Is there not a way to roll back an update?

[vitamanic]

So with 12.2, I'm one of the unlucky ones to have the 60 second Bluetooth wake issue, there's no way to put my MB to sleep now, it just continually wakes every minute, spinning up my external and so on.

Apparently Apple decided to remove the ability to restore a Time Machine backup from recovery starting with Big Sur, so your only option is to install the LATEST VERSION of macOS and then go through migration assistant. I had no idea this was a thing until now.

Now my only solution is to install from the recovery partition that shipped with my laptop (Catalina) and upgrade to/get stuck on Big Sur because if I update to Monterey afterwards I'll get stuck with 12.2 again.

Is there anything I can possibly do to get 12.1 back? This is infuriating. I can't imagine the only solution to this problem is going back an entire OS version through some convoluted process.

Thanks.

 

[BigBlur]

You can download the full installer for macOS 12.1 by running the following command in Terminal:
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 12.1

This will put the installer in the Applications folder. I believe you will need to wipe your disk in order to downgrade though. Directions can be found here on how to make a bootable USB installer.

 

[vitamanic]

You can download the full installer for macOS 12.1 by running the following command in Terminal:
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 12.1

This will put the installer in the Applications folder. I believe you will need to wipe your disk in order to downgrade though. Directions can be found here on how to make a bootable USB installer.

Thank you!

 

[Dave Braine]

Apparently Apple decided to remove the ability to restore a Time Machine backup from recovery starting with Big Sur,

Are you sure?

How to reinstall macOS – Apple Support (UK)

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer’s built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

 

[BigBlur]

Are you sure?

How to reinstall macOS – Apple Support (UK)

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer’s built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

Vitamanic is right. Starting with Big Sur, Time Machine no longer backs up the 'Macintosh HD' volume (where the OS lives). It only backs up the Data volume (where your files live). So it's not possible to rollback the OS with a Time Machine backup anymore. You have to reinstall the OS yourself, and then restore your files/data from the Time Machine backup.

 

[Dave Braine]

OK, thanks. Useful to know.

 

[NoBoMac]

Vitamanic is right. Starting with Big Sur, Time Machine no longer backs up the 'Macintosh HD' volume (where the OS lives). It only backs up the Data volume (where your files live).

This, but a minor caveat/nit for others' future reference.

"OS" is a little fuzzy in that, yes, core items that come with an OS install are in Mac HD and read-only, but some things that one might consider "OS" are also in the HD - Data volume. For example, Safari is installed in the user volume while Mail.app is in /System/Applications (but still seen by user as being in /Applications [done via "firmlinks"]). Machine/user specific system settings are also in the Data volume (eg. /Library).

Spoiler: /System/Applications

% ls /System/Applications
App Store.app        FaceTime.app        Messages.app        Preview.app        TV.app
Automator.app        FindMy.app        Mission Control.app    QuickTime Player.app    TextEdit.app
Books.app        Font Book.app        Music.app        Reminders.app        Time Machine.app
Calculator.app        Home.app        News.app        Shortcuts.app        Utilities
Calendar.app        Image Capture.app    Notes.app        Siri.app        VoiceMemos.app
Chess.app        Launchpad.app        Photo Booth.app        Stickies.app
Contacts.app        Mail.app        Photos.app        Stocks.app
Dictionary.app        Maps.app        Podcasts.app        System Preferences.app