Help! How can I go back to OS X Lion 10.7.4 on my Retina MacBook Pro?

Brian,

Sorry to tell you but the version of 10.7.4 that shipped with the Retina display was a special build - and many, if not all, of the folks who tried to use the Internet recovery feature in the Recovery partition had no joy in getting the machine-specific code to download.

If I were you, I'd take your machine to an Apple Store and tell them your problem. While you're in the store, they might be able to install the machine-specific version of 10.7.4 that you need.

Good luck,

Clinton

You can restore from the Time Machine backup you made prior to installing OS X 10.8 Lion.

I have seen reports of Internet Recovery working just fine with rMBP installing the same version of 10.7.4 that came installed.. I think it is worth a try.

I know this can work. Consider trying this way-

Boot from your external HD with the 10.8 OS. Erase your internal HD and format with OS Extended(Journaled). Shut down your rMBP Then disconnect your external HD. Start up your rMBP. See if it won't go to IR mode and load the correct 10.7.4.

One of the uses of IR is to load an OS from to a hard drive with no OS.

You can always clone your OS back to your rMBP if this doesn’t work.

Good Luck

Since you don't have a backup, and you've already installed 10.8 Internet Recovery will not get you back 10.7 either because that has also been upgraded to 10.8.

At this stage about your only option is to try to find a USB installer of 10.7, format the HDD then install 10.7. But you'll lose all your data and installed Apps and this may be more trouble to you than its worth. You might want to just stay where you are and get onto the software developer to update their software instead.

Don't confuse Internet Recovery from Recovery HD.

Internet Recovery is different than using the Recovery HD-

To boot into Internet Recovery you have to press Command-Option-R when you have the Recovery HD-10.8 present.

Command-R still works for Internet Recovery but only when the Recovery HD is NOT present.

IR should restore the OS that was shipped with your mac.

Very good advice but it all depend if the Mt Lion install of the Mt Lion R-HD also updated the function of the Internet R-HD system to take you to a Mt Lion version instead of the Lion version. I would suspect Apple has made it so all newer Mac's, the Mid 2012 models, always go to the Mt Lion online R-HD system. As the only reason they came with Lion in the first place was because Mt Lion had not been release, actually finished (polished enough), yet and they wanted to get the new model Mac's out to boost sales.

But I may be wrong.

Norman Harris wrote:

Don't confuse Internet Recovery from Recovery HD.

Internet Recovery is different than using the Recovery HD-

To boot into Internet Recovery you have to press Command-Option-R when you have the Recovery HD-10.8 present.

Command-R still works for Internet Recovery but only when the Recovery HD is NOT present.

IR should restore the OS that was shipped with your mac.

Persistence paid off! Glad it worked.

Glad it worked out for you.

Your Mac is in one of these Grey areas. It came with Lion but yet Apple would really like it to be on Mt Lion.

Then there is the question of what if at some point in time you want to sell or give it away. Apple does not want you to sell or give it away with an OS installed on it that is registered to Your Apple ID as that would mean the buyer or gift reciever would not be able to reinstall the upgraded OS without your Apple ID.

So Apple Must allow all Mac's sold from June 11 until Mt Lion starts showing up on them Pre-Installed to be able to download the Original OS that came on it, which is Lion. So I would guess that the Online Recovery system must look at the serial # and or Manufacturing date for that serial # and direct it to the Lion download.

thebman22 wrote:

Very true. But if this is the case, why was it so difficult to put the Original OS back on it. I went through hurdles trying to do this. And then my only option was Internet Recovery which had to download everything from Apple. For me, like I said, it only took less than an hour (about 55 minutes). But what if you have a slow or unreliable Internet connection.

Well that is the way it is with all new Mac's. Unless you make your own OS install USB driive, and of the correct version as the newest Mac's take special versions of Lion, you always have to download the OS from the internet.

thebman22 wrote:

In regards to the whole Apple ID thing, you are right. When I tried Mountain Lion recovery I had to punch in my Apple ID credentials. But when I did the Original OS X Lion 10.7, I didn't put in my Apple ID at all. I installed 10.7 without ever signing in.

That is because Lion is tied to the serial # of that Mac as it is the Original OS Pre-Installed on it. Any other OS bought from Apple and the MAS is then tied to the purchasers Apple ID and you will always need to use the original Apple ID and password to reinstall it.

thebman22 wrote:

I just think they need to make this easier to do and more obvious that this can be done. Most people may not be aware that this is at all possible. But I'm relieved it worked.

I am taking to putting my Lion 10.7.4 system (Retina MacBook Pro special build version) on an external USB 3.0 HDD. Then when I need to use my DJ software and hardware or any non Mountain Lion compatible software or hardware, I'll just boot into that system. I will be running my previous Mountain Lion 10.8 system on the built-in SSD drive on my Retina MacBook Pro. I will report back and let you know if that workflow is successful.

I hope this thread helps anyone who has a similar problem. Thanks again to everyone who replied.

---Brian

They need to SHIP DVDs or USB thumb drive with the systems along with the internet download scheme.

If you lose the disc or thumb drive then you must download from the internet to reinstall. If you are like me and have every version of Windows and OS X I ever used (Yes even Lion and Mt Lion) on some type of install media you are good to go.