Immediately update to 11.1 (or later) before doing anything else at all

[panjandrum]

This might help a few people having issues with Migration Assistant etc:

Before you do anything else at all with your brand new out-of-the-box M1 Mac you might consider booting into Recovery Mode and perform a Reinstall of Big Sur as a way to avoid bugs in earlier revisions of the OS. Do not erase your drive, just do the 'Reinstall' function.

This should give you the latest version of Big Sur as it downloads a copy from Apple each time. I had a lot of issues with Migration Assistant (among many other issues) until I started doing this. Hold down the power button immediately upon first opening a laptop (on a Mini this will be much easier as the Mini won't try to power on until you actually want it to) until the boot options appear. You can usually do this quickly enough to intercept the very first boot. If not, when you get to the setup screen choose the country and then Quit the setup and shut down the Mac. Then press and hold the power button until the boot options appear. I won't post the step-by-step because there are dozens of guides already available, such as this one.

I'm in the process of rolling out 22 of the M1 MacBook Airs in a K-8 educational environment. Due to Apple's UI changes over the years, and limits on the types of settings MDMs can push, I'm forced to configure a default account for student use and then migrate that account to each machine prior to binding to the MDM. (Our younger students can no longer effectively use Macs 'out of the box' without substantial changes to the way they function. Kind of a sad statement I must admit. And since MDMs can't push some of the settings we need to change it comes down to migrating an account that has those settings pre-defined. A PITA but way better than setting them all by hand!)

Before I started updating these as the very first step I was seeing a lot of random errors during migration (along with plenty of other problems). Getting them on 11.1 immediately has greatly reduced, but not eliminated, the overall flakiness.

 

[Quackers]

This might help a few people having issues with Migration Assistant etc:

Before you do anything else at all with your brand new out-of-the-box M1 Mac you might consider booting into Recovery Mode and perform a Reinstall of Big Sur as a way to avoid bugs in earlier revisions of the OS.

This should give you the latest version of Big Sur as it downloads a copy from Apple each time. I had a lot of issues with Migration Assistant (among many other issues) until I started doing this. Hold down the power button immediately upon first opening a laptop (on a Mini this will be much easier as the Mini won't try to power on until you actually want it to) until the boot options appear. You can usually do this quickly enough to intercept the very first boot. If not, when you get to the setup screen choose the country and then Quit the setup and shut down the Mac. Then press and hold the power button until the boot options appear. I won't post the step-by-step because there are dozens of guides already available, such as this one.

I'm in the process of rolling out 22 of the M1 MacBook Airs in a K-8 educational environment. Due to Apple's UI changes over the years, and limits on the types of settings MDMs can push, I'm forced to configure a default account for student use and then migrate that account to each machine prior to binding to the MDM. (Our younger students can no longer effectively use Macs 'out of the box' without substantial changes to the way they function. Kind of a sad statement I must admit. And since MDMs can't push some of the settings we need to change it comes down to migrating an account that has those settings pre-defined. A PITA but way better than setting them all by hand!)

Before I started updating these as the very first step I was seeing a lot of random errors during migration (along with plenty of other problems). Getting them on 11.1 immediately has greatly reduced, but not eliminated, the overall flakiness.

Absolutely agree. That's what I did, as a precaution. Especially as mine came with 11.0 on it.

 

[4sallypat]

......Due to Apple's UI changes over the years, and limits on the types of settings MDMs can push, I'm forced to configure a default account for student use and then migrate that account to each machine prior to binding to the MDM. (Our younger students can no longer effectively use Macs 'out of the box' without substantial changes to the way they function. Kind of a sad statement I must admit. And since MDMs can't push some of the settings we need to change it comes down to migrating an account that has those settings pre-defined. A PITA but way better than setting them all by hand!)

Before I started updating these as the very first step I was seeing a lot of random errors during migration (along with plenty of other problems). Getting them on 11.1 immediately has greatly reduced, but not eliminated, the overall flakiness.

Thanks - very helpful!

Where I work, we are still stuck in the Catalina OS environment as we have not fully vetted the OS and apps for MDM deployment. This will take about a year so we are always behind 1 OS generation.

We recently changed over to a different 3rd party MDM (formerly used AirWatch) and now we have out of the box user experience honed perfectly.

When each user receives a new sealed Macbook Pro, since all serial numbers have been enrolled in Apple's DEP which the MDM has access to, the enrollment is quite easy - they log in using their Google credentials and voila - all the apps, settings, and cloud content filtering has been automatically enabled.

This is the first time we have not had to "touch" the keyboard of any new Mac devices.

Wondering if this will be the same for Big Sur in the near future....

 

[guitarguy316]

This might help a few people having issues with Migration Assistant etc:

Before you do anything else at all with your brand new out-of-the-box M1 Mac you might consider booting into Recovery Mode and perform a Reinstall of Big Sur as a way to avoid bugs in earlier revisions of the OS.

This should give you the latest version of Big Sur as it downloads a copy from Apple each time. I had a lot of issues with Migration Assistant (among many other issues) until I started doing this. Hold down the power button immediately upon first opening a laptop (on a Mini this will be much easier as the Mini won't try to power on until you actually want it to) until the boot options appear. You can usually do this quickly enough to intercept the very first boot. If not, when you get to the setup screen choose the country and then Quit the setup and shut down the Mac. Then press and hold the power button until the boot options appear. I won't post the step-by-step because there are dozens of guides already available, such as this one.

I'm in the process of rolling out 22 of the M1 MacBook Airs in a K-8 educational environment. Due to Apple's UI changes over the years, and limits on the types of settings MDMs can push, I'm forced to configure a default account for student use and then migrate that account to each machine prior to binding to the MDM. (Our younger students can no longer effectively use Macs 'out of the box' without substantial changes to the way they function. Kind of a sad statement I must admit. And since MDMs can't push some of the settings we need to change it comes down to migrating an account that has those settings pre-defined. A PITA but way better than setting them all by hand!)

Before I started updating these as the very first step I was seeing a lot of random errors during migration (along with plenty of other problems). Getting them on 11.1 immediately has greatly reduced, but not eliminated, the overall flakiness.

How do you completely erase the disk and install from scratch on 11.1?

 

[Quackers]

How do you completely erase the disk and install from scratch on 11.1?

Not sure you can do that without problems.
I suspect (and there's no proof on this) that the "erase mac" option in the recovery assistant (which is partly hidden at times) only erases the Macintosh HD and Data volumes.
Nuking the whole disc with something like Disk Utility has been known to cause big problems previously.
I don't think there's much info about what is stored where on the disc - ie where's the firmware required for recovery to work? No idea what else is stored where.
Maybe Apple don't want that kind of thing any more.
Just my take on it.

 

[prwnr]

upgrading system to latest version without reinstalling it won't do the trick? I mean in a case where I would have M1 with Big Sur 11.0 and would upgrade to 11.1 the normal way. is this case still vulnerable to get bricked?

 

[Quackers]

Not if you get off 11.0

 

[prwnr]

Not if you get off 11.0

sounds stupid. I hope that my MBP sent off on 2nd Jan will come with a fixed version already. if not, gotta go this reinstall. but wont it brick me for no reason? kinds afraid to do so, as I don't have any other MAc to recover if it fails.

 

[Quackers]

sounds stupid. I hope that my MBP sent off on 2nd Jan will come with a fixed version already. if not, gotta go this reinstall. but wont it brick me for no reason? kinds afraid to do so, as I don't have any other MAc to recover if it fails.

Who mentioned re-installing anything?
You'd just need to update it (if it's on 11.0) in the normal software update way. That way the later firmware is installed negating the need for the same level of worry.

 

[prwnr]

upgrading system to latest version without reinstalling it won't do the trick? I mean in a case where I would have M1 with Big Sur 11.0 and would upgrade to 11.1 the normal way. is this case still vulnerable to get bricked?

Who mentioned re-installing anything?
You'd just need to update it (if it's on 11.0) in the normal software update way. That way the later firmware is installed negating the need for the same level of worry.

I asked in the first place if I can just do a simple update

 

[Quackers]

I asked in the first place if I can just do a simple update

Then yes, you can

 

[panjandrum]

How do you completely erase the disk and install from scratch on 11.1?

Do NOT erase the disk. You will end up with an M1 Mac that has to be plugged into ANOTHER MAC running Apple Configurator 2 in order to revive it. I repeat, do NOT erase the disk. Just do the "Reinstall" option I mentioned. This will not just reinstall the existing version - it actually downloads and installs the latest version from Apple.

 

[panjandrum]

When each user receives a new sealed Macbook Pro, since all serial numbers have been enrolled in Apple's DEP which the MDM has access to, the enrollment is quite easy - they log in using their Google credentials and voila - all the apps, settings, and cloud content filtering has been automatically enabled.

The rest of the school is still on Mojave, and will hopefully remain there until summer! But we had CARES money to spend and with the M1s available, no way was I going to invest in the older models. Anyway, they've been a real PITA, that's for sure. Integration with Mosyle (our new/current MDM) is fine in the end. My issue with needing to migrate a pre-configure account comes down to numerous specific settings that Mosyle (and no MDM I've yet seen) can push to the Macs. We have to disable nearly all of the advanced trackpad touch-features, for example, as the younger students just can't use the laptops with those functions active. Plus most of the students don't have Macs at home and find the backwards scrolling in the MacOS to be utterly baffling, so we have to turn that off. It's a big-enough list that migrating is way easier than manually setting each machine. I do use ProfileCreator to push some additional settings that the MDM can't, but even that doesn't have the granularity we need. Out of curiosity, what MDM are you using and does it have fine-enough granularity to truly configure *everything*?

 

[DeanL]

This might help a few people having issues with Migration Assistant etc:

Before you do anything else at all with your brand new out-of-the-box M1 Mac you might consider booting into Recovery Mode and perform a Reinstall of Big Sur as a way to avoid bugs in earlier revisions of the OS.

This should give you the latest version of Big Sur as it downloads a copy from Apple each time. I had a lot of issues with Migration Assistant (among many other issues) until I started doing this. Hold down the power button immediately upon first opening a laptop (on a Mini this will be much easier as the Mini won't try to power on until you actually want it to) until the boot options appear. You can usually do this quickly enough to intercept the very first boot. If not, when you get to the setup screen choose the country and then Quit the setup and shut down the Mac. Then press and hold the power button until the boot options appear. I won't post the step-by-step because there are dozens of guides already available, such as this one.

I'm in the process of rolling out 22 of the M1 MacBook Airs in a K-8 educational environment. Due to Apple's UI changes over the years, and limits on the types of settings MDMs can push, I'm forced to configure a default account for student use and then migrate that account to each machine prior to binding to the MDM. (Our younger students can no longer effectively use Macs 'out of the box' without substantial changes to the way they function. Kind of a sad statement I must admit. And since MDMs can't push some of the settings we need to change it comes down to migrating an account that has those settings pre-defined. A PITA but way better than setting them all by hand!)

Before I started updating these as the very first step I was seeing a lot of random errors during migration (along with plenty of other problems). Getting them on 11.1 immediately has greatly reduced, but not eliminated, the overall flakiness.

I went further and restored my new MacBook to 11.1 out of the box using Apple Configurator. It was faster.

 

[guitarguy316]

Do NOT erase the disk. You will end up with an M1 Mac that has to be plugged into ANOTHER MAC running Apple Configurator 2 in order to revive it. I repeat, do NOT erase the disk. Just do the "Reinstall" option I mentioned. This will not just reinstall the existing version - it actually downloads and installs the latest version from Apple.

I did that but mine didn’t work right and it can’t find a disk anymore to install the OS.

 

[panjandrum]

I did that but mine didn’t work right and it can’t find a disk anymore to install the OS.

There are a lot of threads all over the net about this issue. Basically it boils down to this: Apple has released a Mac where if you erase the internal storage you have to have another Mac running Apple Configurator 2 to restore it. This is not a joke. I mean, it certainly *should be a joke* but it isn't.

I often make fun of Microsoft for only allowing an "Install in Place" on Windows 10 if Windows 10 is already in a bootable state. So you can fix Windows 10 boot-drive issues (and keep your files and apps in place), if Windows 10 is still bootable... But the moment it isn't bootable you are screwed if you don't have a backup. I mean, even that is downright idiotic. Why not allow at least the attempt to install and fix issues from other media? But nope.

But Apple's M1s needing an entirely different computer to restore them when a user chooses an option presented to them in Recovery Mode? Wow, that makes Microsoft look like the most brilliant programmers of all time in comparison.

 

[Quackers]

There are a lot of threads all over the net about this issue. Basically it boils down to this: Apple has released a Mac where if you erase the internal storage you have to have another Mac running Apple Configurator 2 to restore it. This is not a joke. I mean, it certainly *should be a joke* but it isn't.

I often make fun of Microsoft for only allowing an "Install in Place" on Windows 10 if Windows 10 is already in a bootable state. So you can fix Windows 10 boot-drive issues (and keep your files and apps in place), if Windows 10 is still bootable... But the moment it isn't bootable you are screwed if you don't have a backup. I mean, even that is downright idiotic. Why not allow at least the attempt to install and fix issues from other media? But nope.

But Apple's M1s needing an entirely different computer to restore them when a user chooses an option presented to them in Recovery Mode? Wow, that makes Microsoft look like the most brilliant programmers of all time in comparison.

Not entirely the case.
I've erased my mac two times and I haven't needed to use Apple Configurator yet.
The process is just different for M1's but there are pitfalls which is unfortunate. These problems may be sorted out in due course. Or maybe not
I would, however, recommend making a bootable USB installer with 11.1 on it.