Is Software Update in macOS 11.6.3 broken? How can I fix?
I (like many others, it seems if I look at "I have this problem too on Software update stuck "Checking for updat… - Apple Community) have been hit with Software Update getting stuck. In System Preferences, it never gets beyond "Checking for updates...".
The System is running macOS 11.6.3 and there should be a Safari update because of the zero day security issue (https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT213091).
Something already seemed wrong with software update as I did get a notification 'please install Monterey' a few days back, but this is an older MBP and Monterey is not supported on it.
The system has been freshly re-installed a few weeks ago and no antivirus junk or whatever runs on it. It has 43GB free disk space.