Instructions - linusbobcat/create-elementary-os-installer GitHub Wiki
A Note on Older Macs
If you're using a recent Mac that was made within a few years ago, this should work. Older Intel Macs don't support starting elementary OS/Linux from USB drives out of the box. Read this page for more information.
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(Recommended Step) Make sure you have all firmware updates installed. To check for available updates, open the Apple Menu and select either "Software Update…" or "App Store…" Make sure to install any updates labeled with "Firmware" and "Boot Camp". Updates to OS X itself also sometimes include firmware updates, so it's advised to install those too.
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Download the latest version and unarchive it.
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Select the elementary OS ISO file you downloaded
- Select the USB drive you wish to use and confirm you want to use it. It will wipe the entire disk, not just the partition it references.
- Wait. Grab a cup of coffee or watch cat videos while the disk is being written. On OS X Mavericks and below, no progress is shown. On OS X Yosemite and above, an undetermined progress bar is shown.
- Enjoy your Installer. The resulting drive will work on the Macs listed above, and any PC capable of booting USB drives.
- On OS X Mavericks and below, you will get a warning that the resulting USB drive cannot be read. This is normal. If you choose to initialize it, it will be erased.
Restoring USB Drives
OS X Yosemite (10.10) and below
Open Disk Utility and choose the "Partition" or "Erase" function.
If you've stopped the app while it was busy writing the disk, Disk Utility might refuse to reformat it the first time. If this happens, wait a few minutes and try again. If it still doesn't work, keep trying a few times. Disk Utility can be finicky with this sometimes.
OS X El Capitan (10.11) and above
El Capitan's Disk Utility will refuse to reformat resulting drives. Use the included "Restore USB Drive"[1] tool instead. This should also work on partially written disks as long as it shows up in Finder.