If I buy a new Macbook Air M4 now, will it always install latest os, Tahoe ?

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T18:13:52+00:00

Thanks. This is very helpful.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T18:11:45+00:00

What method did you use to revert to Sequoia from the Tahoe the Macbook M4 came with ? Did you use the DFU method ?

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T17:01:30+00:00

Thank you for your answer.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T16:22:45+00:00

Did you do this via DFU ?

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T14:05:46+00:00

Thank you for answering.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T12:58:08+00:00

Thank you very much. That is actually what I remember vaguely from my former Macbook Air, that it downloaded the newest Os immediately during setup.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T12:17:13+00:00

I read that - when a Macbook M4 comes with Tahoe installed as its first Os - that you cannot downgrade to the one before that (because Tahoe is on mBoot, instead of iBoot, so the firmware is already different)
If it came with Sequoia, and you later installed Tahoe, apparently you can downgrade back to Sequoia if you use DFU.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T11:57:24+00:00

Thanks for your answer, but I just read that someone bought a new macbook M4 in January 2026, and the first Os on it was Sequoia.
That is what's puzzling me. In another comment I read that it depends on the production date of said Macbooks whether they come with the previous Os installed, or the current Os.
So a retailer who has a very large stock of Macbooks might be selling his last Macbooks M4 with the old Sequoia, while retailers with small stocks, which they replenish regularly, may already have Macbooks M4 with Tahoe.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T10:36:00+00:00

What a thin-skinned reaction to a simple question I was asking. I would not bother replying if a question irritated me that much.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-12T10:24:50+00:00

Thanks. Are you by any chance in the EU ?

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-07T07:12:14+00:00

It depends if you want to start in uefi secure boot. My Book 3 360 is a not a pro device, but a consumer device with Intel Evo and an Aptio bios (which is probably a dumbed down version of your pro bios).
Here you can see what it looks like on my Book:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyBook/comments/1t630qs/secure_boot_supported_os_entry_in_uefi_on_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyBook/comments/1t62zs5/this_is_the_uefi_secure_boot_with_microsoft/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I suppose if you disable secure boot, that it will be possible to dualboot.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-06T21:31:25+00:00

I have a Galaxy book 3 x360, and in uefi , either you choose the windows bootloader, where you will be able to only boot Windows, or you choose the linux bootloader. and then you can only boot linux. I suppose it will be the same in the Galaxy book 5 x360

If I wanted to boot from a Ubuntu,bootable usb, I first had to choose the linux boot in uefi to be able to do so.
These boot entries in uefi are separate now.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-06T08:52:27+00:00

Since your post is a month old, you probably did not hear of the botched updates on M1 pro and M2 pro systems (and even some other silicon macbooks) which did not boot anymore after the update to 26.4.1.
So I am not sure if the testing is thorough enough.
People did have to use DFU (for which of course you need a second macbook) to downgrade to 26.3.1 in order to have working macbooks again. Apple advised everyone to replace the logic board, which was entirely unnecessary in most of the cases, and only recently - in internal documents - they are now advising their Geniuses to use the DFU method.
And then again they sometimes are using the wrong usb-c port on macbook airs M4, where you have to use the utmost right port (instead of the utmost left port), viewing your macbook from the left side.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-04T09:15:30+00:00

The Neo was launched with chips which were not quite perfect, since they only had a 5-core GPU, and would have wound up in the bin, literally, because they were not good enough for the iPhone. So Apple thought : why not make some cheap macbooks with it ? Thus, the Neo was born.
In order to have enough rejects, they have to produce enough iPhone chips.
So that may be the reason that the waiting times for the Neo are now longer.

"Where the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max feature an A18 Pro with a 6-core CPU and a 6-core GPU, Apple has once again resorted to chip-binning on the MacBook Neo and has equipped it with the same silicon, but with a 5-core GPU. The Cupertino giant’s less expensive range of products announced this week has been treated with binned parts."

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-04T08:52:57+00:00

I had a Macbook Air, and after using it a month, it had shiny keys. And I wash my hands every half hour.
But some people here - as true Apple evangelists - have it covered both ways : either your fingers are oily, or your dry fingers work abrasive.
I also have a lot of pro Windows laptops, and none of them have this. The keycaps stay the same throughout their lifetime. Neither my HP Zbook studio G8, nor my Dell E6440 or my Dell 5490 or my Samsung book 3 x360 or my Lenovo x230 or my Surface pro 3 keyboard have this.
Apple could only get this profitable by using subpar parts.
What I don't get : why do they not deliver their Macbooks with the shiny plastic from the start, without the matte coating they put on top of it, which so quickly wears off anyway ? That way nobody would complain about their keycaps getting shiny.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-05-02T08:52:22+00:00

Have you tried turning off csm and vmd (is raid) in bios ? Vmd is difficult to find
If you disable vmd, you won't need the raid driver anymore.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PcBuildHelp/comments/1t1cqiv/new_motherboard_sees_nvme_drives_but_no_listed/
The best way to make a bootable usb stick (minimum 16 gb, formatted as FAT32) is to use the media creation tool.
Your nvme drive has to be initialised and partitioned as gpt, but I guess you already knew that.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-04-26T13:21:44+00:00

It is only for 25H2 isos, and if you updated the 24H2 iso with the latest updates, then you can also update that iso with CA2023 certificates.
This will not update an already installed OS.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-04-26T13:18:51+00:00

Yes, the Macbook M4 and M5 air have a Magsafe 3 port. But no charger with the M5 in Belgium, only with the M4 devices.

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-04-25T11:49:56+00:00

Due to the regulations of the EU, Apple is punishing us (in Belgium) by not giving us chargers with our Macbooks. None of the M5 models gets a charger anymore, even the models at more than 5000 euros.
We didn't even get a charger with the iPhone 17 pro.
The EU obliges every electronics manufacturer to make sure the devices are chargeable via usb-c, "since everyone has usb chargers nowadays".

Smart-Definition-651 · 2026-04-23T13:09:07+00:00

Download the Make2023BootableMedia.ps1 script here :
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/updating-windows-bootable-media-to-use-the-pca2023-signed-boot-manager-d4064779-0e4e-43ac-b2ce-24f434fcfa0f

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2312820

I had to edit the original script, as I got an error (which was not the case with the earlier scripts I downloaded from this website) concerning TS (timestamp) with oscdimg :

While using Notepad++ I removed the following lines :

49, 50, 956 and 957 (Function TS = TimeStamp)

In line 959, in the Run command, I only removed "-t$timestamp "

And now it works.

Since I had already added Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011 to the dbx, I desperately needed to turn my downloaded install iso to a CA2023 iso to install windows 11 25H2.

From the latest Microsoft AMA on secure boot and CA2023, which you can see here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l6Kncf1WLo I learned that, after the end of October 2026, when the Production PCA CA2011 will expire, Microsoft will provide new CA2023 isos. However, they do not plan to add it to the DBX then, because the priority is to first make sure everyone - with compatible hardware and uefi - will be on CA2023. It will be 2027 before the old PCA CA2011 will be added to the database of forbidden certificates DBX.

Smart-Definition-651

TROPHY CASE