A number of mac users have been reporting problems when they try to download macOS Catalina from the App Store. According to them, Catalina simply won’t download and just shows a progress bar with a message that says “Calculating…”.
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macOS Big Sur won’t download fix
The Software Update section in the Apple menu is where all macOS updates can be found. If you want to update your current macOS version, you simply have to navigate to it and pick the latest updates that are available.
The Big Sur download process shouldn’t take more than a few hours from start to finish but if it is taking way too long, this could be an indication for a problem.
Here we have come up with some quick fixes that may help you if you are facing macOS Big Sur update issues:
1. Check the compatibility of your device
macOS Big Sur has stopped the support for a couple of old Mac models that are compatible with macOS Catalina. If your device is an old one, this could be the reason for your update issues. That’s why, before you dig any deeper into the fixes below, firstly check if your Mac model is not from the ones that are left without support and make sure that it can run macOS 11.
For your convenience, here is the full list of Mac devices that are compatible with macOS 11:
- MacBook (2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (2013 or later)
- MacBook Pro (2013 or later)
- Mac Pro (2013 or later)
- Mac Mini (2014 or later)
- iMac (2014 or later)
- iMac Pro (2017 or later)
2. Check your Internet connection and make sure that it is stable.
The successful macOS download depends a lot on the stability and the speed of your internet connection. That’s why, before you start the download, make sure that you have no internet connection issues.
A tip for those who are connected through Wi-Fi is to use the WiFi Explorer app. This app will give them more control over the connection and will allow them to scan the network for issues and troubleshoot them, as well as provide them with details about the Internet signal.
3. Check the status of Apple servers on their status page
On apple.com, there is a page that shows information about the status of specific Apple servers that are running at that moment. It might be possible that your download server is down and this is what is causing a download issue with macOS Big Sur. In general, this could happen in very rare cases, but it is a good idea to cross it off the list of reasons, just in case.
4. Fix wrong macOS version downloading
A number of users are reporting that when they try to install the Big Sur profile, they end up with macOS 10.15.6. This could be caused by a wrong macOS version download.
A quick solution for this issue that is recommended on the Apple Developer Forum is the following:
Open Terminal > sudo -i > enter root password
Copy and paste the following to command line: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil
After that, copy and paste the following: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil unenroll
In case that you are using a developer beta, you can enroll in the DeveloperSeed Beta by copying and pasting the following once again: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil enroll DeveloperSeed
Once you are done with the above, close Terminal and open System Preferences > Software Update.
The new macOS profile should be found under Software Update.
Another possible issue might be that, in Software Update, macOS Big Sur appears as 10.16. You shouldn’t be confused by this number — this is exactly the profile you are searching for. Earlier, macOS Big Sur beta was using the 10.16 version name instead of macOS 11, according to previous user reports. However, the name has been fixed in the public release.
5. Make sure that you have enough space on your Mac
macOS updates require disk space. There is no official requirement for the disk space needed for Big Sur, but from experience, we recommend that you have a minimum of 15 GB of free space to ensure a smooth download and installation.
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