I have a macmini, still in shrink wrap. I can read the serial number on the sticker on the box.
Can I determine the factory-installed version of macOS on this unit from this serial number?
(Online services seem to only return hardware specs.)
Not possible unfortunately.
There’s no way of telling for sure without opening, unfortunately. But there’s a good chance it isn’t Monty.
Open it up, set it up and turn it on.
New Mac’s generally come with the last or latest macOS.
If you purchased it from Apple or an AASP and it is not what you wanted or expected, then you have 14 day to return it no questions asked.
Have you called Apple Support, and see if they can check the manifest for that Mac mini's serial number and possibly tell you what operating system was loaded on it? This is just a wag as I don't know if they can tell you or not.
Is there a manufacturing date stamped on the box?
> plan for a way to downgrade to Big Sur
Make a bootable Big Sur USB flash drive installer and try if it Option-boots. If not, return the unit.
Normally I wouldn't care about the OS, but this is a corporate mac and Monterey is currently forbidden on our corporate network. (A lot of our corporate software doesn't work right on Monterey yet.)
If I knew for sure that it had Monterey, I would just send it back unopened.
No date that I can see.
You can send it back even after opening - go ahead, give it a whirl!
It is not ordered in my name, and I am working from home. It is a giant hassle to send it back.
It would be REALLY helpful if I could determine the factory-installed OS without opening the box.
That's what I figure.
Sending it back isn't practical, now that I think through it.
If Monterey, I need to plan for a way to downgrade to Big Sur.
That may be a giant-er hassle than sending it back…all the best anyways!
As I understand it, if the computer came with Monterey installed, you can't install Big Sur on it. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
I finally cracked. The temptation was too much. I figured that there was a 80%+ chance that it had Big Sur...and I was right.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Macmini still in box; how to determine pre-installed OS version? (have serial number)
