This item is temporarily unavailable Mac error

Hi andreas, did you ever find the solution to this? I'm having this exact same problem and I have no idea how to resolve it. 😢

I'm having the exact same problem.

Can't restore Lion using Internet restore, after replacing bad hard drive. Lion came on system.

Keep getting this message:

"This item is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later"

How can I restore this Macbook?

Sadly enough, I just ended up downloading Mavericks on another computer and using this page to create a bootable USB and went from there. Couldn't figure out a way to reinstall just from System Recovery. Hope you figure things out!

I'm having the same problem ... "This item is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later".

I'm having the same problem after completely erasing my whole hard drive. Anyone have any guess on when Apple is going to get on this problem? Seems like its been occurring in the past few days only...

Well - I got someone on the phone at Apple who knew what he was talking about - and it seems that some older MacBooks (the one I have is a late 2011 15" Pro) REQUIRE a certain firmware update in order to get OS X Lion back on a wiped drive using Internet Recovery. See Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery and find your model.

The trick of course, is doing it without an OS on the MacBook, since we all wiped the HD before we knew we needed the upgraded firmware! You can do the download of Mavericks & boot from USB stick, etc. as suggested previously (and upgrade the firmware after) - OR you can take your MacBook to an Apple Store where the "geniuses" will reinstall your OS - according to this Apple support guy - NO charge (just make a Genius Bar appointment first).

That's my plan.

Nice plan, unfortunately I'm from Czech Republic and we don't have genius bar. Authorised service will charge me. Any other solution?

Uh, save up for a vacation where there IS a Genius Bar? 😕 I will say at the Apple Store they plugged it into a boot server, did a quick scan for problems, loaded the OS, and I was in & out in less than 30 minutes. Apple Support (on the phone) did suggest I could download Mavericks on another Mac (a friend's?) put it on a USB drive (you need 8 GB) and boot & install from there. But it would somehow carry over the Apple ID of the other Mac. Worth a try I'd think.

I hope you have figured it out already. I encountered the same problem. The best solution may be to take it to the mac store, but here is what I did.

For some reason my mid2009 macbook pro didn't want to reset its install function to the factory settings, it wanted Lion (i believe Snow Leopard is factory settings for that one). I kept getting the "Item is temporarily unavailable" after inputting my Apple ID.

I purchased (yes, it stinks, but it was $20) a copy of Lion online. Just google search "Mac OS X [version] purchase" and it pops up. They send you a few emails; just follow the instructions and they get you a redemption code (redeemable only at the mac app store on your computer, no disc, annoying).

Since I had already wiped my mac, I had no way of redeeming the code. But I just logged in to the app store with my own Apple ID on my fathers computer and entered the redeem code (you have to be careful to just use the apple ID of the computer you want to install on, not my dad's, or your friend's). Once the redemption code is entered you are good to do the reinstall of mac OS x Lion.

Its installing now.

So basically what you're all saying is that if you don't have 2 mac's that this won't work? I did the same as everyone else (Hard drive wasn't booting correctly so I wiped the drive with an external boot of OS X Utilities). The problem I am having now is that I cannot download another OS X Mountain Lion through this utility (getting the "This item is temporarily unavailable. Try again later.") I can pull up the command line but have no intel on what the command would be in order to download/install the actual OS X. I also only have ONE macbook so download and installing it through an external drive is NOT an option and also do not have warranty on this machine (expired).

Well, I'm saying that you have to find a way to register the OS with your Apple ID. It might be something as simple as calling tech support, explaining your issue, and having them apply the credit to your account.

Have you purchased a new license for OS X Mountain Lion? You can get it here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion

They send an email within a few days and you can get your redeem code. At that point, you need to figure out a way to apply it to your desired Apple ID (no, just buying it through your apple ID doesn't work, you actually have to redeem it at the Mac App Store on you computer (which you don't have access to because you wiped your hard drive (same issue as me))).

Your issue is that you have no OS "credited" to your Apple ID. If you email someone with a Mac you trust with the info, they can access app store from their computer, login as your Apple ID, apply the credit (instructions are in the email they send you), and log back out. The whole process takes 2 minutes. You would be free to install from your own computer as long as you use the Apple ID your friend applied the code to.

Hope it helps.

Can't restore Lion using Internet restore, after replacing bad hard drive. Lion came on system.

Keep getting this message:

"This item is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later"

How can I restore this Macbook?

pls answer it..

same issue here. this *****.

help us Apple.

Hi, I'm in the same situation, I bought this machine from someone who has wiped it. and get the exact same message. I cannot get past this stage and am desperate to get it working again. Is there any work-around to get the ****** thing working again.

Finally, I got the answer!!!

first, you download OS X Recovery Disk Assistant v1.0 from apple, then create a recovery usb drive, then plug in the usb into your mac. when it power on, press option to select use the recovery disk you just made. you will found you can reinstall a OS x 10.10.