0

I have an older Mac (2012 Mini) which I am expecting to replace, and use as a spare in another room. It came with OSX installed and has been updated through several OS versions to Catalina, which is the last supported version.

I would like to totally wipe it and start over, changing hard disks at the same time. I don't really understand how MacOS licensing works, or how I can do a clean install. I don't want to find myself in the situation I have a Mac I cannot use to download/run an installer!

What is the correct process?

Mr. Boy
  • 2,687
  • 1
    How old is "older" precisely? Specific model details would be useful. – Tetsujin Dec 21 '20 at 11:37
  • @Tetsujin updated, basically I would like it to run Catalina - what versions of MacOS are still available to download? – Mr. Boy Dec 21 '20 at 12:25
  • 2
    See https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/309399/how-can-i-download-an-older-version-of-os-x-macos – Tetsujin Dec 21 '20 at 12:27
  • See linked question. It's essential to create (and verify!) a bootable installer on an USB stick first (before you remove the current disk). – nohillside Dec 21 '20 at 12:43
  • I was wondering, if I download the installer can I do a clean install, is that something that's provided? A bootable installer drive covers all bases if not. – Mr. Boy Dec 21 '20 at 12:45
  • This is not a dupe though @Tetsujin the linked question only covers how to get the OS. If I don't want to go the removable USB route, my question still stands. – Mr. Boy Dec 21 '20 at 12:46
  • I didn't close it as a dupe - but it does cover how to get the OS, how to obtain from recovery & how to make a USB – Tetsujin Dec 21 '20 at 14:50
  • @Tetsujin I might want to do it another way, but ok it's reasonable if I want to get more specific I should ask a more targeted question that builds on top of that question and makes it explicit what I want to do differently – Mr. Boy Dec 21 '20 at 17:40
  • The only outstanding point I can see from this question is the licensing aspect. Basically if you own a Mac you own the licence for any macOS it can run. There is literally no issue on that. – Tetsujin Dec 21 '20 at 17:51

0 Answers0