Should I Choose ISO or PKG Mac OS Installers?

macos tips
1

I want to use an ISO or PKG installer
to directly install Mac OS onto the secondary disk
without a reboot.
Would that be doable?
If not, how can I create a USB flash drive-based bootable disk?

2

I think your hypothesis wouldn’t be applicable, as booting up a Mac from a secondary bootable disk involves at least one restart.

3

To create a macOS bootable USB installer, there are two steps involved:
download that version of the macOS installer first
and then run the specific command in Terminal to make a macOS bootable USB drive.
You can follow this guide: how to create a bootable USB installer for macOS.

4

I want to give you a summary of the question based on multiple answers and my thoughts, and experience.

Before OS X 10.7 (Snow Leopard and earlier), Apple distributed installers in a .pkg format.

From Mac OS X Lion and later, Apple moved to an .app wrapper.

So, when you download macOS installers from the App Store, they are always the .pkg installers.

The ISO file is usually used to create a bootable USB running in virtual machines on Windows PCs or unsupported Macs.

I suggest you use a macOS DMG file to create a bootable USB installer,

as the DMG file is for the macOS ecosystem only and performs better on a Mac when compared with an ISO file.

I have used a tool called iBoysoft DiskGeeker, a disk management tool recommended by my friend.

This tool helps download and create a macOS bootable USB installer for macOS with clicks only.

  1. Download iBoysoft DiskGeeker and install and open it on your Mac.
  2. Click “Create boot disk” from the left sidebar.
  3. Select your connected empty external hard drive or USB drive and click “Select” > “Continue.”
  4. Choose a desired macOS version, click “Create boot disk” > “OK,” and wait for the macOS DMG file to be downloaded.
  5. After downloading, the tool will automatically create a bootable macOS USB installer.
1 Like
5

Got it. It’s just that I don’t quite know how to boot the computer program from an external disk.

6

Viewed this post. Very clear and step-by-step guide. But, do you know easier way to create a macOS bootable USB installer? I don’t want to run the Terminal.