So....I did a factory reset on my MacBook Air in order to prepare it for selling. Now, it is showing a generic “apple” login screen. How can I login to this or create a new User? Many thanks...
MacBook Air 15″, macOS 14.3
Solved. Leave the password <blank> and you are in.
(this laptop was with an employee, not in my physical possession, so a bit hard to try all options easily.)
Thanks to Google AI results for pointing in the right direction:
If your Mac is showing a username "apple" after a reset, it means you're likely seeing the default administrator account that is created during the initial setup process when no other user accounts exist on the Mac; you will need to either create a new user account with your desired username or use the "apple" account to set up your Mac and then create a new user account afterwards.
Key points to remember:
Default administrator account:
"apple" is the generic name for the default administrator account on a Mac, which appears when no other user accounts are present.
Creating a new user:
To set up your own account, log in using "apple" and then navigate to System Settings > Users & Groups to create a new user with your preferred username.
Solved. Leave the password <blank> and you are in.
(this laptop was with an employee, not in my physical possession, so a bit hard to try all options easily.)
Thanks to Google AI results for pointing in the right direction:
If your Mac is showing a username "apple" after a reset, it means you're likely seeing the default administrator account that is created during the initial setup process when no other user accounts exist on the Mac; you will need to either create a new user account with your desired username or use the "apple" account to set up your Mac and then create a new user account afterwards.
Key points to remember:
Default administrator account:
"apple" is the generic name for the default administrator account on a Mac, which appears when no other user accounts are present.
Creating a new user:
To set up your own account, log in using "apple" and then navigate to System Settings > Users & Groups to create a new user with your preferred username.
It has not been factory reset at the proper way. If you have done it the proper way it should boot to the hello screen
Have you followed the instructions in this article to reset it correctly?
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
Yes, I did follow those steps. Went through all the steps. Regardless, what do I need to do now? Has anyone ever seen a screen like this before?
Reset Macbook Air, now showing generic “apple” login screen.
