Cannot upgrade from 11.0.1 to 11.4

Thank you for the Screen Shot - yes 11.01 Installed. One more thing, if I may ask. Mentioned downloaded from Apple Store the 11.4. That would have download the Full Installer. Then it would have placed a New Application called " Install Big Sur " in the Applications folder. So far correct ?

Recommend, shutdown computer and disconnect all external drives. No restart and Immediately hold the Shift key and keep holding until the Apple Logo is presented, then release. This is Safe Mode and does a Repair Disk, clears cache files and only loads Apple Software, extensions and Fonts. Will load slowly - normal. Once Logged IN - it will look and perform differently - also normal. Now run the Installer located in the Applications folder.

This Safe Mode eliminates any third party software, extensions etc from loading and might allow the updated 11.4 to install successfully.

anja_s wrote:

Hi, I have macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 and when I go to software update, it says "Your Mac is up to date".

So I downloaded 11.4 from App Store, but when I tried to install it, I was not able to select my HD, it says "The volume cannot be downgraded".

Are there any other ways to install the newest macOS version?

Seems unusual to say the least....

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

Third party software is known to interfere, Safeboot may get you past the conflict.

You can try again from a SafeBoot— Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

verify you are using the Safari browser to download/initiate the macOS links.

If all else fails you can download macOS 11.4 from the Terminal.app copy & paste:

sudo softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 11.4

by default the installer ends up in the Applications folder "Install macOS Big Sur.app"

Is this Mac owned by your employer and therefore managed by your IT department? Do you see a Profiles icon in System Preferences? You would only see that if it's a managed device. If so, I wouldn't attempt to upgrade it without your IT departments assistance. Things could break badly as the device might fail to boot, etc. Depends on what the employer has installed on the Mac.

One thing you could try if it is not managed by your IT department would be to attempt installing 11.4 via external USB bootable drive. Providing you have "Install macOS Big Sur" in /Applications and it is in fact 11.4. You can create a bootable USB installer using Terminal.

First make sure you have 11.4 downloaded in /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur and in Terminal issue the following command:

 cat /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Info.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>Application-Group</key>
	<string>AirPort</string>
	<key>BuildMachineOSBuild</key>
	<string>20A241115</string>
	<key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
	<string>English</string>
	<key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
	<string>Install macOS Big Sur</string>
	<key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
	<string>InstallAssistant_springboard</string>
	<key>CFBundleGetInfoString</key>
	<string>Install macOS Big Sur, Copyright © 2007-2021 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.</string>
	<key>CFBundleIconFile</key>
	<string>InstallAssistant</string>
	<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
	<string>com.apple.InstallAssistant.macOSBigSur</string>
	<key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key>
	<string>6.0</string>
	<key>CFBundleName</key>
	<string>Install mac OS</string>
	<key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
	<string>APPL</string>
	<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
	<string>16.6.01</string>
	<key>CFBundleSignature</key>
	<string>????</string>
	<key>CFBundleSupportedPlatforms</key>
	<array>
		<string>MacOSX</string>
	</array>
	<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>CFBundleURLName</key>
			<string>Open Install OS X URL</string>
			<key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
			<array>
				<string>x-install-osx-assistant</string>
			</array>
		</dict>
	</array>
	<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
	<string>16601</string>
	<key>DTCompiler</key>
	<string>com.apple.compilers.llvm.clang.1_0</string>
	<key>DTPlatformBuild</key>
	<string>12E6178j</string>
	<key>DTPlatformName</key>
	<string>macosx</string>
	<key>DTPlatformVersion</key>
	<string>11.4</string>
	<key>DTSDKBuild</key>
	<string>20F70a</string>
	<key>DTSDKName</key>
	<string>macosx11.4internal</string>
	<key>DTXcode</key>
	<string>1240</string>
	<key>DTXcodeBuild</key>
	<string>12E6178j</string>
	<key>LSApplicationCategoryType</key>
	<string>public.app-category.utilities</string>
	<key>LSHasLocalizedDisplayName</key>
	<true/>
	<key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key>
	<string>10.9</string>
	<key>MinimumOSVersion</key>
	<string>10.9</string>
	<key>NSMainNibFile</key>
	<string>MainMenu</string>
	<key>NSPrincipalClass</key>
	<string>NSApplication</string>
	<key>NSSupportsAutomaticGraphicsSwitching</key>
	<true/>
	<key>ProductPageIconFile</key>
	<string>ProductPageIcon.icns</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Notice the following from above:

<key>DTPlatformVersion</key>

<string>11.4</string>

<key>DTSDKName</key>

<string>macosx11.4internal</string>

That would confirm you have the actual 11.4 installer downloaded from the App Store.

Next see if the file size is way too small or not indicating you have a stub installer and not the full installer.

du -h /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app

The last line should be:

12G	/Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app

If it was a stub it would be much smaller in size than 12GB.

If all is well then you can do the following:

Format a 16GB+ USB drive via Disk Utility and name it "MyVolume" then issue the following command in Terminal

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

If this fails then there is something seriously wrong with your internal disk and you should verify your backups are in order then you could delete the internal drive complete and re-install Big Sur 11.4 using the USB flash drive.

Please provide a Screen Shot of the " About this Mac" without the computer serial number

anja_s wrote:

Thank you for your answer. Actually I already tried it with terminal and it didn't work either :(

Scanning for 11.4 installer

Install failed with error: Update not found 

And I don't use any Cleaners/Optimizers etc. I had two VPN clients on my computer, so I uninstalled them but it didn't help.

Using the safe mode didn't help either..

Seems like I will have to make a backup and reinstall the whole system...

I would simply wait...

I suspect there is change happening at the server level as the RC for the macOS 11.5 is imminent for release.

Will be silent on this. Seems totally unknown to my level of knowledge. @ LeroyDouglas is much more experienced and will guide you through this.

Best of luck

Jump back in - if doing a reinstall and wanting a very clean version of Big Sur

How to Created a Bootable Installer and must be made from a Qualifying computer

USB Installation & Wipe and Install and there are no do-overs.

Special Notation - works on Intel Based Apple Computers & May on Apple Silicon M1 CPU

Extra Special Notation regarding the Touch ID equipped Apple Computer. About Startup Security Utility and Must Enable from Recovery Mode the ability to boot from External Drive Before Attempting 

Shutdown computer and disconnect all external drive Except the newly created Bootable Installer. Restart and immediately hold the OPTION key until the Startup Manager appears and choose the USB Drive. It will present options >> Disk Utilities >> View >> View ALL attached Drives. Choose the Upper Most Drive ( not the volumes indented and list below ). The drive normally is called Apple Media or Apple SSD - that is the drive to Erase and format as APFS with the GUID Partition Map. Once that is done >> backup out of Disk Utilities and choose install macOS. Follow the prompts and it may automatically reboot several time. Upon a final reboot - Setup Assist will present with the newer version of macOS.