Oct 05, 2015 But, we'll need install media (currently 10.10 is installed), and I figured I'll just go ahead and create a USB install media of El Capitan. However, the only place I see to get it is through the. The Apple ID is just to verify you have El Cap. It does not sync your Apple ID to the OS. Once the OS is installed it’ll go through the standard user account setup on a brand new machine. It’s when you create the user account that you have the sync option. At this point you can just turn off the laptop by holding the power button. If you have a Mac of your own, you could download it onto a large capacity flash drive, and then copy it onto your friend’s Mac to install it. The installer itself doesn't need an Apple Id, but it may want you to sign into iCloud after installatio.
To get the latest features and maintain the security, stability, compatibility, and performance of your Mac, it's important to keep your software up to date. Apple recommends that you always use the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
Learn how to upgrade to macOS Big Sur, the latest version of macOS.
Check compatibility
The version of macOS that came with your Mac is the earliest version it can use. For example, if your Mac came with macOS Big Sur, it will not accept installation of macOS Catalina or earlier.
If a macOS can't be used on your Mac, the App Store or installer will let you know. For example, it might say that it's not compatible with this device or is too old to be opened on this version of macOS. To confirm compatibility before downloading, check the minimum hardware requirements:
- macOS Catalina 10.15 hardware requirements
- macOS Mojave 10.14 hardware requirements
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 hardware requirements
- macOS Sierra 10.12 hardware requirements
- OS X El Capitan 10.11 hardware requirements
- OS X Yosemite 10.10 hardware requirements
Download macOS using Safari on your Mac
Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. After downloading from the App Store, the installer opens automatically.
- macOS Catalina 10.15 can upgrade Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks
- macOS Mojave 10.14 can upgrade High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 can upgrade Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion
Safari downloads the following older installers as a disk image named InstallOS.dmg or InstallMacOSX.dmg. Open the disk image, then open the .pkg installer inside the disk image. It installs an app named Install [Version Name]. Open that app from your Applications folder to begin installing the operating system.
- macOS Sierra 10.12 can upgrade El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, or Lion
- OS X El Capitan 10.11 can upgrade Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard
- OS X Yosemite 10.10can upgrade Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard
I have an iMac(Early 2009) running Leopard (10.5.8). Now I want to upgrade my OS to El Capitan (10.11).
The situation is this one:
✔ my iMac version is listed under the upgradable devices
Install El Capitan Without Apple Id Password
✘ MacOSX 10.6.8 is required to be installed (due to Mac App Store introduction) on the iMac
Official solution (or what I undestood reading Apple website)
Install El Capitan Without Apple Id Software
- buy the DVD of Snow Leopard (10.6) from online Apple Store and install it on 10.5.8;
- update the OS until 10.6.8;
- use the App Store to download and install El Capitan.
Said that, after some search, I found this macworld article showing alternative methods to upgrade from 10.5.8 MacOSX version to a more recent one. This reading brought me to another solution:
Alternative solution
- use a Mac of a friend of mine which runs El Capitan to download El Capitan from Mac App Store;
- create a bootable usb stick from it;
- use it to do a clean install on my iMac (erasing all disk content before choosing the HDD in which to install El Capitan)
- configure my iMac creating my Apple ID
Questions
Install Macos El Capitan Without Apple Id
- Will solution 2 work?
- Is solution 2 legal?
Note
The linked article hit my questions' topics but I did not deeply understand nor the configuration of the Apple ID on the fresh installed El Capitan nor the legal aspects of the solution.