OS and App Store question

[Ambrosia7177]

I wanted to clarify some things about how the App Store worked in the past.

In a previous thread of mine, I was told that in the past your OS was linked to your Apple ID. (Starting with Sierra, that is no longer true.)

I'm not sure that I understand what that means.

For instance, I have an old MBP that came with Mountain Lion.

Because it was after Snow Leopard, it didn't come with a "recovery DVD", but because this was several years ago, old versions of OS-X were still available online. (I believe.)

So with that MBP, how would I have gotten ahold of Mountain Lion?

Would I have had to buy Mountain Lion to see it in the App Store?

Would I have needed to have an Apple ID to see it in the App Store?

Or would I have needed both an Apple ID, and to have bought Mountain Lion, to see it in the App Store?

 

[DeltaMac]

If your MBPro came with Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.x) originally, then no need to purchase Mountain yourself.
But, you could have purchased Mountain Lion at that time, if you wanted to do that. It would have been at no charge, because you already "owned" Mountain Lion - your new MBPro came with it. The "Purchase" would have been for the purpose of downloading your own copy of the installer, but, again, not really needed unless you wanted to reinstall, and didn't want to wait for the installer files to download.
Yes, you would have needed to log in with your AppleID credentials to download Mountain Lion.
For your last question, you don't need an AppleID account to show any app in the App Store.
However, Mountain Lion has not been available as a new purchase in the App Store since the release of Mavericks, IIRC.
Apple pulls the app product page for macOS system installs pretty quickly when a new system is released. I have ALL downloadable OS X systems from 10.7 to 10.11 on my "Purchased" page in the App Store, because I have purchased all of those over time, and I can download any of those older system installers on Macs that support them.
For example, I can download Lion on a MacBook 4,1. But, I cannot download Yosemite on the same MacBook 4,1 - because Yosemite is not supported natively on that old Macbook. But, I can download anything from Mountain Lion to High Sierra on my 2012 mini - all of those are supported on the mini.
The only product page is for High Sierra, but all other older downloadable systems are on my Purchased page - because I have purchased or downloaded all of those. AFAIK, it is not possible to add older systems to your Purchased page that you have never purchased.
THAT, my friend, is the AppleID link, and not the actual installer apps, but the fact that those various versions are all a part of the purchases that I have made over time.
I think that you can add Lion and Mountain Lion to your purchases, because both of those are still available for purchase through the online Apple web store. I don't think you can do the same with any newer systems (but I am just guessing about that )
Lion
Mountain Lion
I am pretty sure that the only way you can download either of those would be on a Mac that does natively support either 10.7 or 10.8

 

[Ambrosia7177]

If your MBPro came with Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.x) originally, then no need to purchase Mountain yourself.
But, you could have purchased Mountain Lion at that time, if you wanted to do that. It would have been at no charge, because you already "owned" Mountain Lion - your new MBPro came with it. The "Purchase" would have been for the purpose of downloading your own copy of the installer, but, again, not really needed unless you wanted to reinstall, and didn't want to wait for the installer files to download.
Yes, you would have needed to log in with your AppleID credentials to download Mountain Lion.
For your last question, you don't need an AppleID account to show any app in the App Store.
However, Mountain Lion has not been available as a new purchase in the App Store since the release of Mavericks, IIRC.
Apple pulls the app product page for macOS system installs pretty quickly when a new system is released. I have ALL downloadable OS X systems from 10.7 to 10.11 on my "Purchased" page in the App Store, because I have purchased all of those over time, and I can download any of those older system installers on Macs that support them.
For example, I can download Lion on a MacBook 4,1. But, I cannot download Yosemite on the same MacBook 4,1 - because Yosemite is not supported natively on that old Macbook. But, I can download anything from Mountain Lion to High Sierra on my 2012 mini - all of those are supported on the mini.
The only product page is for High Sierra, but all other older downloadable systems are on my Purchased page - because I have purchased or downloaded all of those. AFAIK, it is not possible to add older systems to your Purchased page that you have never purchased.
THAT, my friend, is the AppleID link, and not the actual installer apps, but the fact that those various versions are all a part of the purchases that I have made over time.
I think that you can add Lion and Mountain Lion to your purchases, because both of those are still available for purchase through the online Apple web store. I don't think you can do the same with any newer systems (but I am just guessing about that )
Lion
Mountain Lion
I am pretty sure that the only way you can download either of those would be on a Mac that does natively support either 10.7 or 10.8

@DeltaMac,

That was a mouthful!

It sounds like you were saying when I first got my MBP with Mountain Lion on it, if I had an Apple ID and I went to the App Store, I could have "purchased" Mountain Lion for $0 since I had it on my Mac and then that would have linked mountain Lion to my Apple ID and I would still up t this day be able to see and download Mountain Lion an a system that supports it, correct?

 

[DeltaMac]

@DeltaMac,

That was a mouthful!

It sounds like you were saying when I first got my MBP with Mountain Lion on it, if I had an Apple ID and I went to the App Store, I could have "purchased" Mountain Lion for $0 since I had it on my Mac and then that would have linked mountain Lion to my Apple ID and I would still up t this day be able to see and download Mountain Lion an a system that supports it, correct?

OK, I guess I was a bit long on that post... But, yes, if you had downloaded Mountain Lion from the App Store back in the day, it would still be visible to you as a download from your "Purchased" tab in App Store on any Mac that you are signed in to your AppleID, but only downloadable on a Mac that support Mountain Lion.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

OK, I guess I was a bit long on that post... But, yes, if you had downloaded Mountain Lion from the App Store back in the day, it would still be visible to you as a download from your "Purchased" tab in App Store on any Mac that you are signed in to your AppleID, but only downloadable on a Mac that support Mountain Lion.

I appreciated the details, but just wanted to summarize what I thought you said.

It sounds like I never downloaded Mountain Lion while logged in with an Apple ID back in the day.

I do have El Capitan in my App Store, so I must have downloaded that when I upgraded. (Think I did that when my MBP got fried in the hot Texas sun...)

So if you downloaded/purchased an OS with your Apple ID prior to Sierra, then it should remain in your account indefinitely, right?

But from Sierra onward, if you want an OS, you better download it and keep it, because you can't go back later and access it like you can with all of those OS version from the past, right?

 

[DeltaMac]

That is mostly correct.
But, there are links to Apple support pages that allow you to get either El Capitan and Sierra, even if you have not previously purchased those. (Neither are considered purchases, apparently Apple decided to change the policy after El Capitan)
El Capitan
Sierra

I expect that will continue as High Sierra is replaced with whatever is coming next.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

That is mostly correct.
But, there are links to Apple support pages that allow you to get either El Capitan and Sierra, even if you have not previously purchased those. (Neither are considered purchases, apparently Apple decided to change the policy after El Capitan)
El Capitan
Sierra

I expect that will continue as High Sierra is replaced with whatever is coming next.

Thanks @DeltaMac

I'm in the middle of something this weekend, but when I can, will experiment with all of the links you provided!