New iMac 27" 3.2GHz - Downgrading from Yosemite to Mavericks

[bocktacular]

Would anyone know if the new iMacs that were released in October (NOT the Retina iMac) are able to be downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks? Or rather, can the drive be successfully wiped and re-imaged with a Mavericks-boot without issues? Has anyone tried this?

My place of work is looking to purchase new iMacs. We are trying to keep a standard drive image for compatibility purposes, and we are not quite ready to upgrade to Yosemite. I am struggling to find documentation on this.

Many thanks!

 

[jdphoto]

This should be doable. I don't see why you couldn't, those models ran Mavericks just fine before Yosemite came out.

 

[thedeske]

General rule - The Original OS that ships with a Mac is the oldest that you can use. After Oct16 iMacs? Likely 10.10 and nothing earlier.

We think the current Non 5k iMac is supposed to be unchanged from late 2013, but...?

A solution is to buy a late 2013 model. Plenty still in the chain at Apple and resellers.

 

[redheeler]

General rule - The Original OS that ships with a Mac is the oldest that you can use. After Oct16 iMacs? Likely 10.10 and nothing earlier.

Only applicable for new hardware configurations, such as the new Retina iMacs, which won't natively run Mavericks (I've even tried). Prior iMacs, even those sold after October 16, should still run Mavericks just fine. The hardware inside them is identical to the pre-October 16 ones since there were no hardware updates of any kind released. You might even get one from old stock still on Mavericks

 

[thedeske]

Only applicable for new hardware configurations, such as the new Retina iMacs, which won't natively run Mavericks (I've even tried). Prior iMacs, even those sold after October 16, should still run Mavericks just fine. The hardware inside them is identical to the pre-October 16 ones since there were no hardware updates of any kind released. You might even get one from old stock still on Mavericks

Well , i did say "General Rule"
A new production run might include something on the chip revision that allows for a few changes and something on the board, etc, etc. Hard to say until we see someone trying to "Back Out" of the shipping OS and confirming it works.