The storage space available recorded on my MacBook suddenly decreased

Question

The storage space available recorded on my MacBook suddenly decreased

Hello, I have an M3 MacBook Air that runs MacOS Sequoia. Within the last hour, I noticed that the recorded storage space on the MacBook has decreased from 151GB and a bit to 141.08GB. Within the last hour, I also got notified that a software update is available(MacOS 15.3). I realized at that point that I had forgotten to untoggle the option 'download new updates when available' which is what I believe might be responsible for the decrease in the recorded storage space available. I'm not sure if the software update actually downloaded or not; I can't seem to locate it. Is it likely the cause of the recorded storage space available decreasing by about 10GB? If so, how do I locate and delete the file(s) or folder(s) associated with the software update? If it isn't due to the software update file(s), what could be the cause of this sudden huge decrease in the recorded storage space available? I'd be grateful if anyone could help me out with this, please.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Feb 4, 2025 2:03 AM

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Answer 1

Owl-53

Level 10

105,319 points

Feb 4, 2025 2:46 AM in response to mrmagnetoman88

Why would you feel the need Not to update from Sequoia 15.1 Released Oct 28, 2024 ?

There further behind the computer is in updates , the longer it may take to get it current.

Besides, there have been several Bug Fixes and Security patches along this road.

There was a Sequoia macOS 15.1.1 ( 24B91 ) released Nov 19, 2024

There was a Sequoia macOS 15.2 ( 24C101 ) released Dec 11, 2024

Then the lasted Sequoia macOS 15.3 ( 24D60 )released Jan 27, 2025

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2025 6:40 AM in response to Owl-53

Hello PRP_53, thanks for your response. The reason I've not updated to macOS 15.3 has to do with some trivial things. One is the fact that I use a certain application that allows me to customize my dock to have a 3D look which doesn't seem to be supported yet on macOS 15.2 and later. The other reason is because there's a likelihood of some features not functioning properly after the update. For example, after I updated from macOS Sonoma to macOS Sequoia for the first time, the battery health was incorrectly recorded. But after I did a clean reinstallation of macOS Sonoma and upgraded to macOS Sequoia, the battery health was correctly recorded. Yes, they may be trivial relative to other factors, but I really can't bear to use the computer with the newer 2D dock and the newer icons and go through the extra effort of doing fresh reinstallations just to rectify bugs that might arise with newer updates.

Do you happen to know what the cause of the recorded storage space having decreased was? Do you think it could have something to do with the software update file?

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