Need to reinstall macOS Sonoma on MacBook Pro A1990 using only a Windows PC

[Nha Trang]

Hi All,
I have a MacBook Pro model A19xx. The existing macOS installation has crashed, and I do not have access to another Mac.
I currently have:

• A Windows 10 or 11 PC
• A 32GB USB flash drive
• Internet access
• No working macOS computer

ChatGPT recommends installing macOS Sonoma 14.8.7 for the MacBook so I would like to perform a clean installation of this macOS version from an USB and do not want to try Internet Recovery for the MacBook.

Can I reliably create the installer USB from Windows and use it?

I would prefer an original, unmodified Apple installer and do not want to use an unofficial customized macOS image.

Please explain steps I should use to create the installer USB and then use it to install Sonoma on the MacBook

Look towards to getting your instructions.

Thank you
N.T

 

[haralds]

You can boot into Recovery and install from there.

 

[iStorm]

It can be a lot of work to do it from Windows, and you can't do it "natively". You need to find a DMG that someone has extracted (who knows if they touched it) and use a third-party tool to make the USB installer. There are plenty of guides and videos online that show how to do this, such as this one. I'm sure ChatGPT could even tell you the steps.

Personally, I would just do an Internet Recovery and get a working (latest) version of macOS installed directly from Apple.

If you really want 14.8.7 (or any other version), then head over to Mr. Macintosh's site and find the link to download the PKG installer from Apple. Now you can make the bootable USB installer the official way and not worry about it being tampered with.

 

[benholt]

Worth flagging one thing about the A1990 specifically — it's a T2 machine, and by default the T2 blocks booting from external media (Startup Security Utility default is "no external boot"). Unless a prior owner explicitly enabled external boot before it crashed, a Windows-made installer USB will boot-refuse no matter how cleanly you build it. Internet Recovery gets around this because the T2 handles that path itself.

If you're set on avoiding Internet Recovery, borrowing 20 minutes on any working Mac (library, coworker, coffee shop with a friend) is way faster than the Windows route — createinstallmedia on the PKG iStorm linked and you're done.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Step by step, and you won't need the Windoze computer 😉

1. Use Internet Recovery to install the latest version of macOS
2. Download Sonoma
3. Make a bootable installer
4. Enable USB boot
5. Internet Recovery again, erase the Mac
6. Install Sonoma from USB

 

[Fishrrman]

The short answer is:
You're going to have to find another Mac somewhere...

 

[bzgnyc2]

Worth flagging one thing about the A1990 specifically — it's a T2 machine, and by default the T2 blocks booting from external media (Startup Security Utility default is "no external boot"). Unless a prior owner explicitly enabled external boot before it crashed, a Windows-made installer USB will boot-refuse no matter how cleanly you build it. Internet Recovery gets around this because the T2 handles that path itself.

If you're set on avoiding Internet Recovery, borrowing 20 minutes on any working Mac (library, coworker, coffee shop with a friend) is way faster than the Windows route — createinstallmedia on the PKG iStorm linked and you're done.

If the computer is still in Secure Boot="Full Security" / Allowed Boot Media="Disallow from external or removable media..." mode, will any USB installer -- even created the official way from another Mac -- work?

If the OP can't even get to the recovery partition to go to Startup Security Utility (and/or the macOS installation is so corrupted that that utility can't verify the Administrator password) are there any alternatives to an Internet Recovery (if helpful the Command-Option-Shift-R version) or a DFU install (assuming Activation Lock / Find My is not enabled)?