# GÓC CÔNG NGHỆ > Hệ điều hành > Mac OS - English Room >  How to Find a Mac’s True Hardware Specs the Easy Way

## okbebu

Due to the way Apple releases hardware updates, Mac devices are often referred to by their year (such as mine, which is the “Late 2015 21.5-inch iMac”). While this is great as a quick reference, it hardly tells the whole story.

The actual specs between two 2015-era iMacs can differ by quite a bit, for example, *which is why it’s so important that you know how to find out the absolute specs for your machine.*

Why? Because those specs will come in handy when you need to troubleshoot or optimize an old Mac device or when you’re thinking of buying a used or refurbished Mac device and want to make sure you actually got what you paid for.



The first thing you need to do is go to the top left of your screen and click the Apple button. In the menu, select *About This Mac*.

Here you’ll see a brief overview of your specs, and in most cases, this may actually be enough! But sometimes you need to dig even deeper, in which case you should click the *System Report* button.



This presents you with more advanced and granular details, including cache sizes, ROM versions, exact model identifiers, and you can explore the various sections to see details on your data drives, USB ports, etc.

But there’s one thing missing: the true model version of your CPU. You probably have some kind of Intel Core i3, i5, or i7, but the CPU’s capabilities can only be judged when you know the true model version.

Open the Terminal and type this command:

sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string

Tada! The full identifier for your CPU model.



Improve your Mac experience even further by heeding these built-in Mac usability tips as well as these tips for more efficient Mac usage.

*Were you able to find all of your Mac hardware specs? Know of an easier way to find them? Let us know below in a comment!*

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