For anyone who has an extra 8 GB stick lying around-or for those willing to buy a less Apple-iconic key-refer to my story How to Make Your Own Apple OS X Lion Bootable USB Key. When I attached the drive and tried to run the installer it was, as the image to the left suggests, x-ed out. I tested first-hand using a Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 6 GB of RAM running OS X 10.5.8.
Next, just because this method of installation doesn't require the Mac App Store, don't expect to upgrade Macs running anything older than OS X 10.6.6. So don't lose that eminently losable key.
You will need to use the USB thumb drive to reinstall OS X Lion." Let's unpack this: Once you install OS X Lion using Apple's thumb drive, you will not have the option to restore your Mac via the Internet using Apple's Recovery HD partition. First, at the bottom of the Apple's Store posting is an "Important Notice" that is so important you probably won't see it: "When you install OS X Lion using the USB thumb drive, you will not be able to reinstall OS X Lion from Lion Recovery. Now that we're alone, Apple fanboys and girls, here are two key caveats (sorry).
While the Thumb Drive carries a premium over its Internet-savvy sibling, compared to Windows 7-which will set you back $110 for the Home Premium Upgrade-OS X Lion is a still a bargain, not to mention it arrives on a svelte USB key rather than a old-school disk. In other words, Apple is charging you more for an 8GB thumb drive than it is for the Macintosh Operating System. 1 inches (HWD)-but that doesn't change the fact that, at last check, you can get the storage on Logic Buy for $9. Granted it's a svelte little chip of plastic-it measures just 1.5 by. At $69, you're paying a $40 premium for the USB key, shipping, and distribution. There's one key reason (sorry) you might pass on Apple's thumb drive: price. Furthermore, if and when something breaks, you won't have to rely on Apple's Internet-based Recovery HD to restore your Mac. If you have sluggish or unreliable Internet connection, the USB method will be hands-down faster. Honestly, though, this drive isn't intended for PCMag's Labs.
Using the USB key was slightly faster than an Internet-install that relied upon PCMag's wireless networks, which required between 36 and 39 minutes. The entire process, from the initialization to reboot and installation took just 32 minutes. Similar to the iPhone or iPad, the drive mounts on your desktop with a visually representative icon, just in case you had other USB keys titled "Mac OS X Install." You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.Take a look at the slideshow: As Apple's minimalist packaging visualizes with two images, there's nothing to installation: Plug the drive into an available USB port-the hardest part is determining which direction it fits-and double-click on the installer.
Sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/ MyVolume Sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/ MyVolume Sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/ MyVolume If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using.