Software Update has been failing to download macOS Ventura for months

I've been trying to run a software update for a few months, and the connections seem to keep timing out.

Here is a screenshot.

I've noticed this on large downloads, with Software Update, and with the App Store as well.

And over the course of a few months, it seems to be getting progressively worse. Usually, these apps would fail to download on 10+ GB items like Xcode; then I'm noticing it failing more on relatively smaller items, such as macOS (usually ~5GB), and now on Monterey updates (not even a full OS, ~2GB).

Smaller items, such as Safari updates, seem to work just fine.

There's nothing wrong with my internet connection because I have no problem streaming 4K video and downloading virtual machine images (~20-50GB ranges) speedily and without timeouts.

And in the event of timeouts, which I'm sure it's usually on the server's end, I've solved the problem in one of two ways:

1. I would download through the browser, and when the timeout occurs, I resume the download, and it picks up where it left off, and I would repeat as necessary until the download completes. In fact, when Xcode failed to download for me, I would download it directly via this method through the Apple Developer portal. Had to resume the download maybe 5 or 6 times, but it worked.
2. I would run the cURL command in a shell script that would retry and resume from the last file offset until it finishes the download successfully.

Unfortunately, I seem to be unable to find the official macOS Ventura download link to try any of the above methods.

So I tried the next best thing, running Software Update from the command line a look until I got an exit code 0:

softwareupdate -i 'macOS Monterey 12.6.5-21G531'

This doesn't work either because on failure, the CLI command just hangs, and I get an output like:

Software Update Tool


Finding available software
Downloading macOS Monterey 12.6.5
Downloading: 100.00%
Failed to download & prepare update: Error Domain=SUOSUErrorDomain Code=201 "The software update download failed. Please check your network connection and try again."
...

I need to use CTRL-C just to release the terminal.

In anticipation of any clarification questions, my system is as follows:

• MacBook Pro (Intel i9)
• macOS Monterey
• 8 cores
• 64 GB of RAM
• 8 TB solid state (with over 6 TB free)

So resources aren't a limiting factor.

And, as stated above, there's nothing wrong with my network connection; everything else runs just fine.

I think the solution is to find an official download link. I remember we used to be able to do that.

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Also, on an unrelated topic, I've noticed something that doesn't make any sense to me.

An expired Apple Developer account doesn't allow you to Xcode via the Developer portal, but you can do it through the App Store. Seems strange you'd get restricted access to something you already have access to.

Are there any plans to update that policy? Not a big deal, just seems strange to me.

And are there any plans to allow download retry and continuation, like what cURL, does when downloads fail for Software Update and the App Store? This would fix issues for people should they have flakey network connections. Or maybe this is how it works in Ventura?

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Thanks for your time.