Who's Telling the Truth?

[Morningside]

When my student macbooks check in, they are reporting as "Early 2015" models. Yet, when I open them up and look in About this Mac they self report as "2017" models. Which is accurate?

[boberito]

The answer is both.

So little has changed between the 2017 and the 2015. It was a super minor processor bump. But still annoying.

[sshort]

The 2017 model is correct, frustratingly Apple did not assign a different model identifier when they gave it a slight spec bump. So both Early 2015 and 2017 models share MacBookAir7,2.

You might have to create an Extension Attribute to distinguish between them, using the 1.8 Ghz Core i5 processor (which was 1.6 Ghz in 2015). This also assumes you didn't purchase any of the higher-spec 2.2 Ghz i7, because I think they did not change that option, only the base processor speed.

[Morningside]

Thank you!

[mm2270]

Apple has been re-using model identifiers for similar models for at least 5-6 years or more now, so this isn't a new problem. Essentially, something that comes out in Early 2017 may have the same model id as a speed bumped version of that same Mac that ships in Late 2017, and as in this case, it can even extend into different years. Very frustrating.
Since Jamf Pro has a lookup table in it that converts the models into the full model name, it gets confused and ends up with a 50/50 chance of giving you the wrong model name.

As mentioned by @sshort above, using an Extension Attribute to get the real model name is often the solution, for now at least. I would look at this thread for some solutions. Specifically the EA I use is on this post.