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Factory reset confusion 2015 MacBook Air

I want to reset to factory standard on this MacBook Air from early 2015. It has a 250 gig SSD, but I'm showing two internal volumes so I'm confused and fearful I'm going to screw something up.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 25, 2020 3:32 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 25, 2020 4:18 PM

To reset your MBA to its original factory condition, follow these instructions: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support.


The conundrum you face is addressed deep within the link provided in Step 7. How to erase a disk for Mac explains that you need to choose Show All Devices from the View dropdown button and select the topmost device—not a volume or container. The reason is that macOS versions prior to Mojave do not recognize APFS formatted volumes or containers, and if you were to try to install your Mac's originally installed operating system it would not recognize its storage volume at all.


When erasing that device, choose GUID Partition Map and a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.


Then, you will be able to install macOS on that disk. Choose the startup key chord corresponding with Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 25, 2020 4:18 PM in response to rws777

To reset your MBA to its original factory condition, follow these instructions: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support.


The conundrum you face is addressed deep within the link provided in Step 7. How to erase a disk for Mac explains that you need to choose Show All Devices from the View dropdown button and select the topmost device—not a volume or container. The reason is that macOS versions prior to Mojave do not recognize APFS formatted volumes or containers, and if you were to try to install your Mac's originally installed operating system it would not recognize its storage volume at all.


When erasing that device, choose GUID Partition Map and a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.


Then, you will be able to install macOS on that disk. Choose the startup key chord corresponding with Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

Factory reset confusion 2015 MacBook Air

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