t2 Mac only starts up to online recovery

If it is Activation Locked, then as the others have mentioned there is nothing you can do.

FYI, on a T2 Mac (2018 - 2020) once you erase the internal SSD you also erase all references to any admin user accounts so it is no longer possible to authenticate to modify any system security options. You needed to modify the system security settings to allow booting from USB prior to erasing the internal SSD.

The only option to reinstall macOS after erasing the internal SSD is by booting into Internet Recovery Mode to access the online macOS installer which also requires a good network connection (home network & ISP & local Internet as well).

As far as Apple Configurator 2......Apple really has trouble with documentation & naming things. If you look closely at the Apple Configurator app in the App Store, you will see that it references a version number somewhere within the product details which shows something like v2.16. Apple didn't actually name the app "Apple Configurator 2" as the documentation seems to imply. Unfortunately if you don't have v2.16 which worked with macOS 12.4+, your only option is the latest version that only works with macOS 14.x Sonoma....in that case you no longer even need to use Apple Configurator 2 because the Finder within Sonoma has the ability to Revive & Restore 2018+ Macs. Here is the latest Apple instructions for performing a DFU firmware Revive/Restore:

How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support

<<. I have yet to find a boot dvd >>

the last boot DVD was issued with macOS 10.6 in about 2009. Every Mac after that used Recovery in its ROM to download macOS.

But you have received a locked Mac (or the board was replaced with a locked board). You cannot re-download and re-install ANYTHING unless/until the folks who provided that board unlock it.

on a Mac with T2 chip (Macs from 2018 and later) Recovery Partition is beside the point. You need to discuss your needs with Startup Security Utility.

Startup Security Utility on a Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

On-disk Recovery Partition was a really interesting feature. But when Apple File System was released in 10.13 High Sierra, the Recovery Partition -- if present at all -- was placed INSIDE the APFS container-disk, and is undetectable by older Macs in Option/Boot aka Startup Manager

this is the structure of a Mojave SSD Boot disk in APFS format:

diskutil list

/dev/disk6 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *240.1 GB disk6

1: EFI ⁨EFI⁩ 209.7 MB disk6s1

2: Apple_APFS ⁨Container disk7⁩ 239.8 GB disk6s2

/dev/disk7 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +239.8 GB disk7

Physical Store disk6s2

1: APFS Volume ⁨X14-SSD240⁩ 97.5 GB disk7s1

2: APFS Volume ⁨Preboot⁩ 26.5 MB disk7s2

3: APFS Volume ⁨Recovery⁩ 507.6 MB disk7s3

4: APFS Volume ⁨VM⁩ 20.5 KB disk7s4

The items in the top group are discoverable, the items in the bottom group, including the recovery partition, are INSIDE the container-disk and invisible to Startup Manager.

compucarl666 wrote:

I bought a second hand 2019 MacBook Pro that wasn't working. after taking it to a shop and having the board repaired I was going about to clean up/restore the drive. being a new Mac user I royally screwed the pooch.

I had full access to the system and thought its like a pc right.......WRONG..... I only went as far as the boot up where the little apple is in the left corner and erased the drive just as I would a windows pc well this was a good 6 months or so ago. when I can get it moving without the f2003 error coming up or other errors. the machine will not go into the standard recovery it only will start in the online recovery if it will run at all.

it will not boot from a external drive loaded and verified working on another Mac nor can I get it to boot from a usb.

I have yet to find a boot dvd and try that. now my Mac is the 16 inch intel T2 with retinal and I now when it comes up have a activation lock that comes up I do not even have the icloud user name in full nor the password associated with such nor do I have the other ways to log in being the machine password or a MDM log in code.

I have even purchased a 2015 13" MacBook Pro retina and have attempted a DFU restore using Apple Configurator as the apple web site says to no avail. online everyone brings up an Apple Configurator "2" however I have yet to locate a configurator 2 anywhere.

I would even take a whole return to how it was after the board repair at least then I could log in no problems. now please no reprimands I have beet myself up enough over this and lets just say

I am no longer a Mac newbie I currently own 2 originals one in black and one in white also have this 2015Mac pro I'm on but also a 2013 Mac air and 2 other older Macs that I play around with so I can try things out without this type of error happening again.thanks for reading my Drabble and if you have any ideas I say thanks in advance and will report back on what happened as I try them out.thanks again. and if someone can tell me how to scroll down without the scroll bar that would be a Hugh help also if you know the answer for no scroll bars that is a plus.

[Edited by Moderator]

If you have an issue with your < second hand 2019 MacBook Pro> replaced board I would return and have them sort the issue.

Local USA—

Store List - Apple Store - Apple

Around the World—

Choose your country or region - Apple