Apple Brings Lion Internet Recovery to More 2010 Macs

Apple today released a series of three EFI firmware updates bringing Lion Internet Recovery to the company's Late 2010 MacBook Air, Mid-2010 iMac, and Early 2010 MacBook Pro. Available firmware updates include:

- MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.3 (2.98 MB):

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Air (Late 2010) models and addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep.

- iMac EFI Update 1.8 (3.02 MB):

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on iMac (Mid 2010) models.

- MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6 (3.18 MB):

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Early 2010) models.

Apple introduced Lion Internet Recovery on new MacBook Air and Mac mini models introduced last July alongside OS X Lion itself. The feature adds a minimal bootable install onto a machine's firmware to allow it to connect the Internet and download the full Lion operating system for installation.

lion internet recovery
OS X Lion by default installs a recovery partition on the machine's hard drive for this purpose, but for users who are installing a blank hard drive or whose recovery partition becomes inaccessible, Internet Recovery provides yet another fallback option for Lion installation.

The company has extended the Lion Internet Recovery feature to a number of older Mac models over time, with the most recent addition coming two weeks ago and adding support for the Mid-2010 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, white MacBook, and Mac mini. One notable exception is the Mac Pro, which has yet to see even the currently-shipping models support Lion Internet Recovery.

Related Roundups: iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro
Related Forums: iMac, MacBook Air

Popular Stories

Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3

Monday November 17, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3. AirDrop Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts. iOS 26.2...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Apple Wallet ID Illinois

iPhone Driver's License Feature Launching in Illinois

Tuesday November 18, 2025 8:47 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Starting this Wednesday, November 19, the feature will be available to residents of Illinois. The announcement confirmed that the...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Here's When Tesla is Expected to Add Support for Apple CarPlay

Sunday November 16, 2025 6:49 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Tesla plans to add Apple CarPlay support to its vehicles "in the coming months." This is easily the biggest news for the regular version of CarPlay in years, should Tesla actually follow through with offering the system in its vehicles. As noted by Gurman, this would be a stunning reversal for Tesla and its CEO Elon ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Apple Sports App Preview Feature

Apple Sports App on iPhone Now Available in More European Countries

Monday November 17, 2025 6:27 am PST by
The free Apple Sports app on the iPhone was released in additional European countries today, including Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Ukraine, and others. The app was already available in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Austria, France, Germany,...

Top Rated Comments

Tower-Union Avatar
180 months ago
Hey Apple, while your releasing EFI updates, could you release one for my 1,1 Mac Pro? You know, the one you told me was a 64 bit computer, and then admitted years later can't actually run a 64 bit OS? :(
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3282868 Avatar
180 months ago
I don't think you could back it up even if you tried. Final Cut X aside, because that's an anomaly (one of which Apple is improving).

You won't be able to, but try.

Ok, from a thread I posted: :)

For those wondering why AAPL seems to be foregoing OS X as there is certainly more focus on the iOS/iDevice/Consumer market, I have to wonder:

Why does it have to be one or the other?

AAPL made a good deal of money when Jobs returned. NeXT/OS X, PowerMac's, an excellent CCFL LCD (more than one stripped down 27" LED LCD iMac panel?! NO WAY! /sarcasm) and catered a great deal to the professional market, creative or otherwise.

Then Jobs bought "Shake," discontinued it while announcing to a room of studio professionals that their opinion will no longer be warranted. The years went by w/ Jobs running AAPL, cutting out accessory products and focusing on desktops and the iPod. Profits built a strong cash reserve that fed R&D into projects such as the iPad (which came first around 2004 before the iPhone in 2007) and the iPhone in '07 exploded AAPL into a new market. New iPhone owners got a taste of AAPL and MacBook's took off (mostly for students) and iMac's. Soon OS X began taking a backseat to iOS, power systems such as the PowerMac G5 was replaced with the Intel switch in 2006, tacking on almost $1k in Xeon based work stations resulting in businesses holding off on hardware upgrades due to cost. The 3 CCFL LCD's were cut, and for years weren't updated until a stripped down 24" iMac LED LCD panel and now 27" iMac panel (most likely for cost effectiveness). XServe dropped, Lion begins the bridge of iOS/OS X GUI and OpenGL support is still lagging - I could go on. This all points to AAPL ditching professional grade systems to cater to the consumer (mobile) market (Apple Computers switched to Apple Electronics, Inc.).

With $80+ Billion in cash, why does it have to be the consumer market or the professional "power" market? Why can't AAPL revamp the professional market as it did with the consumer market? Working in communications, the quantity of businesses may not compare to the quantity of consumers, but when ONE business (studio houses, photographers who primarily used AAPL displays with PowerMac's as they required little/no configuring with Spyder's, etc) has $50k, $100k or even more on updates for software licenses and hardware, that adds up to quite a bit.

I have used Mac's since 2002, almost a decade this Fall, and I still use Windows as it truly isn't a bad OS (MS just needs to code a system for a myriad of hardware combinations and third party drivers which would be a nightmare, I'm surprised it works as well as it does). I'm on my fifth Mac (2010 Mac Pro), with 2x 24" LED LCD's. I could not get my work done on another system, esp given the training it would require. If AAPL continues in this direction, my work and life will be further impacted in an already struggling economy. This frightens those of us who depend on OS X for our livelihood.

Yes, Apple has been slowly neglecting the professional market, not because they have to but because they chose to do so. Ten years ago AAPL was pretty much a standard with the creative industry, PowerMac's combined with their tuned 20/23/30" CCFL LCD's, Final Cut Pro was (and discounting X, 7 still is) a top notch professional film editing suite. Having been an ADC member since 10.3, Lion is the first time AAPL lowered membership from hundred's of dollars to just $99 in order to entice consumer feedback just as in the iOS ADC. Additionally, OS X beta's came almost bi-weekly, required complete reinstalls from a burned image, and until Lion AAPL had desktop features such as ZFS support in one of their Snow Leopard beta's and didn't drop needed API's and soon sandboxing. It's been discussed at length, but AAPL is pushing iOS and iDevices. Period. If they wanted to create a prosumer market as some have claimed then Final Cut Pro X should have been made for that market and FCP7 should have been revamped as a robust 64-bit professional product. There is no way I can do my work on a top of the line iMac, heck somedays having 2 displays isn't enough. The need isn't gone, it's there, believe me, however those of us who make our living with desktop power stations are slowly being forced into other platforms, applications and thus spending more money and time in training. Businesses don't feel comfortable investing in AAPL any longer as such long term investments aren't practical given AAPL's track record. I don't like it, but it seems to be the reality.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cvaldes Avatar
180 months ago
I don't see what's such a big deal about Lion Internet Recovery being available to such-and-such machine.

This is the third tier solution.

When Lion came out, I created a Lion installation DVD following the simple instructions that came out on numerous web sites. I installed Lion on two machines with that disc.

Lacking a disc, the second method would be booting from a Lion recovery partition and reinstalling the operating system, with extra pieces being downloaded from the Internet.

Lion Internet Recovery would be for those who really have nothing.

Heck, I have two Macs running Lion and both systems are deliberately formatted so there is no recovery partition. If I need to reinstall Lion, I'll just toss my homemade Lion install DVD into a DVD player (I have a cheapo external USB one that will work on both Macs). The hell if I'm downloading the OS again over the Internet.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
faroZ06 Avatar
180 months ago
Because Apple truly does not care about Pro customers anymore. Not trolling... just speaking the truth.
Pro customers don't need Lion Recovery. They can fix their OS themselves. I'd actually not want Lion messing with my partitions.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
longofest Avatar
180 months ago
I don't think you could back it up even if you tried. Final Cut X aside, because that's an anomaly (one of which Apple is improving).

You won't be able to, but try.
1) Shake discontinued (https://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/30/apple-finally-discontinues-shake/)
2) Xserve discontinued (https://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/05/apple-discontinues-xserve-only-available-until-january-31st/)
3) xserve raid discontinued (https://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/19/xserve-raid-discontinued/)
4) Final Cut Server discontinued (https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/22/apple-discontinues-final-cut-express-with-launch-of-fcp-x/)

I'll stop there.

EDIT: Also, see this post (https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=14286906&postcount=18), which was well written.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a.gomez Avatar
180 months ago
Because Apple truly does not care about Pro customers anymore. Not trolling... just speaking the truth.
The Dumbing down of Apple has been going on for a bit now. The day we had to buy minitors from DELL for the studio I gave up.

regardless you do not want this anyway - this is for someone who can wait to get a Station back up and running - not someone with deadlines ;)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)