Upgrade iMac for sale

[Jenni Alexander]

i have an iMac running snow leopard that I wish to sell. How can I upgrade it prior to sale? Or can the
New owner upgrade for free from Apple?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Depending on the exact model of the iMac, you or the buyer can upgrade it:

Upgrade to OS X Yosemite. Free on the Mac App Store.

C

 

[Jenni Alexander]

Thank you for your prompt reply. It is 2008. & came with all snow leopard discs etc.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

That iMac model is supported by Yosemite. You'll want the buyer to do the upgrade, since it would then be tied to their Apple ID in the Mac App Store and not yours.

Just make sure you have a Time Machine or other backup of your data, do an erase & install with the discs that came with it, don't go through setup, so they will receive it as if it came from the factory.

Good luck with the sale,

C

 

[Jenni Alexander]

Cory, thank you. I am not quite sure what you mean by not go through the set up. I have backed up everything & it's now all on my new computer. So that part is fine. I am selling it to an older chap who hasn't used a Mac before so I am setting it up for him to make it easier & seamless.
I have erased etc, but then I think my only option is to go through set up. ( or perhaps that is what is happening now as I am setting it up with his details?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Correct. When the Mac restarts after the erase & install, setup begins. If you have prearranged to set it up (create his user account, run updates, etc.) for him, that is fine, especially if he has never used a Mac. Some buyers just like to start with a fresh configuration.

C

 

[Jenni Alexander]

Many thanks for your help. I have his permission & all his details. We were doing all this together yesterday & I kept getting an error message re the operating system not being supported. Can't quite remember the details. So I have bought it home to try again. I wondered if he would need to pay for the upgrade? I have removed it from my apple products, so the serial number is no longer attached to me! Trying again.

 

[Cory Cooper]

The upgrade to Yosemite is free.

Are you getting an error when trying to download and install Yosemite? If so, you may have to install all Apple software updates before downloading it. I believe you have to be running 10.6.8.

C

 

[Jenni Alexander]

That is exactly what is happening.i am running 10.5.8. Which is what it came with. It seems I might need 10.6. How do I go about getting that?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Oops...I should have recognized that. The iMac didn't ship with Snow Leopard 10.6.x until the Mid 2009 models. The Mac App Store wasn't part of Mac OS X until Snow Leopard.

You can purchase a copy of the Snow Leopard installer disc directly from Apple, install it, then upgrade to Yosemite.

Apple Store - Mac OS X Snow Leopard

C

 

[Jenni Alexander]

Thanks Cory. I actually purchased it with snow leopard. I am installing that now so am hoping that was my problem as I thought it was already installed. I really appreciate your help