New September 2017 iMacs - downgrade to Sierra?

As for making an installer - why not do it the easy way: download the installer and simply keep it. All you need is a bootable drive, have that installer in the App folder and run it from there. Or, install it on a bootable drive and use it as a bootable clone. All of mine are bootable clones.

Well that might explain an anomaly with a third party download of El Cap that I found from a non-Apple website - I get a warning that the system wants to verify the install.

You do realize that the only legal way to obtain an OS (or any Apple app) is from the app store. No one else has a legal copy - period. And, the license specifically states that it is NOT transferable (it is tied to the Apple ID used to obtain it), so all those third parties hawking illegal copies are simply trying to make money by selling bootlegged OS copies. I wouldn't go near any of them. And, what usually happens is that you can possibly run it, but you cannot reinstall or update apps (requires the original Apple ID).

Hi. Did you use any workaround to do so ? I'm trying to downgrade a new iMac 27" (shipped yesterday to me), so I deleted all APFS partitions and ran Sierra installer from a USB disk but when the computer rebooted I got an error and it won't work. I can't even use cmd+R to get Apple recovery utilities . I tried twice, then I reinstalled HS with USB key...

I'm facing a similar problem right now.

I just got my new iMac this week. 2TB SSD with High Sierra and APFS.

First scary discovery, Disk Utility doesn't have any HFS option to reformat the SSD drive, only APFS.

I cloned the boot drive from my current iMac (2010) 1TB SSD with macOS 10.12.6 Sierra using CCC5.

I just finished restoring the backup to the new iMac and although it copied the User directory, none of the System or Library directory was restored and the drive is not listed as bootable in the SYstem Preferences Start Up. No error messages from CCC5.

I read through all the comments on this thread, but didn't see anything about APFS. Is Apple forcing us to only format the iMac's SSD drive with APFS? Am I correct that you cannot install 10.12.6 on an APFS system.

I hope this is not the end of the line, because I have legacy software that I use on a daily basis that doesn't run on High Sierra.

I have the same same questioned, I think that this is a Apple's marketing ploy. So people could buy the new model.

This same happened with my wife's iPhone 4s. As I update that phone recently the existing Applications including Apps, iTunes, whats up and messages. All applications were disappeared and unable to recover them.

Now only use the phone not as smartphone. That means, they want us to buy latest model. this is disgrace. Apple shouldn't do that.

Macmanmike, the link you posted is most useful, thank you! I thought I'd missed the boat on Sierra and was worried about going to High Sierra because I'm pretty sure it will kill some of my older software. I've also been looking for a download for El Capitan (my current system) so I can make a backup boot disc. If you had a similar link for that one, I'd be REALLY grateful! 🙂

Hello! You're most welcome. Yes, you can still download the El Capitan installer from the AppStore using a similar link:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/os-x-el-capitan/id1147835434?mt=12

For future reference if it ever comes up for other macOS versions, a Google Search for "el capitan download link" should give you a top search result like the below page, which contains the above link:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

Best,

Mike

Just as a cautionary note: unless Apple has changed their policy, as far as I know, that link (to obtain El Capitan) will only work with machines which are unable to run Sierra or HS or for machines currently on Snow Leopard or Lion. That is what that link was intended for. See this document here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

Or, of course, a machine with which you're downloaded it previously, but in that case, you do not need that link as you can just go to your Purchases page.

Thanks Macmanmike. Unfortunately it's here we reach an impasse. As Babowa says, there are limitations on this link which seem to apply to my machine (a late 2015 iMac which shipped with El Cap as standard). When trying to download the OS, I get the message from the screen grab below. And I can't use the purchased tab because I never downloaded it while it was available.

It's a pain as I don't believe it's unreasonable for a legitimate owner to want to create a boot disc in case of an emergency, but you need the installer to do it, and Apple very pro-actively makes it difficult to get that installer legitimately. (I realise there's a boot backup partition built into the machine, but that doesn't protect against disc faults that take down all partitions). And for many (indeed perhaps most) of us, upgrading every five minutes by default isn't feasible. In my case it would break my old Photoshop Elements 6, my Filemaker Pro 12 software, my seven year old Canon printer which still works flawlessly under El Cap, and I dare say any number of other expensive things that I use regularly.

Anyway, that's my little gripe for today. 😕 Thanks again for your help though Macmanmike and Babowa. At least I now have Sierra in the toolbox. But for now, it seems the hunt for El Cap continues! 😉

🙂

FWIW, Apple has withdrawn the OS from the app store as soon as a new one was introduced for some time now. There is a very simple way to have an installer of previous OS versions: just download the installer (e.g. High Sierra now) and dismiss the installer window when the download has finished. You will find the installer in your Applications folder - copy it to a safe place (external drive) and you'll have it should you need it. I've been doing that since Lion was introduced. Works like a charm - just need to be proactive.

Thanks Babowa. Yeh, I only learned all this recently. My previous Mac was a 17" Flat Panel G4 iMac, circa 2004, which maxed out at OS-X 10.5 Leopard. I finally replaced it in early 2016 with a late 2015 iMac, but a lot of changes had happened in the Mac world since Leopard which I'm only now catching up with.

However, like you, I have now made a point of downloading new OSs and keeping them in the toolbox, even if I don't intend to use them. Which was why I was so pleased with the Sierra download link posted by Macmanmike. So I now have Sierra and High Sierra, but just need El Cap to ensure I have maximum OS flexibility for my "new" iMac in the future. 🙂

Jeez! Could Apple make things any harder? 😟 What happened to "...it just works..."? What happened to "...the computer for the rest of us..."? Apple really have embraced everything that was wrong with PCs back in the day and inflicted those problems on modern Mac users! 😟

Anyway [...deep breath...] right, OK...

Well that might explain an anomaly with a third party download of El Cap that I found from a non-Apple website - I get a warning that the system wants to verify the install. Then, after a while, I get a warning telling me it wasn't downloaded from an Apple source. For this reason I'd have to be really desperate to use it, but in the absence of an official, safe El Cap download from Apple, I've kept it in the toolbox just in case. Maybe the date thing is what's tripping it up?

And perhaps even more worryingly, does this mean that the Sierra and High Sierra installers that I've now made a point of downloading and keeping will also have an expiry date?

Oh for the days when you could by an actual disc and it was yours to keep. I do rather object to paying good money for a lease to use something which the lease owner (Apple) can then break at any moment they choose.

But I guess that's progress. 😟

Thanks again for your thoughts. 🙂

Babowa,

I think you may have missed the main thrust of my earlier posts - apologies if I wasn't clear: "Just downloading..." the El Capitan installer is exactly what I'm trying to do, but Apple is preventing me from doing so due to its restrictive OS policy. My computer came with El Cap pre-installed so I've never downloaded it before. I did not know until recently that Apple's policy was so restrictive, and I only learned recently that the installer is needed to create a boot disc. In short, Apple won't let me download the El Capitan installer onto my computer.

Having come from a Leopard OS, and not owning a smartphone, even concepts like the App Store are relatively new to me. Now that I know about these restrictions, I have made a point of downloading and keeping Sierra and High Sierra, which can still be found, but I can't find any lawful copy of the El Cap installer that Apple will allow to be downloaded onto my iMac. The only other Apple computer I have access to is my old G4 iMac and that has no way of accessing the App Store that I know of, and even if it could, I imagine the App Store wouldn't allow the download on the basis that the G4 iMac couldn't run it.

And yes, I'm well aware of the laws concerning downloading OSs, but since it's Apple itself preventing me downloading a lawful copy of its own free software on my iMac, I'm afraid I feel no guilt about looking elsewhere for a copy. Though of course, any such software obtained via a third party site has to be treated with caution and, like you, given the choice I also would avoid like the plague, hence my earlier comment that I'd have to be "...really desperate to use it." But the fact is that Apple has taken that choice away from me by not allowing me to download an installer copy of the OS I'm currently using.

I am not going to comment any further on your arguments because of the ToU restrictions for these forums - we are not allowed to discuss or help with anything that may violate Apple's SLA or anything else illegal:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5952

The point is that Apple has an OS available for download under certain conditions; once they remove it, it is no longer available. The only legal source is the app store and the licensing agreements all include that you are only "purchasing" the license to use it - you do not own it and the license is not transferable.

Sorry, but having owned an older computer with an older OS is not a valid argument for not informing yourself. The "new" download-only-at-the-app store model and SLA changes have been around since 2011 when the first download only OS was introduced (Lion). That is now 6+ years and 7 OS versions later.