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MAC Update 10 months overdue...just now being notified by another website

How do I initiate an update on my MAC?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Aug 8, 2021 4:08 PM

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4 replies

Aug 11, 2021 12:17 PM in response to Joyful0513

Howdy @Joyful0513,


You can do this in several ways, of course the methods available to you will vary depending upon what version of macOS you are using, so here are a few possible steps:

  • Click upon the Apple () menu, select 'About this Mac', and in that window, depending upon what version of macOS you have, you may also see a 'Software Update' button you can click upon.
  • You can also try : Click upon the Apple () menu, select System preferences, and in your System preferences you may also have one of your System Preference' "panes" , where you may have one of several options such as 'Software Update' or 'App Store', either of which should allow you to select and turn on software update options, and/or check immediately for software updates.
  • You can also try : Click upon the Apple () menu, select 'App Store' and in the App Store, at the top, or on the left hand side, there may be several tabs you can click upon, one of which is 'updates'. Depending upon what version of your macOS this may or may not include Apple operating system updates.
  • lastly, although this may be a little more complicated, I have found that sometimes, even when using the normal way to search for Apple software updates, occasionally it may inappropriately indicate that there are none, when in fact there are some, you can use the Terminal application (inside of your Applications folder -> Utilities folder) where you can then type the follow commands EXACTLY (every letter, uppercase/lowercase and space must be exact so you can just copy and paste what I put below inside of the quotes):
  •  type:  "softwareupdate -l"  (This will provide a list of all available updates)
  • Then, to install all available software updates, type the command :  "sudo softwareupdate -i -a" (please note: as this is a special 'super user' SUDO command, it will require you to type your logged in admin account password, although it will NOT show you what you are typing, so, just type it very slowly and carefully, again, being 100% precise as passwords must also be exact).


Cheers,

MacMind

Aug 10, 2021 6:06 PM in response to Axel Foley

Thanks Axel, but I don't have an option after system preferences to choose software update. This is really weird, as updates usually occur without prompting, I thought. If not so, then I would typically receive a prompt of some sort. Not the case anymore. Could it be because I'm out of storage or memory? I get the two confused on a regular basis, lol.

MAC Update 10 months overdue...just now being notified by another website

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