Restoring MacBook Pro M1 from Monterey Beta to Big Sur

[haralds]

After having fun playing with Monterey I found there were a few crucial apps and capabilities missing and decided to restore to Big Sur. This means a deep wipe of the system. Luckily I have other Macs to make this easy. I found this site particularly helpful in using the Configurator 2:
https://mrmacintosh.com/restore-macos-firmware-on-an-apple-silicon-mac-boot-to-dfu-mode/
Also note that you will need to be connected to a network and know the previously registered AppleID and passcode to Activate your Mac.

I had a Big Sur CCC data clone and also prepared one for Monterey so I could get everything back to my latest settings.

As noted below, Migration Assistant accepted the Monterey b3 clone.

Update:
Since the 2TB was close to full, it took over night to restore.
Certain items not compatible had to be restored from my Big Sur clone:
- Photo Library
- Mail
- Messages

Big problem:
I installed the 11.5RC and removed the Developer Profile BEFORE installing Rosetta 2. Now it cannot find it and I cannot reinstall the Developer Profile, since that requires Rosetta!

I do these things so you do not have to!

Downloading 11.4 IPSW and will use the 11.3.1 clone I have to keep things simple and bullet proof.

 

[bsamcash]

PowerBook? Have I just entered some alternate reality in which Apple never switched to Intel???

 

[haralds]

PowerBook? Have I just entered some alternate reality in which Apple never switched to Intel???

Oops. I have been sorting through 20 years of equipment recently, old patterns die hard. Corrected!
I guess both PowerPC and Apple Silicon (ARM64) are RISC chips.

 

[haralds]

Tried to do Migration Assistant with the Monterey Data disk and it was accepted! Glad I did the full CCC thing. At almost 1.5TB of data it will likely be tomorrow before I know, whether it worked.