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Mac Mini Stuck On Beta

Hello there,


So a few months ago I installed the beta version of Mac OS and I'm not able to get back on stable version without creating a bootable USB with the stable version.


Long story short, every time I restart my Mac Mini and want to install Mac OS, I only have the option of "Reinstall Mac OS Beta" version. I did get out of the beta program but this issue still persists. Also called Apple Support, the guy told me this is not normal but couldn't help me.


Any of you have a solution for that? Thanks!


Posted on Jun 10, 2021 6:12 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 10, 2021 9:44 AM

No matter what you need to perform a clean install by first erasing the whole physical drive before reinstalling macOS. If you can create a bootable macOS USB installer, then that may be the easiest option. Your other option is to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + Shift + R to access the online macOS installer for the oldest version of macOS still available for your Mac (you still need to erase the drive).


If you are installing macOS 10.13+, then you will need to launch Disk Utility from within the installer and click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. After selecting the physical drive erase is as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Quit Disk Utility and proceed to select the "Install macOS" option.


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 10, 2021 9:44 AM in response to cp-xcvi

No matter what you need to perform a clean install by first erasing the whole physical drive before reinstalling macOS. If you can create a bootable macOS USB installer, then that may be the easiest option. Your other option is to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + Shift + R to access the online macOS installer for the oldest version of macOS still available for your Mac (you still need to erase the drive).


If you are installing macOS 10.13+, then you will need to launch Disk Utility from within the installer and click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. After selecting the physical drive erase is as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Quit Disk Utility and proceed to select the "Install macOS" option.


Jun 10, 2021 10:20 AM in response to HWTech

I always erase my drive before clean reinstalling Mac OS.


About the Internet Recovery Mode, I do that to reinstall Mac OS BUT I only get the option to install Mac OS Big Sur BETA...


Still not a resolution.


And I don't want to install my OS from an USB but directly from Internet, and as I said, the internet option only proposes me the BETA version.

Jun 10, 2021 5:17 PM in response to cp-xcvi

cp-xcvi wrote:

About the Internet Recovery Mode, I do that to reinstall Mac OS BUT I only get the option to install Mac OS Big Sur BETA...

Even if you use Command + Option + Shift + R? This is a four key combo which should access the earliest macOS installer for your Mac. In fact many Macs will only boot to the earliest installer instead of the latest one. Maybe try a PRAM Reset, then immediately boot into Internet Recovery Mode using the four key method I described. To be doubly sure the NVRAM boot settings are clear you can also issue a command from the Terminal app:

sudo  nvram  -c


You will be prompted for your admin password. When you enter the password nothing will appear on the screen as you type. Press the "Return" key to submit the password. Reboot the Mac immediately after running this command and attempt to enter into Internet Recovery Mode using the four key combo.


And I don't want to install my OS from an USB but directly from Internet, and as I said, the internet option only proposes me the BETA version.

Why does it matter, unless of course you are unable to access the Startup Security Utility to allow booting from USB? At least with a bootable macOS USB installer if you happen to need to try reinstalling again it should go faster. The point is to reinstall an older version of macOS. I've already mentioned that Internet Recovery Mode doesn't always work as expected.


I have seen a couple posts on these forums with a command executed in the Terminal to tell macOS to use the standard macOS repository instead of the Beta tree, but I don't recall the command. It may be related to the "softwareupdate" command. However, I would not expect this to matter when booting from Internet Recovery Mode using the four key combo or from a USB installer.

Mac Mini Stuck On Beta

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