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Question about Giving MacBook Air Away

S

samcow

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 20, 2015
156
113
Hi, my fiancees sister needs a laptop, and I'm going to give her my old 2013 MacBook Air. I now have a 13 inch TB, and while I was considering returning it in view of battery life, this is just the excuse I was looking for to decide to permanently keep it (I rather like it, just assume I'll have some buyers remorse when V2 drops).

My understanding is that to give away an old MacBook, one is to (1) log out of iTunes, (2) sign out of iCloud, (3) sign out of iMessage, (4) erase and reinstall MacOS.

Now, I imagine that if I did that, mailed it to her, she would be able to follow the standard prompts and create an account, and so forth. However, it'd be running an OS from 2013, and unless it literally forces her to upgrade I really doubt she will. Ignoring whether some people prefer the version from 2013, I would prefer her to be running the most current OS.

Is there any way to do the above 4 steps, and then have it so that when she starts the laptop the OS version is the most recent? For instance, can I make an account, upgrade everything, then somehow delete my account while retaining the most recent OS version?
 
bcave098 said:
I would update the software before doing step 4, then it will be up-to-date after that step.
Click to expand...
It's running the most recent version, but I thought that once I do step 4 the laptop will start with the version of OS X that it initially came with?

For instance, this link seems to say that https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 "Choose Reinstall macOS (or Reinstall OS X) from the utilities window, then follow the onscreen instructions.
This installs the system that came with your Mac when it was new. It isn't associated with your Apple ID, so the new owner can use the App Store to upgrade to a later version using their Apple ID."
 
bcave098 said:
That's if you use Internet Recovery, but you can use regular recovery to keep the same version.
Click to expand...
Oh ok, and that will delete all my own data and such? Meaning, when she gets it and opens the lid, it will just walk through the initial set up process but be on the latest version?
 
samcow said:
Oh ok, and that will delete all my own data and such? Meaning, when she gets it and opens the lid, it will just walk through the initial set up process but be on the latest version?
Click to expand...
Yes... but there is a catch you should tell your friend about. When you command-r boot to recovery and erase then reinstall from Sierra, you will get Sierra and all will be well. But to do that you will need to enter your AppleID that was used to "purchase" Sierra to get the download. That's okay too and not a problem. But if your friend ever wants to reinstall for any reason, she will get that same prompt for an AppleID and she will be stuck because her AppleID never "purchased" Sierra. So tell her as soon as she gets the MacBook setup for herself to open the App Store app and login with her AppleID, then purchase Sierra. After the purchase she can just cancel the download. This way she has a purchase of Sierra associated with her AppleID should she ever need to reinstall the OS for any reason.
 
Weaselboy said:
Yes... but there is a catch you should tell your friend about. When you command-r boot to recovery and erase then reinstall from Sierra, you will get Sierra and all will be well. But to do that you will need to enter your AppleID that was used to "purchase" Sierra to get the download. That's okay too and not a problem. But if your friend ever wants to reinstall for any reason, she will get that same prompt for an AppleID and she will be stuck because her AppleID never "purchased" Sierra. So tell her as soon as she gets the MacBook setup for herself to open the App Store app and login with her AppleID, then purchase Sierra. After the purchase she can just cancel the download. This way she has a purchase of Sierra associated with her AppleID should she ever need to reinstall the OS for any reason.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure with Sierra (and, presumably, later) it's no longer associated with an Apple ID, and we no longer see it under "Purchased" in the App Store.
 
bcave098 said:
I'm pretty sure with Sierra (and, presumably, later) it's no longer associated with an Apple ID, and we no longer see it under "Purchased" in the App Store.
Click to expand...
I know it is no longer under purchased, but I believe you still need to enter the AppleID in recovery to get Sierra. Have you tested this? I have not.
 
Weaselboy said:
I know it is no longer under purchased, but I believe you still need to enter the AppleID in recovery to get Sierra. Have you tested this? I have not.
Click to expand...
Hm, I was planning on sending her the wiped laptop tomorrow (it's currently wiped and set up such that when the lid opens the initial set up screen is presented). This does sound like a potential issue, I'll tell her to follow the instructions you advised.
 
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