Hey everyone, I think my friend has kind of bricked his M1 iMac. He installed the macOS Tahoe beta, but he didn't like it, so he tried to switch back to macOS Sequoia. He formatted the Macintosh HD using Disk Utility from the startup menu after installing Sequoia on a USB drive. However, now the iMac won't boot up properly, and he's stuck on a screen with a "!" symbol indicating something like "Apple Restore." He can't connect the USB drive directly because it's a USB-A drive and he only has access to a USB-C hub. To make things worse, he doesn't have another Mac to use with Apple Configurator for a reset. Is there any way to help him not lose his M1 iMac?
1 Answer
Sounds like your friend jumped into the beta pool without a life raft! Since he can’t borrow a Mac, his best bet might be to take the iMac to an Apple Store or an authorized service provider. They can help restore it back to factory settings.
Also, I have an M4 MacBook Air—can I use Apple Configurator to read his iMac that’s stuck in the boot loop?
But what if he buys a USB-A to USB-C adapter and connects the USB drive directly to the iMac? Would that let it boot from the USB with macOS Sequoia installed?