Bought a second hand MacBook Air, do i have to upgrade to Big Sur.

[Z3man]

I have just purchased a second hand MacBook air 2014 that is on Mojave.

I haven't actually received it yet it is on its way to me.

The previous owner has restored it as a "new computer" for resale, but when he turned it on again on the "new computer" page it is promoting him to install Big Sur.

I don't want to upgrade to Big Sur, will i have the option to leave it on Mojave?

Ideally i would like it on Catalina but Mojave will be fine if i can't get it on to Catalina.

I am getting this for my mother and she doesn't have any previous backups or anything like that.

 

[xboxbml]

I have just purchased a second hand MacBook air 2014 that is on Mojave.

I haven't actually received it yet it is on its way to me.

The previous owner has restored it as a "new computer" for resale, but when he turned it on again on the "new computer" page it is promoting him to install Big Sur.

I don't want to upgrade to Big Sur, will i have the option to leave it on Mojave?

Ideally i would like it on Catalina but Mojave will be fine if i can't get it on to Catalina.

I am getting this for my mother and she doesn't have any previous backups or anything like that.

I wouldn't go to Big Sur if you can help it. Personally, if you're starting from scratch on this machine, I would stay put where it is. It's up to you as to what you want, features, and security updates etc. that each offers. If you do update it from just starting the machine, it will go straight to Big Sur. You CAN go to Catalina if you want to, but only 10.15.7. That's where I am on this 2015 Air. You would have to make a bootable installer USB stick of Catalina. There are instructions out there. If you want to stay on Mojave and you want all the updates it has, and it's not already on 10.14.6, you would have to make a bootable USB installer of that version as well. Apple only makes the last version of a major release available on the Mac App Store, and it seems, only the last few. You could also do an internet recovery on that machine, and it would load the version it came with when that machine was released(I think). It's all up to you and what you want. Personally, I'm not going to Big Sur, most likely at all. It's too new, and I don't like where things are going.

 

[Z3man]

Thanks for all the info, i would be happy to leave it on Mojave.

So when i boot it up will it force me to update to Big Sur, or will it give me the option to leave it as it is on Mojave.

 

[xboxbml]

Thanks for all the info, i would be happy to leave it on Mojave.

So when i boot it up will it force me to update to Big Sur, or will it give me the option to leave it as it is on Mojave.

Good question. I don't recall how it went for me. Mine came with High Sierra on it and I think I set it up and left it there. I updated it to Mojave a while after that. Maybe someone else who knows better can help.

 

[MBAir2010]

The MacBook air should start with Mojave (or what ever OSX you turned that off with) and if you need to recover the MacBook t factory settings, i think el Capitan.
your MacBook will not force you to use BigSur, there will be suggested updates, just dont update unless you want to. my MacBook air running Mojave has a red1 circle on the system preferences wanting me to upgrade, i simply ignore that.
Apples will never install anything without your permission unless the automatic update is selected in System Presences, still you need to authorize any new osx installations first.
i hope this cleared some questions and enjoy your MacBook!

 

[Z3man]

The MacBook air should start with Mojave (or what ever OSX you turned that off with) and if you need to recover the MacBook t factory settings, i think el Capitan.
your MacBook will not force you to use BigSur, there will be suggested updates, just dont update unless you want to. my MacBook air running Mojave has a red1 circle on the system preferences wanting me to upgrade, i simply ignore that.
Apples will never install anything without your permission unless the automatic update is selected in System Presences, still you need to authorize any new osx installations first.
i hope this cleared some questions and enjoy your MacBook!

Thanks for the info, what you have said is exactly what i thought might be the case, but makes no odds now as the MacBook turned up today and was already on Big Sur. So the previous owner had updated it, maybe not realising he didn't have to.

I have decided to leave it on Big Sur and see how my mother gets on with it, if she doesn't like it i will back date it using one of the methods already mentioned on this thread. Also means i can use her as a Guinea Pig for Big Sur, i will be able to just stick with Catalina and not update until i like what i see on my mother's using Big Sur.