macOS 10.12.4 Recovery mode now able to install latest compatible version

As of macOS 10.12.4, released on Monday, a new keystroke combination at launch will allow Macs to netboot, and download the latest OS compatible with a computer when performing a recovery, potentially saving time and bandwidth.

Users holding Command-Option-R at startup will force a netboot, and will install the latest version of the operating system, up to date with all patches.

The previous recovery method, still done by hitting Command-R during startup, restores a Mac to the original version of macOS/OS X that that the machine shipped with, blogger Thomas Brand noted on Thursday. The original behavior had been in place since OS X Lion, which shipped in July 2011.

Apple appears to be implementing a strategy similar to iOS reinstalls, but retaining flexibility. Once updated, iPhones, iPads, and iPods typically can't be restored to a previous version of iOS, except during a brief window when Apple is signing both new and old releases in case of technical glitches.

With iOS, some users have complained of slowdowns after major updates. In fact Apple has faced multiple lawsuits over the issue, arguing that company knowingly ignored compatibility issues since it could push people into buying newer hardware.

Monday's releases included iOS 10.3, macOS Sierra 10.12.4, tvOS 10.2, and watchOS 3.2. Notable features for each include Find my Airpods on iOS 10.3, Night Shift on macOS Sierra 10.12.4, Theater Mode on watchOS 3.2, and better device management on tvOS 10.2.

8 Comments

petieg 24 comments · 14 Years

About 7 years ago

Is Command-R really going back to previous version? Or does it go back to the original version that the machine came with?

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

petieg said:

Is Command-R really going back to previous version? Or does it go back to the original version that the machine came with?

I thought Command-R would allow you to get the most up-to-date version of macOS available for your Mac.

taugust04_ai 106 comments · 8 Years

AppleInsider said:
The previous recovery method, still done by hitting Command-R during startup, restores a Mac to the version of macOS/OS X that it was on before the problems started, blogger Thomas Brand noted on Thursday. The original behavior had been in place since OS X Lion, which shipped in July 2011.

With iOS, some users have complained of slowdowns after major updates. In fact Apple has faced multiple lawsuits over the issue, arguing that company knowingly ignored compatibility issues since it could push people into buying newer hardware.

This isn't true - Macintosh Internet recovery previously installed the original operating system that shipped with the hardware - not when problems were occurring. This is a drastic timesaver in terms of bringing a machine up to the current OS in an easy fashion if booting from Internet recovery is required.

As for the "slowdowns after updates", its all about the cruff. As much as Microsoft and Apple have tried, upgrades still never beat a clean install. I've had friends with Macs and iOS devices with slowness problems, and a clean install usually resolves the issues about 99% of the time. The problem is that most folks are "lazy" and don't want to put the effort into a clean install.

taugust04_ai said:

AppleInsider said:
The previous recovery method, still done by hitting Command-R during startup, restores a Mac to the version of macOS/OS X that it was on before the problems started, blogger Thomas Brand noted on Thursday. The original behavior had been in place since OS X Lion, which shipped in July 2011.

With iOS, some users have complained of slowdowns after major updates. In fact Apple has faced multiple lawsuits over the issue, arguing that company knowingly ignored compatibility issues since it could push people into buying newer hardware.
This isn't true - Macintosh Internet recovery previously installed the original operating system that shipped with the hardware - not when problems were occurring.

So if I had done a clean install last week on a 4yo Mac, you're saying it wouldn't have installed 10.12.3, but whatever version of 10.8 or 10.9 that it originally shipped with?

Mike Wuerthele 6901 comments · 8 Years

taugust04_ai said:

AppleInsider said:
The previous recovery method, still done by hitting Command-R during startup, restores a Mac to the version of macOS/OS X that it was on before the problems started, blogger Thomas Brand noted on Thursday. The original behavior had been in place since OS X Lion, which shipped in July 2011.

With iOS, some users have complained of slowdowns after major updates. In fact Apple has faced multiple lawsuits over the issue, arguing that company knowingly ignored compatibility issues since it could push people into buying newer hardware.

This isn't true - Macintosh Internet recovery previously installed the original operating system that shipped with the hardware - not when problems were occurring. This is a drastic timesaver in terms of bringing a machine up to the current OS in an easy fashion if booting from Internet recovery is required.

As for the "slowdowns after updates", its all about the cruff. As much as Microsoft and Apple have tried, upgrades still never beat a clean install. I've had friends with Macs and iOS devices with slowness problems, and a clean install usually resolves the issues about 99% of the time. The problem is that most folks are "lazy" and don't want to put the effort into a clean install.

Ah, you're right- that's actually MY fault, not Roger's. I'll fix that now.

Honestly, I've never had to reboot into the restore partition. I'm a big fan of physical, external boot drives for this.