Imaging an older version of 10.8 than a Mac shipped with
I just got in a few of the new iMacs with recently updated hardware. Our current base image was built on 10.8.3, after which we use Software Update to get to 10.8.5. However, the new models ship with 10.8.4 and won't boot our base image (flashing question mark folder). I'm about to test updating the the base to 10.8.5 but is the general practice that a Mac won't boot with an older OS version than is ships from the factory with? I thought 10.8.3 to 10.8.4 would be a reasonalbe difference but apparently not. And should I update the base image or build a new one from this new iMac model. The 10.8.3 base was build on an iMac that shipped with 10.8.0 or 10.8.1.
The bigger picture concern is that with the new Mac Pros shipping sometime soon, will we be able to run MtLion at all if the units ship with Mavericks? That's a lot of security evaluation and prep work that we weren't ready for. I welcome the community's input. Thanks.