Is there a way to make a USB bootable drive of 10.11.3?

[Hal~9000]

I bought a 2015 MacBook Air 11" recently which came with 10.11.3 out of the box. It's been perfect so far with no issues whatsoever and I'd like to keep it on 10.11.3 if I ever need to wipe / restore my MacBook Air.

Is there a way to make a USB bootable drive of 10.11.3 specifically? I've seen threads of 10.11.4 and 10.11.5 having issues with freezing and other stuff so I don't want to update to those unless I could somehow go back.

The guides that I am seeing online talk about downloading the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store to make the USB flash backup... but if I did that wouldn't it be the latest 10.11.5? (if so, how would I make one of 10.11.3?)

Thank you for your help

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

I bought a 2015 MacBook Air 11" recently which came with 10.11.3 out of the box. It's been perfect so far with no issues whatsoever and I'd like to keep it on 10.11.3 if I ever need to wipe / restore my MacBook Air.

Is there a way to make a USB bootable drive of 10.11.3 specifically? I've seen threads of 10.11.4 and 10.11.5 having issues with freezing and other stuff so I don't want to update to those unless I could somehow go back.

The guides that I am seeing online talk about downloading the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store to make the USB flash backup... but if I did that wouldn't it be the latest 10.11.5? (if so, how would I make one of 10.11.3?)

Thank you for your help

Any disk clone is bootable. Use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to make one. Yes, you will need 10.11.3 installed first. Clone away.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you can find a 10.11.3 install file and move it to your "Applications" folder," the Diskmakerx program can easily create a USB install drive for you.

 

[DeltaMac]

And, although the main question (Can I make a backup installer of the exact system version that my Mac shipped with out of the box) makes sense - think about this a bit - if you decide to do an Internet Recovery, which will download and install the system that your Mac shipped with, it will be whatever is the latest version of El Capitan, and NOT that original 10.11.3 system
I recall reading about freezing on portables (Macbook Air, Macbook, whatever), but I don't recall reading about that on minis. I think you are "tilting at windmills", making a mountain out of a molehill, or however you want to characterize an issue that would be a waste of your time.

But to offer other tips, @BasicGreatGuy, the DiskMakerX app works well enough to make a USB bootable installer, but the installer app does NOT have to be in the Applications folder. (That's where the App Store puts it when you download the installer, but it doesn't have to stay there!) You search it out as part of the setup when using DiskmakerX. I keep all major versions of OSX installers on and external drive. DiskmakerX often finds it there automatically when I make another USB boot installer.

 

[robertcoogan]

Any disk clone is bootable. Use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to make one. Yes, you will need 10.11.3 installed first. Clone away.

I would make sure the flash drive has a high read/write capability. If you don't it will make for some serious lag.

 

[Andy2k]

I bought a 2015 MacBook Air 11" recently which came with 10.11.3 out of the box. It's been perfect so far with no issues whatsoever and I'd like to keep it on 10.11.3 if I ever need to wipe / restore my MacBook Air.

Is there a way to make a USB bootable drive of 10.11.3 specifically? I've seen threads of 10.11.4 and 10.11.5 having issues with freezing and other stuff so I don't want to update to those unless I could somehow go back.

The guides that I am seeing online talk about downloading the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store to make the USB flash backup... but if I did that wouldn't it be the latest 10.11.5? (if so, how would I make one of 10.11.3?)

Thank you for your help

you need the disk image (.dmg or .iso) of 10.11.3 in order to to make a bootable USB. Not sure what version you download now from the App Store when downloaded.

 

[CoastalOR]

I bought a 2015 MacBook Air 11" recently which came with 10.11.3 out of the box. It's been perfect so far with no issues whatsoever and I'd like to keep it on 10.11.3 if I ever need to wipe / restore my MacBook Air.

Is there a way to make a USB bootable drive of 10.11.3 specifically? I've seen threads of 10.11.4 and 10.11.5 having issues with freezing and other stuff so I don't want to update to those unless I could somehow go back.

The guides that I am seeing online talk about downloading the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store to make the USB flash backup... but if I did that wouldn't it be the latest 10.11.5? (if so, how would I make one of 10.11.3?)

You need the "Install OS X El Capitan" app version 1.7.41 for OS 10.11.3. How you get that version I do not know. Maybe call the nearest Apple Store to see if they can provide it to you if you bring in a USB thumb drive? If you download El Capitan from the App Store it will be the latest version available (10.11.5 at this time).

Internet Recovery should install the OS version that shipped with your Mac, but that does not get you the install app that you want for a b bootable USB installer.
http://osxdaily.com/2014/12/14/reinstall-os-x-mac-internet-recovery/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

 

[DeltaMac]

... If you download El Capitan from the App Store it will be the latest version available (10.11.5 at this time).

Internet Recovery should install the OS version that shipped with your Mac, but that does not get you the install app that you want for a b bootable USB installer.
...

The Internet Recovery will give you El Capitan, if that is what your Mac shipped with - but not the point version (10.11.3) that you want. You will get the current version of El Capitan, currently 10.11.5, same version that you would get if you boot to the Recovery system.