shows those strings in ioreg output:
I hope this helps to use IOKit.framework.

Answer 4

Answer from Ryan H is correct except improper conversion from null-terminated string to Swift String, giving result with \0 symbol in the end, which you may not expect, performing full match. This is corrected version:
static private func modelIdentifier() -> String? {
let service = IOServiceGetMatchingService(kIOMasterPortDefault, IOServiceMatching("IOPlatformExpertDevice"))
defer { IOObjectRelease(service) }
if let modelData = IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(service, "model" as CFString, kCFAllocatorDefault, 0).takeRetainedValue() as? Data {
return modelData.withUnsafeBytes { (cString: UnsafePointer<UInt8>) -> String in
return String(cString: cString)
}
}
return nil
}

Answer 5

You can get the same output from the system_profiler command. It has an -xml option that you can use. NSTask can run the command for you and you can parse the result.
Sample code:
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
NSString *ModelIdentifier() {
NSPipe *pipe=[NSPipe pipe];
NSTask *task=[[NSTask alloc] init];
[task setLaunchPath:#"/usr/sbin/system_profiler"];
[task setArguments:#[#"-xml", #"SPHardwareDataType"]];
[task setStandardOutput:pipe];
[task launch];
NSData *outData=[[pipe fileHandleForReading] readDataToEndOfFile];
NSString *outString=[[NSString alloc] initWithData:outData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
return [outString propertyList][0][#"_items"][0][#"machine_model"];
}

Answer 6

CFStringRef model = IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(service,
CFSTR("model"),
kCFAllocatorDefault,
0); ? type is ok ?
I think code maybe like this:
CFSDataRef model = IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(service,
CFSTR("model"),
kCFAllocatorDefault,
0);

Answer 7

With iOS 16 apps that also build to Mac Catalyst any solution here that uses kIOMasterPortDefault (such as Ryan H's) will generate a build error:
'kIOMasterPortDefault' is unavailable in Mac Catalyst
Attempting to switch kIOMasterPortDefault to kIOMainPortDefault may also give a build error depending on which versions of Catalyst you are targetting – and I found trying to use #available to get around that didn't work either.
If you run into that situation then try the following, which is a reformulation of Parag Bafna's answer into Swift:
var modelIdentifier: String {
#if targetEnvironment(macCatalyst)
var size = 0
sysctlbyname("hw.model", nil, &size, nil, 0)
var modelIdentifier: [CChar] = Array(repeating: 0, count: size)
sysctlbyname("hw.model", &modelIdentifier, &size, nil, 0)
return String(cString: modelIdentifier)
#else
// Handle iOS
#endif
}

Answer 8

Swift version of Parag Bafna excellent answer
var deviceName: String {
var str = "Unknown Device"
var len = 0
sysctlbyname("hw.model", nil, &len, nil, 0)
if len > 0 {
var data = Data(count: len)
sysctlbyname("hw.model", &data, &len, nil, 0)
if let s = String(bytes: data, encoding: .utf8) {
str = s
}
}
return str
}