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In the last couple of days it seems that my update page in App Store is missing its stylesheet. The update page (and only that) is looking strange. Sometimes it helps to shut the app and open it again after a minute - sometimes NOT.
What could be the reason?
I am running High Sierra on a 2017 iMac
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.12
Call done, the support representative has been very kind and acknowledged that this issue is likely to be server side.
She also noticed that even yesterday she saw some clients on High Sierra with this issue but she didn't think it was a widespread issue until my call.
She told me that she will raise the issue internally and suggested me to fill in a feedback report through apple.com/feedback, too, in order to prioritise the issue.
However, she told me to not expect a super fast resolution since macOS High Sierra is not actively supported by Apple anymore and currently only obsolete or vintage Macs cannot update to a more recent macOS version.
So, folks still on High Sierra, let's open Apple Support tickets and report this issue on Apple's feedback page!
I have the same problem on my mid-2011 iMac running on High Sierra 10.13.6. Does anyone knows if the updates are actually installing themselves correctly? Hard to say with the page set up the way it is...
Same problem here with 3 different machines (MacBook Pro i7 15", 2015 - iMac i7 27", 2011 - Mac Pro 12 cores, 2013) all running the latest High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G14042) as of 2021. It just happened one day, out of the blue even after fresh installation. It surely is a component in the latest update that won't cope well with the App Store's new features...
I hopped the wagon and opened a ticket too!
Let's hope.
Cheers, Sam.
I am very curious to see when someone at this high-price company will finally get round to taking care of the problem. After all, this is not the first time this problem has occurred. I have the suspicion that there is intention behind this. I now find Apple's convenience to be nothing short of impertinent.
Same problem with the update tab. And i'm stuck on 10.13.6 because I'm using the server app to run my mail server, as I have been for over 10 years, but Apple decide to drop the support for the server app 5.6.3 on newer versions of MacOS, and the support of most services on the newer server apps, without providing tools to migrate to standard versions of the public domain mail services (dovecot/postfix). There were some guidelines for other services, like DNS, but not for the mail.
May 2nd and still seeing this on my end. Running with English/US vs the example screen shot. Seems it broke some time in early April. Done a full reboot and even refresh on that page results in same garbled/unstyled view.
The rest of the App store displays correctly
Same here. Did a patcher install of Catalina on the machine and no problem with updates page there, as it’s supported of course. I upgraded the machine to resell but as another member reported, if you resell a machine with the update page in HS it looks like the machine has a virus. So I decided to go the patcher route.
Bug report with Apple filed.
People with sufficient knowledge can install and discover updates via Terminal.app, but this is an incredibly hostile environment for Apple's less technical users.
More elderly customers are those most likely to remain on legacy systems, hence most likely to see these sort of errors and most likely to get agitated by them. I can speak from experience as repeatedly over the last few weeks I've been called by more elderly people worried that "my computer has a virus".
This sort of neglecting of older OSes and devices damages the Apple brand as it completely destroys the "it just works" mythology. To be fair that's been increasingly eroded over a number of years, but honestly it's starting to get rather embarrassing.
I've provided Mac support in some professional capacity now for nearly 30 years. It's getting to the point where I having to seriously think whether I should start suggesting customer's replace their old Macs with Windows, because the hardware is supported by Microsoft and 3rd party developers for much much longer. And the old "Macs are more reliable" argument has been battered over the last few years.
Be interesting to see if Apple actually fix this, and other bugs such as the problems with Safari 14.1 on Catalina in a timely fashion. 3 weeks and counting at present...
Forgot in my irritation to say, to download/discover updates from the Termina.
1). Open Terminal.app
2). Type softwareupdate -l then hit <enter> This will list all available updates.
3). To install all updates type softwareupdate -i -a --restart then hit <enter> This will install all available updates and then automatically restart.
4). After a reboot, follow step 2 and 3 again until no more updates are available. This should ensure you have as fully a patched machines as Apple deign to give you...
As per my previous post, imagine trying to explain this to an 80 year old over the phone. Brilliant user experience, helps build the Apple brand a treat...
It seems this is still going on as of May 14th, but I don't believe it's any kind of "server" issue. I use to work for Apple Inc. (not store) and you'll can get a different story every time - depending on who you talk with. ;-)
I have several Macs but it's been a while since I've used the one I'm on now. Similar model, but OLDER.
[27"/ 3.4ghz / i7/ 32gb ram - macOS High Sierra ]
(BTW, Boy... I don't know why you're not running a newer macOS on yours though? You can. I would!! :-)
Rather than any kind of "server" issue messing with the App Store UI - I suspect hardware and/or software. All my other Macs are not doing this, older and newer models. Plus... all the other areas of the Mac App Store are just fine for me. I think it's going to take a little more sleuthing and trouble shooting.
My weird "boxed" update buttons and check boxes are working though. I was able just able to download one of my updates. Back to the drawing board.
A Server Side problem? All around the world? This thread is growing on an almost daily basis, it's turning up in USA as well as in Holland, and we're made to believe it's a server problem? I do not believe that. A phonecall seems the thing to do, and a call with a good friend who knows all about Apple, Microsoft, servers etc., I cannot accept that exactly the same issue happens everywhere in the world. To say the least, a highly unsatisfactory answer.
I read a more satisfactory answer some time ago, that Apple was waiting until there would be sufficient response to react accordingly, just to see if these were localized incidents but that it would be looked into when there would be lots of cases popping up everywhere. I would rather stick to that thank you.
Yup, that’s true. But if you also want to get AppStore updates you can use the excellent MAS
https://github.com/mas-cli/mas
But it’s dumb as rocks that we have to even consider jumping through these hoops, just because someone T Apple can’t / won’t update the path to some css and javascript files…
"Stick to what you know - it's a SERVER SIDE bug where it is serving an
incorrect page for updates. There have been ZERO changes to the 10.13
app store in years."
Agree, it's an issue with Apple's Servers. I believe they've just pulled the plug on the old method of serving the formatting for this App Store update page, because new versions of macOS don't use this method to show the updates available, and with High Sierra out of support, some bright spark said, well we don't need this now,
With companies the size of Apple, their backend servers can have many forms and functions, that break down bigger processes into smaller more manageable server processes.
To those saying it's an local hardware/software issue. OK, so me a machine running High Sierra that doesn't exhibit this issue and I'll accept that, but I have access to a range of iMacs / macbooks running High Sierra and I'm yet to see one running High Sierra that doesn't exhibit this issue. Can't put it more plainly than that.
Yes, it's quite subtle what Apple has done here. It's clearly not the server that serves the updates themselves. It's not the server that generates the text in different languages.
It's the server that generates the formatted css/javascript page to show the updates available for a specific device request. What we don't is the 'secret sauce' being used here by Apple, in what checks it makes in order to serve that page. How Apple indexes all this their end, keeps track of what updates have been applied.
To anyone that says it's not an Apple formatting server problem show me a 2017 macbook pro (Sept 2018 purchased pre-installed with High Sierra) or any Apple device running High Sierra that doesn't exhibit this problem.
What I'd recommend:
If you have an Apple Store close by, book an appointment by phone with a Apple Genius, say that your issue is related to High Sierra and ask if they have a machine running High Sierra that can be used so you can explain the issue.
Once they bring out the machine running High Sierra, go straight to the App Store Update Page on the Apple Store machine, and the fault will be there, because of all the macs we have access to, various years and devices, I'm yet to see a machine running High Sierra that hasn't exhibited this fault since the change that happened April 4th.
Which is good as it tells you your machine has all the latest OS patches installed. The AppStore -> Updates tab won't change in appearance until Apple sort out the CSS and possibily Javascript issues at their end.
The AppStore (by appearance) appears to be just an app that renders web pages. The Updates page looks weird because the stylesheet is missing. That's a "server-side" problem in as much as it can only be fixed at the Apple end, not on the individual computer.
The point is probably not really how the page looks but can one still do updates. I have been able to do several updates with the strange-looking page, so as long as that keeps working we don't really have to worry. I suppose...
You're in the fortunate position to have enough patience and gumption to look for answers as to why it's doing this.
I'm conceited enough to think I'm not a complete computer idiot. Lots of people aren't, assume it's a "virus" or something they've done wrong and get stressed about it. Then they find some dodgy support number on the internet, who then gets remote access to their computer, who them scams them out of money.
Sounds like a stretch? I've had a more elderly customer screwed in exactly this fashion.
FWIW I assumed that it was completely stuffed and won't not work because no updates were showing after some minutes of waiting. Hence looking for CLI solutions.
app store update page looks strange
