Hi katieelizabethdudley,
Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! I understand you are experiencing an issue with Shared Albums not updating on your MacBook. I'd like to help.
Is this happening with multiple Shared Albums, or just a certain one? Have you tried connecting your MacBook to a different Wi-Fi network to rule out connectivity as the issue? If not, please test this: Connect your Mac to the internet - Apple Support. Then, try any other related steps found in this article: If Shared Albums aren't working - Apple Support.
If the behavior remains, let's have you boot up into safe mode. It’s a way to start up your Mac so it performs certain checks, repairs, emptying of system cache, and prevents some software from automatically loading: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support. Once in safe mode, check to see if the same behavior continues. Sometimes safe mode can successfully resolve some issues. With this being said, after testing in safe mode, restart and log in as normal to see if that helps resolve the issue.
If no resolution was found after the above steps, I will have you test a new user account next, to isolate if this is a user-specific issue, or a system-wide issue. Here’s how: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support.
Keep me posted, if you need continued support.
Best regards.
