macbook pro 2012 no destination when trying to install OS X

Question

macbook pro 2012 no destination when trying to install OS X

Hello, I recently bought a Macbook Pro 2012, but the person who I bought it from didn't know how to factory reset the laptop. I tried to take this into my own hands and I looked up a tutorial on how to reset. I erased the hard drive and tried to reinstall macos high sierra, but there was no destination, and in my panic I restarted the laptop and now I am stuck in the internet recovery mode, and now it is OS X utilities, but when I try to reinstall OS X there is no destination. If you can help it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 19, 2025 03:58 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

66,686 points

Jul 19, 2025 08:41 PM in response to LuxembourgLover

Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to attempt to access the online macOS 10.15 Catalina installer.

If you manage to boot into a macOS 10.11 installer, then you will need to erase the whole physical drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled). With macOS 10.13+ you will need to click "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.

If you are booting an OS X 10.7 to 10.10 installer, then you will need to instead partition & format the whole physical drive as detailed in the following article:

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/formatting/Mac_Formatting_6-10_R3.pdf

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Answer 2

Jul 20, 2025 07:52 AM in response to LuxembourgLover

LuxembourgLover wrote:

now I am stuck in the internet recovery mode, and now it is OS X utilities, but when I try to reinstall OS X there is no destination

Trying not to repeat myself, below is a very similar problem and workflows (and workarounds for Sierra and High Sierra Recovery) to fix it:

I have a 2017 iMac with no operating syst… - Apple Community

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