Apple provides instructions on how to fix macOS reinstallation errors on M1 Macs

Shortly after the launch of Apple’s new Mac M1s, we saw reports that attempts to immediately restore and reinstall macOS on these machines could result in an installation error that left your Mac inoperative.

Specifically, the error message would read: “An error occurred while preparing to update. Failed to customize software update. Please try again.”

Over the weekend, Apple released step-by-step instructions for users experiencing this issue. Specifically, it looks like the issue is if you wipe / restore your Mac before upgrading to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1.

If you wiped your Mac with the Apple M1 chip before updating to ‌macOS Big Sur‌ 11.0.1, you may not be able to reinstall macOS from macOS recovery. A message may say, “An error occurred while preparing to update. Software update customization failed. Try Again.”

Use one of these solutions to reinstall macOS. You should then be able to use macOS recovery as intended when reinstalling macOS in the future.

Apple suggests that you can create a bootable installer using another Mac. Otherwise, Apple details a more technical 17-step process using Terminal to restore your Mac M1 to a working state.

If you’re still having issues, Apple recommends that you contact support, and you can also visit our ongoing discussion thread on the forum where users are troubleshooting this specific issue.