Uchenna Egbo yeah, I think I'll have to do that. thanks a lot for the article tho, very useful to know about this stuff

Uchenna Egbo thanks for the response! I believe it's the current model, according to the # on the back (A2485). It's an M1 chip. There is no OS installed because I erased it already I'm afraid, so this is what I'm getting when trying to install it new (the laptop was acquired from a startup that went bust)

I was trying #1 for a new mac I bought second hand. These are the new ones I guess, because to enter in the recovery mode it's not with "Boot into recovery mode using command + R. ", but just boot and keep pressing the power button until it shows up. regardless, when reaching step 2: "Disable internet connection on initial setup.", I don't seem to have that option. I just have an 'Activate Mac' screen that says to "Select a Wi-Fi network from the menu or attach a network cable to proceed". I don't have an option anywhere to proceed without a connection, I think. Any ideas?