I am running Catalina and want to upgrade Safari.

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Level 1

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I am running Catalina and want to upgrade Safari.

I have an iMac running Catalina. I don't want to upgrade further, at least at this time, because I have other significant apps that would require upgrades. I am noticing now that I have at least one banking web site that won't allow me to use my current version of Safari (13.1.3). Checking online, I saw that Apple offers Safari 15 for Catalina (and current OS versions, of course). This apparently should be doable through Software Update in preferences. However, when I click on updates, I get the small window with the message "Checking for updates..." and the spinning wheel forever. I have tried this for the last several days and the result is always the same.

Can someone help me understand how to update my Safari?

Regards,

Vince

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 4, 2022 2:12 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Ferd II

Level 10

104,749 points

Oct 4, 2022 2:22 PM in response to vguarna

vguarna wrote:

Can someone help me understand how to update my Safari?

Your attempt to update Safari appears to me to be correct.

Try using Software Update while booted up in Safe Mode: How to use safe mode on your Mac.

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Answer 2

Ferd II

Level 10

104,749 points

Oct 5, 2022 11:12 AM in response to Ronasara

To clarify my suggestion, Software Update "may" offer a Safari Update if there is one available as indicated below:

Since the OP indicated that Software Update was not responding, the Safe Mode suggestion was offered as an option to regain Software Update capability. If a Safari Update was available, it could then be downloaded.

I agree with your suggestion that other browser alternatives should be considered.

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Answer 3

Ronasara

Level 6

15,013 points

Oct 5, 2022 10:06 AM in response to vguarna

To be clear, Safari is not normally able to be individually installed. It is only installed as part of the Mac's operating system. Even when it is upgraded, Safari sometimes is still not able to access some web sites successfully. The solution is to use another browser such as Firefox for those problematic sites. It can be individually updated as needed and it works.

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Answer 4

vguarna Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 5, 2022 11:21 AM in response to Ferd II

That did the trick! Once I booted in Safe Mode I was able to see not only the Safari update but also a security update I am also missing. (And, of course, I could see the upgrade to Monterey as well but as mentioned, that will cause me some grief I don't want to deal with right now.) I did the Safari upgrade and rebooted and I'm good to go. I do use other browsers as well but I count on Safari for the sites for which I wish to use the password manager. Thanks very much for your help.

Interestingly, now that I did that, I can go into preferences and see available updates normally, as before. Not sure why that would be but I won't worry about it.

Thanks again,

Vince

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Answer 5

Ferd II

Level 10

104,749 points

Oct 5, 2022 11:25 AM in response to vguarna

You are welcome.

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I am running Catalina and want to upgrade Safari.

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