If I buy a new mac that comes with a free upgrade to Lion, can I use the upgrade on a different machine instead of the new machine, or is it tied to the new machine? The upgrade site requires the serial number of the new machine. I prefer to have Lion on the old machine and Snow Leopard on the new one, then maybe I will buy Lion for the new machine if I decide I like it.
MacOS – can I use the OS X Lion upgrade on a different machine
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Best Answer
It is tied to the new mac. The store verifies the mac rather than the Apple ID to allow the download if you need to reinstall the OS.
Some people are reporting that the few macs that shipped with Snow Leopard from the factory, but were changed later get a redemption code that works more like you purchasing an upgrade. That purchase seems to work on 5 macs like the other App Store purchases.