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MacBook won't update. It restarts, says it'll take several minutes to update, and then restarts normally. How can I fix this?

Not sure if this has happened to anyone. I'm currently trying to update my MacBook Pro 13-inch 2019 to the macOS Catalina 10.15.7 and Safari 14.0. When I press the "update now" button, it restarts as it should. The screen shows me the typical "it'll take several minutes to update" screen but after a few seconds, it loads and just turns on normally. Does not update. I have sufficient space for the update and I do not receive any notification that my memory is full or that the update can't install. It's as if it doesn't even recognise that the update was attempted. Anyone experienced this and if so, could you offer a solution please?


Thanks :)

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 14, 2020 3:27 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 14, 2020 5:09 PM

Are you using any anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, or third party security apps which may be interfering with the update process? You can try initiating the update from Safe Mode.

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7 replies

Oct 17, 2020 10:36 AM in response to tash_lena

Did you try booting into Safe Mode before starting the update again?


If you did and the system still needs to restart after applying the update, then I suggest pressing the Caps Lock key before running the update in Safe Mode. Once the laptop reboots the Caps Lock key will go out indicating you need to press & hold the Shift key so that the laptop boots back into Safe Mode again (in case the installer still needs to update some system files).


If you still have problems, then run Disk Utility First Aid on the SSD (actually run it on the "Container" and not just the boot volume). Within Disk Utility you will need to click on "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive and Container appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid shows everything as "Ok" make sure to click on the "Details" and review the details to see if there are any unfixed errors listed. If there are you will need to back up the laptop and erase the whole physical drive before restoring from the back up as this is the only way to have a clean file system.


Run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.


If you still have problems, then exactly what update(s) are you trying to install?

Oct 17, 2020 3:51 PM in response to HWTech

I have followed your instructions word by word. I booted it into safe mode, tried installing the update and pressed the caps lock before I did so. I also ran a first aid on all three disks, and when I ran it on the “container” everything was ok. I even checked in details.

im trying to install the latest Apple update, which is macOS Catalina 10.15.7 and Safari 4.0. I always try to keep my mac up to date but it’s not working.

MacBook won't update. It restarts, says it'll take several minutes to update, and then restarts normally. How can I fix this?

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