Hardware · OUI Registry

MAC Address Lookup

A MAC address names a network interface, and the first half of it names the company that registered the block with the IEEE. On a modern phone that trail usually goes cold, because handsets now invent a fresh address for every network they join.

Serial number

Find the serial in Settings → General → About, or engraved on the case.

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Reading the digits

What the address can tell you

Every network interface carries its own 48-bit address. Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth each get one, so a single laptop holds several. It identifies the interface — not the machine built around it, and not the person holding it.

Written out, it is six pairs of hexadecimal digits, such as AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF. The IEEE issues the leading three pairs to hardware makers as an OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) and publishes that register, which is the only part of the address a lookup can resolve. The trailing three pairs are handed out by the maker, and mean nothing outside its own production line.

What that gives you is a company, not a device and not an owner. It will not say whether a handset has been reported stolen, whether it is locked to a network, or whether there is finance still owing on it. Networks bar phones by IMEI, so when money is about to change hands, the IMEI is the number to ask for.

How the 48 bits split

AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF

Leading 24 bits

IEEE-issued OUI

Names the registering company

Trailing 24 bits

Interface number

Chosen by that company

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a lookup on my phone find no vendor?

Because the address is probably not the handset's own. iOS 14 and later, and Android 10 and later, present a randomised address to each network by default. There is a tell: if the second character of the address is 2, 6, A or E, the address is locally administered, meaning the device invented it and no company ever registered it. The hardware address is still listed on the phone — Settings, General, About on an iPhone; Settings, About phone, Status on Android — and on a computer it comes from ipconfig /all on Windows, or Network settings on macOS.

Who hands out the vendor part?

The IEEE. It registers the first 24 bits of an address to a company and publishes the list, which is what every MAC lookup reads. A large manufacturer holds many blocks, and blocks change hands, so an older address can name a firm that no longer makes the hardware in front of you.

Can someone change the address on a device?

Yes. Most operating systems will set an arbitrary address on an interface in software, and phones already do it by default to make tracking harder. Treat a MAC address as something a device claims about itself, never as something it proves.

MAC address or IMEI — which do I need?

They answer different questions. A MAC address identifies a network interface, and it can be changed. An IMEI identifies the cellular radio, and it is the number networks block when a phone is reported lost or stolen. For buying, selling or reporting a handset, use the IMEI.