You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Macbook Air 2012

Hello! I recently did an entire internet recovery (option+command+r) of my macbook (I was on El Capitan OS prior to this).


Option+Command+R is supposed to automatically download the most recent OS that the Macbook is compatible with...However, it gave me Mac OS X Lion.


I tried downloading El Capitan manually from the App Store and installing it, but when I did, I was stuck in an endless loop of "you are missing components" and I wasn't able to successful boot up my drive anymore until I ran "Internet Recovery" again, and downloading the OS...AGAIN.


Any recommendations on how to proceed so I can upgrade the OS? I don't really care for upgrading it to Catalina, but if I can at least get it back up to El Capitan :)

Posted on Jan 14, 2020 10:53 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 14, 2020 8:55 PM

ohhseto wrote:

Hello! I recently did an entire internet recovery (option+command+r) of my macbook (I was on El Capitan OS prior to this).

Option+Command+R is supposed to automatically download the most recent OS that the Macbook is compatible with...However, it gave me Mac OS X Lion.

If the computer has never had macOS 10.12.4+ installed, then Internet Recovery Mode works a bit differently. The Command + Option + R will load the version of macOS which originally shipped with your computer (or the oldest still available).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#exceptions


I tried downloading El Capitan manually from the App Store and installing it, but when I did, I was stuck in an endless loop of "you are missing components" and I wasn't able to successful boot up my drive anymore until I ran "Internet Recovery" again, and downloading the OS...AGAIN.

Any recommendations on how to proceed so I can upgrade the OS? I don't really care for upgrading it to Catalina, but if I can at least get it back up to El Capitan :)

See if you can create a bootable macOS 10.11 El Capitan USB installer:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 14, 2020 8:55 PM in response to ohhseto

ohhseto wrote:

Hello! I recently did an entire internet recovery (option+command+r) of my macbook (I was on El Capitan OS prior to this).

Option+Command+R is supposed to automatically download the most recent OS that the Macbook is compatible with...However, it gave me Mac OS X Lion.

If the computer has never had macOS 10.12.4+ installed, then Internet Recovery Mode works a bit differently. The Command + Option + R will load the version of macOS which originally shipped with your computer (or the oldest still available).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#exceptions


I tried downloading El Capitan manually from the App Store and installing it, but when I did, I was stuck in an endless loop of "you are missing components" and I wasn't able to successful boot up my drive anymore until I ran "Internet Recovery" again, and downloading the OS...AGAIN.

Any recommendations on how to proceed so I can upgrade the OS? I don't really care for upgrading it to Catalina, but if I can at least get it back up to El Capitan :)

See if you can create a bootable macOS 10.11 El Capitan USB installer:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

Macbook Air 2012

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.