I'm in a bit of a jam with my 2017 iMac. It was running sluggish, so I decided to wipe it clean, but during the process, it froze and reset itself. Now, it's wiped and has no operating system. I also have a Mac mini and a MacBook Air, as well as a USB with Windows 11 recovery on it. I'm okay with switching to Windows if that's easier, but I'm wondering if I can use either of my other Macs to reinstall macOS. I can't seem to get past the utilities, and every time I try to reinstall, I get a message that the "recovery server could not be contacted" for High Sierra. I've checked some forums for help, but a lot of it is confusing. I'd prefer to use the Mac mini, but since it's set up in my studio and I don't have an extra monitor, I might have to make that sacrifice to get the iMac working again. Any advice?
3 Answers
You can use macOS Recovery on your Intel-based iMac. Just hold down Command + Option + R during startup to enter recovery mode and try to reinstall the OS from there.
Your iMac should be compatible with macOS Ventura. However, the newer Macs won't let you create a bootable installer since they shipped with a more recent OS. If you can access recovery mode, that’s your best shot!
I'm currently using my 2017 iMac with macOS Ventura 13.7.8, and it's running really well! If you're looking to upgrade, definitely aim for that version.
That's great to hear! I just need to figure out how to get it downloaded.