How to reinstall macOS HighSierra on my old Mac?

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125 points

How to reinstall macOS HighSierra on my old Mac?

Recently, I bought a brandnew MBP to replace my MBP from 2011. Now I want to sell my old MBP and install the newest macOS on it.

I reformatted my old MBP in MacOS Extended (Journaled) using Disk Utility from macOS Recovery. Then I restarted again in recovery mode by holding down option-command-R according to https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204904

Unfortunately, I can now only install Mac OS X Lion by logging into the AppStore using my AppleID, but no other/newer macOS. Why is that and how can I install the latest macOS (HighSierra 10.13.3) on my old Mac? I want to sell it with the newest macOS on it.

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), 3.1GHz Quad Core i7, 16GB, 1TB

Posted on Mar 6, 2018 5:46 AM

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Answer 1

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macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Mar 6, 2018 6:50 AM in response to airwalker

Yes, that's one issue, a new user. Unless the new owner wipes the disk and sets it up with their own Apple ID, it will tied to yours. Also there is a legal issue with the software. Although you see them being sold with newer OS it violates the license agreement.

FYI, ML, Mavericks and Yosemite are no longer available from the AppStore, so your upgrade route would be from Lion, to El Capitan to High Sierra. But it's easy enough for the new owner to do that themselves.

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Answer 2

airwalker Author

Level 1

125 points

Mar 6, 2018 6:28 AM in response to macjack

So there is no chance to sell it reformatted with macOS High Sierra? Because I see some MBP 2011 being sold online with the latest macOS on it.

Any chance I can just upgrade going through the AppStore from Lion to Mountain Lion to Mavericks to Yosemite, to Sierra to HighSierra and sell it then? But then, I guess, I will have to create a user account and I don't want that.

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