Getting technical support for your Apple products has become a bit easier with the introduction of the new Apple Support Profile Website. This site provides one-stop shopping for you to check the registration and warranty status of all of your Apple products. If you have a repair or support issue in progress, you can review Apple’s records about the issue right from your Web browser.
Log into the site using your Apple ID (the same username and password you use in the iTunes stores), and Apple will display all of the computers they already know about. Oddly, although I’ve been using the same Apple ID for years and I’ve owned fifteen Macs (no, really), my profile page only displayed my old PowerBook G4 and an anonymous serial number next to an Apple logo. If your profile is similarly lacking, below these entries you’ll find a link to manually register more equipment. The site can auto-detect the serial number of the Mac you’re using to reach the site, although it can’t do the same for iOS devices. (You can find your iPod touch or iPhone’s serial number in Settings > General > About. There are similar entries in the Settings menu of most other iPods.)
Apple also has an option called VoicePass for US and Canadian customers, which promises to match your profile to your phone numbers so they’ll have your computer information at their fingertips when you call from that number. Presumably they could have done this without asking permission, but it’s a nice touch allowing you to update which numbers they keep for you. American customers also have the option of receiving text messages with status updates.
Even if you’re not currently troubleshooting a Mac or iOS device, this is information that is useful to have in one place, both for you and for Apple, when it comes time to call the Support line.