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Level 1

8 points

Upgrading Mac Mini without Apple ID

I bought an Mac Mini at a garage sale and reformatted it back to factory settings. It runs great but now want to go up to the latest OS which it asks for all the time but it wants an Apple ID before I can do this. Can I upgrade it without an Apple ID? I am going to sell it at some point so I don't want to get an Apple ID because I want the new user to personalize it for themselves. I don't want to lock down an Apple ID for myself.

Anyway to do this? I want to go to High Sierra.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Apr 20, 2018 3:04 PM

Best reply

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,966 points

Posted on Apr 21, 2018 2:45 AM

PS: Note section #6 in the article instruction that covers part of your concern:

Erase your hard drive and reinstall macOS

The best way to restore your Mac to factory settings is to erase your hard drive and reinstall macOS.

"After macOS installation is complete, the Mac restarts to a Welcome screen and asks you to choose

a country or region. IF you want to leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup

of your system. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the

Mac, setup assistant will guide them through the setup process."

..also to be found (as companion article to macOS Recovery ) here..

• How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Good luck & happy trails! 🙂

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37 replies

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Apr 30, 2018 6:26 PM in response to forjonny

They would be illegal. Mac OS downloads are not transferable and tied to the Apple ID used to obtain them. The only legal source for any Mac OS (lion and newer) is Apple (and its' app store). And, they may or may not work with updates since they were created with the sellers' Apple ID.

What is the problem with creating an Apple ID? It will fade away if you don't use it.

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2018 10:26 AM in response to Phil0124

Ok, I used my ID that I use for this forum and it says that I never used it for the Apple store and for me to update my info. When I did that it wanted me to put in a credit card number before it would go any farther even though it said that the High Sierra was a free upgrade. How I got to that I clicked on the Apple>>Software Update>>it then went to a screen saying High Sierra upgrade free.

Well, why do I have to give up my credit card info before I confirm who I am?

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2018 10:57 AM in response to leroydouglas

So I cannot upgrade to High Sierra unless I complete my credit card info? Boy I am getting sucked in more and more. So if I give my credit card info then what will they ask for? My will, my bank account, my first born, will I have to cut my hair, go to church at least once or what?

I go to this Software Update and get into a High Sierra page and then there is no download. I go to the Apple store and choose High Sierra and it says, "download macos High Sierra" and it then goes to a screen that has no download button. I found something under Mac os High Sierra support. I click on that and it takes me to the same screen saying "download macos High Sierra" which is the same screen. I click on that and it goes back to the screen that says Mac os High Sierra support again. It's in a constant loop and won't start any download. It just sits there. I have done this 6 times now and putting my ID in 6 times.

So what's going on? It wants a credit card info before it downloads?

No wonder I don't like macs.

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2018 11:22 AM in response to babowa

Anyhow it's not giving me the download even though it says it's free. The download link does nothing. I have not put in any credit card info into my account. I am getting emails that I am signed into iTunes and iCloud too.

Oh well, back to Microsoft. Anyone want to buy this thing? Large 27" screen, nice looking.

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2018 11:25 AM in response to babowa

Such an attitude? I have trying to do this for a week now! If this was a Microsoft machine, I would of been done within an hour. Yes when you don't straight answers then you do get an attitude.

With my Apple Id that I have, I should be able to click on Upgrade to High Sierra and it should say that it is downloading the 4GB file and then load it.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2018 12:17 PM in response to babowa

OSX Mountain Lion 10.8.5 - Mac Mini Serial number: C0*******WYL Model number A1347- Looks like they started to make this particular unit on Oct, 23, 2012 - Apple Mac mini "Core i5" 2.5 (Late 2012)

All these websites say to go to the store, click on Hi Sierra and then on then next page click the download link. Well there is no download link. Just info on Hi Sierra, no link.

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 2, 2018 1:38 PM in response to babowa

Well I think it is doing it. But **** I had to set up 3 security questions and it wanted an alternative email account. It would not let me do any of my email accounts. It said something about they were already in use or something which did not make sense. I tried all 5 of my other email accounts. So I couldn't do that email thing so I just hit OK instead and it is now doing something. Looks like it downloading High Sierra on an Untitled Disk whatever that means. Well let's see what happens because I can't even update or download simple things like Garage Band. Says that I need a newer OS.

Ok, thanks. Will let the discussion know what happened.

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

May 2, 2018 2:11 PM in response to forjonny

Unlike some other companies, Apple really is very privacy and security conscious, especially since a lot of people like to get their iDevices for free (steal them). Make sure you can remember (or keep a record of) your passwords, etc or you might find yourself in trouble).

When the download is finished, you should get a window which will be the installer. At that point, you can hit the go ahead button or, if you want to make a copy of it (good idea), dismiss the installer and go to your Applications folder. You should find an app called "install Mac OS X" or similar there. That is the complete installer; you can copy/paste that onto an external drive for safekeeping and then double click the installer to install. Make sure no other programs are running at that point. Also unplug any peripherals except mouse and keyboard.

The reason behind keeping a copy of the installer: Apple removes OS versions from the app store when a new one comes out, so it's handy to have one saved somewhere just in case.

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 2, 2018 8:17 PM in response to babowa

Ok as I got the High Sierra ver. 10.13.4 using my Apple ID that I found out that I had for awhile. Now if I want to sell this machine in the future how do I get my name disconnected from this device so the next person can personalize it for themselves and get their own Apple ID? Do I have to go back to factory settings and then let it come back to the new startup again? Or can I de-authorize it from myself and reauthorize it for someone else?

forjonny Author

Level 1

8 points

May 3, 2018 9:23 AM in response to babowa

Wow, R U saying that it will go back to Mountain Lion? That would be a big hassle. I though that my new High Sierra was now my native OS and Mountain Lion is now gone forever. Is this right? If this is right then I guess it's better to boot High Sierra from a USB or DVD to wipe Mountain Lion off the face of the computer.

BTW Babowa, You da man! If you are a man.