2012 Mac

[Fred Claus]

I'm at a loss, and need some advice. I got a client who gave me an old 2012 Mac, and asked if I could wipe it and donate the unit to a needy family. When I wipe it, the system puts 10.8.5 on. I try to update to the latest but it won't let me. Then they suggest I try to update to 10.11 first. I do that the dpk file says it installed, but when I reboot it still shows 10.8.5. What am I doing wrong that it's not updating to 10.11?

 

[sapphirescales]

You need to make your own Mac OS install USB and install from that. I would never do a base install and then try to upgrade the 10 or so versions to the latest version. That's bound to be fraught with issues.

 

[timeshifter]

2012 iMac can probably go higher than 10.11

 

[sapphirescales]

2012 iMac can probably go higher than 10.11

A 2012 iMac can go to 10.15.

 

[dee001]

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Use an external drive or secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install macOS.

support.apple.com

Macworld

Macworld is your ultimate guide to Apple's product universe, explaining what's new, what's best and how to make the most out of the products you love.

www.macworld.co.uk

 

[overburnz]

I'm at a loss, and need some advice. I got a client who gave me an old 2012 Mac, and asked if I could wipe it and donate the unit to a needy family. When I wipe it, the system puts 10.8.5 on. I try to update to the latest but it won't let me. Then they suggest I try to update to 10.11 first. I do that the dpk file says it installed, but when I reboot it still shows 10.8.5. What am I doing wrong that it's not updating to 10.11?

Try this: boot up and press cmd + alt + R and try recovery by the internet, it should boot up the Catalina installer

 

[overburnz]

2012 iMac can probably go higher than 10.11

all 2012 models upgrade to macOS Catalina , a useful tool for specs search and macOS compatibility (for mac only) is Mactracker very usefull

 

[timeshifter]

all 2012 models upgrade to macOS Catalina , a useful tool for specs search and macOS compatibility (for mac only) is Mactracker very usefull

Yep, you're preaching to the choir here. I've had that app for a long time. Didn't try looking it up as the OP wasn't too specific about which iMac he had (other than saying 2012).

 

[Fred Claus]

Thanks all. Can I tell you how stupid I am? What I was doing was downloading and installing the installer. If I read the instructions COMPLETELY I would have seen that after the steps I did, I was supposed to go find a file in Finder called "install(Whatever the version was)" and run that. Once I realized that I was fine. I think I got it updated to not the latest OS but the one before it. That's as far as I can go with this one.

 

[Markverhyden]

Thanks all. Can I tell you how stupid I am? What I was doing was downloading and installing the installer. If I read the instructions COMPLETELY I would have seen that after the steps I did, I was supposed to go find a file in Finder called "install(Whatever the version was)" and run that. Once I realized that I was fine. I think I got it updated to not the latest OS but the one before it. That's as far as I can go with this one.

If you're using the Apple store it always downloads to the Applications folder. Lately it's just been an installer that's kind of like a stub file. All it does is download, to some temp location, and launch the actual tar ball. But there are ways to still get those tar balls for doing non-Internet connected installs.