can't find osx mavericks in app store

Sorry, but Mavericks is not currently available for download now that Yosemite has been released.

Upgrading to Mountain Lion

To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase a redemption code at the Online Apple Store: OS X Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. Use the code to redeem a download of Mountain Lion from the App Store. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.

OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion

1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later.

2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model

Identifier 5,1 or later.

3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later.

4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later.

5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later.

6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later.

7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later.

To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.

Are my applications compatible?

See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.

Apple removed it. Unless they tell you otherwise, which they probably won’t, you can’t get it.

(117332)

In my App Store > Purchases list I do see 'Mavericks' among the many app upgrades that I've downloaded.

In my App Store > Purchases list I do see 'Mavericks' among the many app upgrades that I've downloaded.

Yes, on mine too. And downloading it seems to work.

This is likely only going to work if you had already "purchased" Mavericks which is why it's on your list. It may not work if you are already running Yosemite.

Right. Some more details on the original poster's situation would be helpful. My best guess is that you've recently purchased a used Mac. so my thought was maybe the seller would consider running the upgrade for you before handing over. However, I'm not sure that's the best long-term solution as future OS X upgrades might require having that same original owner AppleID.

I ended up getting an Apple Genius to help me get a clean install accomplished. If you have an Apple Retail store convenient to you that's probably the way to go but again you'll need to be able to demonstrate that you are a valid purchaser (Apple ID or receipt). Even so, you're choice will be to go with Mountain Lion if you want the iLife app suite or you can jump straight to Mavericks if you're willing to leave those behind (or purchase individually I presume).

so my thought was maybe the seller would consider running the upgrade for you before handing over.

Unfortunately, that would violate the licensing agreement. Any OS or app obtained at the app store is not transferable and is tied to the Apple ID used to obtain it forever (not just future upgrades). It would also mean that he would never be able to reinstall the OS or update any apps as these would require the original Apple ID.

or you can jump straight to Mavericks

which he cannot do : since he had not purchased it previously, it is no longer available.

If you haven't downloaded ("purchased") Mavericks previously, it is not available any longer. The app store is the only place to obtain any Mac OS legally. As there have been quite a few people wanting it, we can only hope that Apple will make it available again; if not, your only choice would be to go to Yosemite.

Kappy wrote:

This is likely only going to work if you had already "purchased" Mavericks

Cee Bee runOSX wrote:

Right. Some more details on the original poster's situation would be helpful. My best guess is that you've recently purchased a used Mac. so my thought was maybe the seller would consider running the upgrade for you before handing over. However, I'm not sure that's the best long-term solution as future OS X upgrades might require having that same original owner AppleID.

What you are suggesting is a violation of Apples license terms, quite apart from any other issues.