My 2018 imac was gifted to me and i wanted to erase everything on it and do a factory reset i took a step too far and there was a question mark blinking and i tried to internet recovery and it worked but i could only download mac os lion and safari and nothing works i’ve been trying to figure it out for a day now
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Hmm... please verify the exact year model of this iMac.
see > Identify your iMac model - Apple Support
This information is important for several reasons.
When the machine was gifted to you was it setup per the directions in What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support? If it was not or you do not know then the machine will never work correctly as it is still associated with the original owners AppleID, this cannot be fixed until the original owner prepares the Mac correctly per the directions in the link noted above!
What you are learning, the "gift" may not really be a give but a boat anchor.
i got it from my brother it had high sierrra on it i tried to factory reset in the disk thing and i only have os x base system and i can only download macos lion and it also says i have 2 hard drives i dont know if you need that information i watched videos on how to download high sierra with the terminal and using codes but haven’t worked out and i dont have another mac so i cant do the usb
Startup using Option-Command-R and see if that will offer the latest macOS that is compatible with that iMac.
see > How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
i’ve tried this multiple times and hasn’t worked it always shows up the same old interface internet recovery screen with mac os lion
nevermind it worked thank you so much
Glad to hear that, you're welcome.
How do I install a newer version of macOS on my 2018 iMac?
