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Big Sur 11.1 update not installing

I have a 2019 16" MacBook Pro (Big Sur 11.0.1) , and I have been trying to install the updated OS (11.1) for several days with no success. It downloads the package, but then sits in "Preparing MacOS Big Sur 11.1 Update, 15 mins. remaining".... forever. So far I've tried: booting into Safe Mode, resetting the SMC, resetting the PRAM, and booting into Internet Recovery Mode (scary - exited without continuing). Other people are having the same issue. Some of them have solved it with Safe Mode, but that did not work for me. Yes, I have a Time Machine backup from yesterday. Thanks for any suggestions.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Dec 19, 2020 9:42 AM

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Posted on Dec 19, 2020 11:41 AM

Hi all,

I just figured it out, in case you are having the same problem. I ended up going directly to the App Store and downloading the OS installation file from there instead of my System Prefs. The download took longer, but it was flawless. Good to go now!

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15 replies

Dec 19, 2020 10:54 AM in response to joannedoj

Suggest disconnect any other devices using the Wifi ( if doing over Wifi ) or connect via ethernet connection. Keep the computer active during the download process meaning, do let it idle or sleep even if need to Mose mouse every 20 minutes and that is all. Have found when it say 15 minutes remains it really means 30 - 45 minutes in real time. At 10 minutes remaining means 30 - 45 minutes etc. Patience, patience and try to keep cool - the process is long.

Good Luck

Dec 19, 2020 6:02 PM in response to PRP_53

Yes. It was strange that the download from my System Prefs (well, really a link from my System Prefs) generated a 3.67 GB file. The file from the App Store was 12 GB. I spent 1 hour+ on the phone with Apple Support yesterday. After trying a bunch of scary things like booting into Internet Recovery Mode, the tech said I had to reformat my disk and start over from Time Machine. Like he11, unless there is no other option. :-).


So I hope this is helpful if you have this problem.

Dec 21, 2020 7:15 PM in response to joannedoj

MacMini (2018)  -- After numerous tries from restoring the OS from Recovery, to booting into safe mode and trying to install, to running disk first aid ... the one method that worked was to boot into safe mode, download the 11.1 complete version from the App Store, and install that.  That method went without incident.  


MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016). — The update worked as intended, but it took almost 1 3/4 hours to complete. 



Dec 23, 2020 12:10 PM in response to joannedoj

If nothing above worked for you then you might try how I solved this or rather how the computer automatically solved it on it’s own.


I have a 128 Gb SSD in Macbook Pro 13 inch early 2015. There is hardly any disk space left on this and my workdisk is an external SSD. I had enough space for the update to download and run on the primary SSD, still the download would fail by showing faulty internet connection (which was not technically correct as I have a very stable 300 mbps wired connection).


I tried all the above mentioned steps. None worked for my Mac. In the end. I went on to change the system preference from manual update to auto update. Voila, 4 hours later the system was ready to install the latest update. I didn’t change a thing.


I hope the engineers can figure out a way to reduce the size of pre-installed apps. I don’t use many of them and with Big Sur, I can’t delete them as well. Please Apple let the user/admin of the Mac delete the unwanted apps, people do have old machines with measly SSD because they were very expensive and some made the order without checking the final check.


Thank you!

Big Sur 11.1 update not installing

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