MacBook Pro cannot load Big Sur
I have a MacBook Pro with OSX Capitan 10.11.6 but can not load Big Spur, there is 204 GB of storage on the system. Please advise-tsk.
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Which OS you can upgrade to will be governed by which model and year your mac is.
Click on the top left of your screen click on About This Mac to find out the year of your mac.
macOS Big Sur is compatible with these computers:
MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
MacBook Air introduced in 2013 or later
MacBook Pro introduced in late 2013 or later
Mac mini introduced in 2014 or later
iMac introduced in 2014 or later
iMac Pro
Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later
Although Apple says that you can upgrade directly from a compatible mac running Mac OS X El Capitan
I would recommend upgrading to macOS High Sierra first as this will better prepare your mac for the conversion
of the old HFS+ file system to the new APFS file system.
Open Safari and click on this link,
How to get old versions of macOS – Apple Support
Go to the Download OS section and click on macOS High Sierra.
Before upgrading make a full back up of your Mac.
Check that third party apps you use have updates available for the new OS.
Check that your printers/ scanners etc have updated drivers and software available for the new OS.
Connect your mac to your router via cable rather than rely on WiFi.
Do not use your mac while it is downloading
and do not use any other devices that share the same internet connection.
If the App Store says ‘Open’ then it is detecting a previous download of the install app
go to the Applications folder locate Install macOS ******.app.
Move it to the Trash, empty the Trash.
Restart, click on the link again, the App Store should say ‘Get' or 'Download'.
If you want to or are able to install Big Sur, open Safari and click on the link below.
How to upgrade to macOS Big Sur - Apple Support
If you are considering upgrading to Catalina or Big Sur be warned they do not support 32bit apps.
Your Mac is probably running 32bit apps and these will need to be updated to 64bit apps,
some updates may be free, some may be paid. Use this app to discover which apps you have
are 32bit, https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/ then contact the developers of the software to see
if they are offering 64bit updates.