installing Sonoma without Apple ID

[bill99]

Hello

would like erase/wipe the SDD of my iMac 2020 and afterwards make a fresh install of Sonoma from USB.

For this purpose I downloaded athe macOS Sonoma Fullinstaller from the App Store and made a bootable USB-stick with the help of 'createinstallmedia' . The iMac does successfully boot from this USB stick

Due to different reasons, I don't need and I don't want an AppleID.

Question:
Is it still possible to make a fresh install of a maccOS, in this case Sonoma, without an AppleID?
And if possibe without Internet connection?


Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Bill


PS:
I do know that there are more comfortable ways to install a macOS

 

[bogdanw]

Question:
Is it still possible to make a fresh install of a maccOS, in this case Sonoma, without an AppleID?

Yes.

And if possibe without Internet connection?

No.

 

[bill99]

Thank's bogdanw for the promt reply!

And if possibe without Internet connection?

No.

To my knowledge the macOS Sonoma Fullinstaller downloaded from the App Store is already machine specific.

Is it known why an Internet connection is required? Downloading additional "things" is not per se bad and even to complete the bootable USB-stick, an Internet connection was required.

 

[bogdanw]

Is it known why an Internet connection is required?

Only Apple can answer why

I downloaded Sonoma from the App Store on my MBA M1, created a bootable installer, try to install it without Internet and it failed. I connected to my Wi-Fi network and the installation was successful.

I haven’t tried to install Sonoma on an Intel Mac. It might work without Internet connection, although Apple says the same:
“Any other Mac
Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.”
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

[Calaveras]

I had Sonoma installed in an Apple store because Monterrey 12.7 bricked my 12.6.9 Mac.
When we exhausted recovery options we did the wipe and install.
When we got to the password thing it asked for an admin password for the machine. Not an AppleId.
I was confused at first so I asked for clarification. Genius bar guy said it was an anti theft measure.
The Apple ID part happens after install, during first start up where you create an account etc.
If you have an Apple ID you would get your iCloud stuff downloaded. It's not required.
But I sure had a hard time getting my iCloud stuff to work until I wiped it and re-installed and did the whole 'restore from TM backup" thing. When I was trying to do that from within MacOS it just kind of laughed it off and wouldn't do anything.