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I want to upgrade my 2014 MacBook Pro from Yosemite to El Capitan. I downloaded the installer from the Apple site, but when I ran it, it seems to run ok although it only takes about 3 minutes to say installed successfully, which seems very fast. However the system is still shown as Yosemite 10.10.5.
What is going wrong?
MacBook Pro 15", OS X 10.10
That installation window you saw does not actually install El Capitan, if you read it it says it will take 7MBs of disk space, no Mac OS is only 7MBS. What it does do is convert the InstallMacOSX.pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which you will find in your Applications folder.
Read the full instructions below.
How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan – Apple Support
Go to Section 4 and click on Download OS X El Capitan.
This downloads InstallMacOSX.dmg to your Downloads folder.
When downloaded open to InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on
that and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan
but converts the .pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which you will find in
your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.
To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.
The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the InstallMacOSX.dmg
if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app prior to installing and moving it to
an external drive for safe keeping. It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk, using the Install OS X El Capitan.app
in the Applications folder, and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app. Read the instructions here,
How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support
That installation window you saw does not actually install El Capitan, if you read it it says it will take 7MBs of disk space, no Mac OS is only 7MBS. What it does do is convert the InstallMacOSX.pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which you will find in your Applications folder.
Read the full instructions below.
How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan – Apple Support
Go to Section 4 and click on Download OS X El Capitan.
This downloads InstallMacOSX.dmg to your Downloads folder.
When downloaded open to InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on
that and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan
but converts the .pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which you will find in
your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.
To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.
The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the InstallMacOSX.dmg
if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app prior to installing and moving it to
an external drive for safe keeping. It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk, using the Install OS X El Capitan.app
in the Applications folder, and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app. Read the instructions here,
How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support
Hi Mackerel47.
That is very odd indeed. Let's try and get this issue resolved.
Before we get started, would you mind providing me with the following information? This will help be provide more accurate and personalized information.
Once I receive this information, I will be able to provide you with a few recommendations.
Cheers!
EDIT: It looks like TheLittles has provided a great explanation! I hope you can get this resolved.
Thanks Eau Rouge! I did eventually discover the Apple doc and completed the installation ok. I've been an enthusiastic Mac user for nearly 30 years and I've never seen an installer which works in such a covert way. Mostly they lead you through the process very explicitly. I consulted with a couple of colleagues, also experienced Mac users, and they hadn't come across this either.
Anway, all is now well, which is the main thing. Yes, I'll keep the .dmg file safely in case I need it again at some point.
Thanks again
David
Mackerel47 Said:
"the system is still shown as Yosemite 10.10.5."
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See this post's answer: Upgrade from Yosemite to El Capitan says "complete" but it doesn't appear that way - Apple Support
Trying to upgrade from Yosemite to El Capitan
