By deleting the partition, do you mean wiping the whole hard drive?
That's what I've done. In Disk Utility I wiped the whole SSD by creating one new partition called Macintosh SSD which used all the space.
Or is there another way to do it?
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MacBook Air Mid-2013 - Internet Recovery Downloads Yosemite?
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By deleting the partition, do you mean wiping the whole hard drive?
That's what I've done. In Disk Utility I wiped the whole SSD by creating one new partition called Macintosh SSD which used all the space.
Or is there another way to do it?
One answer is simple enough - install the system that you want to use - assuming it is one that your MBAir supports.
If your MBAir SHIPPED with Yosemite (and a mid 2013 did not, despite what you see), then an Apple tech can only restore from Yosemite. If it originally shipped with Mavericks (and a 2013 MBAir did), then Apple should support going to that version, too.
Even a refurbished "new" Mac (from the Apple store) will have the same system that was installed originally.
Get your own Mavericks installer. An Apple store may provide that, if you ask, for a Mac that should support Mavericks.
There might be some nominal fee to copy media, I don't know about that.
Or, get your own Mavericks installer, install it, and be done.
How can I get my own Mavericks installer?
That sounds like what z31fanatic told me to do. So either he was wrong or there is some other step needed.
If you check the Net for info on making a Hackintosh they will give steps and tools needed to make a bootable Lion/Mavericks flash drive. The source for Mavericks at this point is blurrier since it's not on the App Store now.
Hmm. I have a Hackintosh myself so it shouldn't be too hard.
However, will the MacBook Air be "official"? As in, as I'm not downloading the OS for it directly from the App store on the MacBook, will everything still function fine/get all the relevant security updates etc?
Yes... what you want to do is command-option-r boot to Internet recovery, or option key boot to the USB installer key. Then start Disk Utility and select the drive brand name itself at the very top of the left column. It will say something like Seagtae 1TB or whatever. Then in the erase tab select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and apply that change. That will erase the entire drive including any hidden recovery partitions left from previous OS installs.
Yup, that's how I've always deleted/completley wiped a Mac Hard drive, even on my Hackintosh and rMBP.
I wipe the whole drive at least 3 with the method you just stated.
Apple doesn't have "activation" policies like Windows because the software is designed to only work on Apple hardware to begin with. It's assumed if you're running it you have bought a Mac, and therefore already legally paid for the software, etc.
So for all intents and purposes, even if I used my Hackintosh or a my MBA 11 to download Mavericks from the App store, and then make a bootable USB, the MBA 13 will remain "official"? And there would be no difference in the OS?
What I'm basically asking is, will there be a difference in me downloading Mavericks from Internet Recovery or using another Mac to make a bootable USB and installing it that way?
If you don't erase the local recovery partition (not just the user partition), then it will reinstall the current OS based on the current recovery partition (or at least this is what happens to me). Did you erase everything before trying internet recovery?
Yes. I wiped the whole drive by partitioning the whole drive into 1 new partition.
Also, the recovery would have been a Mavericks recovery, as I have never installed Yosemite or upgraded to it.
It is very possible that the MBA you have is indeed a 2014 model manufactured in late 2014 and therefore originally shipped with Yosemite. The reason being that when the 2014 MBA was released only the stock option received a bump from 1.3 to 1.4GHz, the BTO remained the with same 1.7GHz processor. I reckon some BTO models continued to be identified as "mid-2013" because, in terms of hardware, that's what they were. I have a 1.7GHz myself bought right when it was launched in june of 2013 and in fact it shipped with Mountain Lion. That's what I get if I do an internet recovery.
Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I think Yosemite brought in some firmware updates that cannot be rolled back, no matter what you do. For instance, you can never get the old grey installing screen. What you get is the new black one from Yosemite, even if you're reinstalling a previous OS.
I don't think there's any difference. Remember that Apple used to sell an official USB installer of Lion. It's not like they use CD keys or anything to tie a version of OSX to a specific machine. The closest thing they have to "OEM versions" is those restore CDs they used to use years ago that only worked on the same model Mac.
Hmm it could be. I will be asking Apple soon. Hopefully they can flash it or something, or change something on their servers that makes my MacBook download Mavericks instead of Yosemite.
I've never installed Yosemite though, so therefore I haven't had any of Yosemites firmware upgrades?
My brother and I aren't big fans of the fonts of Yosemite, Mavericks looks much better on a non-retina screen when compared to Yosemite.
Furthermore, the contrast setting on Yosemite has just been turned way high. Mavericks looks so much better, even on my 13 Retina.
Again this is all my opinion, which is also shared by my brother. He's going to be living with Yosemite next year once the Skylake MacBooks come out.