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User profile for user: Greg Parks
Greg Parks Author
User level: Level 1
146 points

The requested version of MacOS is not available. I want Big Sur, not Monterey.

On a late 2015 iMac 27" Retina, I want to upgrade from Mohave 10.14.6 to Big Sur. Since Monterey is the new current OS, I tried using the link on this page to get Big Sur:


How to get old versions of Mac OS https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683


The link on that page to get Big Sur is: macOS Big Sur 11


Clicking that link opens the App Store app with Big Sur's description page and a GET button. Clicking GET gives me a "Finding" progress bar which then results in the error: Update not found. The requested version of Mac OS is not available.


If I try installing in recovery mode I'll either have to install the machine's original OS or Monterey. Is there a work-around that I can use?

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 3, 2021 8:46 AM

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User profile for user: Greg Parks
Greg Parks Author
User level: Level 1
146 points

Posted on Nov 3, 2021 2:58 PM

I found a work-around. I have a second machine that was already running Big Sur. I followed this link on that machine: macOS Big Sur 11 and it launched the App Store app, which in turn launched System Preferences/Software Update (all the same as before) but this time it asked me if I wanted to download macOS Big Sur. It then downloaded "Install macOS Big Sur.app" to my applications folder. I was able to use this installer on the Mohave iMac to install Big Sur.


I also found another post on this same subject where the OP said Apple Support told them to upgrade to Catalina first, then Big Sur. Since I didn't do this myself I can't verify that it works, but it's worth a try.

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User profile for user: Greg Parks
Greg Parks Author
User level: Level 1
146 points

Nov 3, 2021 2:58 PM in response to Greg Parks

I found a work-around. I have a second machine that was already running Big Sur. I followed this link on that machine: macOS Big Sur 11 and it launched the App Store app, which in turn launched System Preferences/Software Update (all the same as before) but this time it asked me if I wanted to download macOS Big Sur. It then downloaded "Install macOS Big Sur.app" to my applications folder. I was able to use this installer on the Mohave iMac to install Big Sur.


I also found another post on this same subject where the OP said Apple Support told them to upgrade to Catalina first, then Big Sur. Since I didn't do this myself I can't verify that it works, but it's worth a try.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,290 points

Nov 4, 2021 7:37 PM in response to Greg Parks

Did you try accessing the link using Firefox? It has been reported that Firefox doesn't properly launch the link into the App Store. Safari or a Chromium based browser needs to be used. Plus the currently installed OS must be fully patched with all security updates before the App Store will allow you to download any OS. Unfortunately Apple does not like to provide useful error messages (sometimes they won't provide any error messages).

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The requested version of MacOS is not available. I want Big Sur, not Monterey.

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