ACSP Installation and Recovery 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On Apple silicon Macs, how do you access macOS Recovery?
- Press and hold the Power button until 'Loading startup options' appears, then select Options (Correct answer)
- Hold Command+R immediately after pressing the Power button
- Hold Option+Command+R at startup to access Recovery over the internet
- Press Command+Option+P+R during the startup chime to enter Recovery mode
Correct answer: Press and hold the Power button until 'Loading startup options' appears, then select Options
On Apple silicon Macs, press and hold the Power button until the startup options screen appears showing available volumes and an Options button. Clicking Options enters macOS Recovery. The Intel keyboard shortcuts do not apply to Apple silicon.
Apple silicon Macs have a redesigned startup process. Holding the power button starts the Mac and shows a startup options window with available boot volumes and an Options icon. Selecting Options and clicking Continue enters Recovery. Recovery on Apple silicon always boots from the recoveryOS stored on the internal SSD's special hidden Recovery volume — there's no separate Recovery partition as on Intel. If the internal Recovery is unavailable, Apple Configurator 2 can be used to revive or restore the Mac via USB-C.
Question 2: What does 'Revive' do in Apple Configurator 2 for Apple silicon Macs?
- Updates the firmware and recoveryOS on an Apple silicon Mac without erasing user data (Correct answer)
- Completely erases and reinstalls macOS, wiping all user data in the process
- Restores the Mac from a backup file created in Apple Configurator 2
- Unlocks a supervised device for personal use by removing MDM enrollment
Correct answer: Updates the firmware and recoveryOS on an Apple silicon Mac without erasing user data
'Revive' in Apple Configurator 2 reinstalls firmware and recoveryOS on an Apple silicon Mac, fixing firmware corruption while preserving the macOS installation and all user data on the Mac.
Apple Configurator 2 on a separate Mac provides two recovery options for unresponsive Apple silicon Macs: Revive and Restore. Revive updates the Secure Enclave firmware, iBoot, and recoveryOS, resolving issues where the Mac won't boot to Recovery but doesn't require erasing data. Restore goes further — it completely erases and reinstalls macOS from scratch, losing all local data. To use either, connect the dead Mac's USB-C DFU port to the host Mac running Apple Configurator 2 with a USB-C cable. The DFU port varies by model (check Apple's documentation).
Question 3: What is 'Internet Recovery' on Intel Macs and when would you need to use it?
- Internet Recovery boots a minimal macOS environment from Apple's servers when the local Recovery partition is missing or corrupt (Correct answer)
- Internet Recovery is used to download and install macOS updates over the internet from System Preferences
- Internet Recovery allows a remote Apple technician to access your Mac over the internet to perform repairs
- Internet Recovery is the standard macOS Recovery that requires an internet connection to verify before starting
Correct answer: Internet Recovery boots a minimal macOS environment from Apple's servers when the local Recovery partition is missing or corrupt
Internet Recovery (Option+Cmd+R or Shift+Option+Cmd+R at startup on Intel Macs) boots a recovery environment directly from Apple's CDN when the local Recovery HD is absent or damaged, downloading a recovery image over Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
Intel Macs support three Recovery modes: local Recovery HD (Cmd+R), Internet Recovery with latest compatible macOS (Option+Cmd+R), and Internet Recovery with the Mac's original macOS (Shift+Option+Cmd+R). Internet Recovery downloads a 500MB+ recovery image from apple.com over the internet before presenting the Recovery tools. A wired Ethernet connection is recommended as Wi-Fi setup adds steps. Internet Recovery is needed when the internal SSD has been replaced, reformatted, or the Recovery partition was accidentally deleted. Apple silicon Macs have Recovery stored in a protected hardware partition that doesn't require internet access.
Question 4: What is Safe Mode on macOS and what does it do during startup?
- Safe Mode starts macOS with only essential kernel extensions, skips startup items and login items, and performs a basic disk check (Correct answer)
- Safe Mode boots macOS with network services disabled to prevent malware from connecting to the internet
- Safe Mode starts macOS in single-user command-line mode without a graphical interface
- Safe Mode boots from the Recovery partition instead of the main system volume
Correct answer: Safe Mode starts macOS with only essential kernel extensions, skips startup items and login items, and performs a basic disk check
Safe Mode (hold Shift during startup on Intel; hold Power then Shift in startup options on Apple silicon) loads only essential kernel extensions, disables all startup items and login items, clears font and kernel caches, and performs a basic file system check.
Safe Mode diagnostics: boots with only Apple kernel extensions (kexts), disables all /Library/StartupItems, disables all LaunchDaemons and LaunchAgents in /Library, disables all login items, clears dynamic loader cache, font caches, and kernel extension cache, and runs fsck (file system check). If the Mac works normally in Safe Mode, the issue is likely caused by a startup item, login item, or third-party kernel extension. On Apple silicon, hold Shift after selecting the volume in startup options. Safe Mode operation is slower than normal due to caching being disabled.
Question 5: What does 'Startup Security Utility' in macOS Recovery control for Apple silicon Macs?
- It controls the security policy: Full Security (default), Reduced Security (allows older OS), and Permissive Security (allows custom kernel extensions/SSV bypass) (Correct answer)
- It enables or disables the Secure Boot feature to allow booting from unsigned operating systems
- It manages the startup password that is required before macOS will load
- It controls whether third-party bootloaders like GRUB can be installed alongside macOS
Correct answer: It controls the security policy: Full Security (default), Reduced Security (allows older OS), and Permissive Security (allows custom kernel extensions/SSV bypass)
Startup Security Utility in Recovery for Apple silicon sets one of three security levels: Full Security (default, most secure), Reduced Security (allows older macOS or remote management), and Permissive Security (allows custom kernel extensions and disabling SSV — least secure).
Apple silicon security policies (per-OS, stored in Secure Enclave): Full Security — boots only the latest signed macOS, enforces SSV, no custom kernel extensions; Reduced Security — allows older macOS versions, enables MDM enrollment from Recovery, allows kernel extensions with user approval; Permissive Security — disables SSV verification, allows manual kernel extension loading. Changing policy requires authentication as an admin user in Recovery. This is more fine-grained than Intel Macs' Secure Boot (Full, Medium, No Security). These settings apply per-volume on Macs with multiple macOS installations.
Question 6: How do you create a bootable macOS installer on a USB drive using Terminal?
- Use the 'createinstallmedia' tool included inside the macOS installer app with the command: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyDrive (Correct answer)
- Use Disk Utility to restore the macOS installer .dmg file to the USB drive
- Use the 'dd' command to write the macOS installer ISO to the USB drive
- Download the macOS installer from Software Update, then copy it to the USB drive in Finder
Correct answer: Use the 'createinstallmedia' tool included inside the macOS installer app with the command: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyDrive
The 'createinstallmedia' command-line tool, included inside macOS installer apps downloaded from the App Store, creates a properly formatted bootable USB installer. It erases and formats the target drive before copying all installer files.
Steps: 1) Download the macOS installer from the App Store (don't launch it). 2) Insert an 8GB+ USB drive. 3) Run: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ [Version].app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/[DriveName] 4) Enter admin password and confirm. The tool erases the drive (formats as Mac OS Extended, GUID partition scheme), installs the bootable recovery image, and copies all installer files. The resulting drive is about 13-15GB. To boot from it: hold Option (Intel) or hold Power button and select it (Apple silicon) at startup.
ACSP Installation and Recovery 2
On Apple silicon Macs, how do you access macOS Recovery?