Can't install MacOs Tahoe on Mac Studio M3 Ultra

So today is the day. Had an update for 15.7.1 and after three restarts (that was the firmware update I believe) I checked updates again, and Tahoe 26.0.1 popped so I rolled the official dice and everything installed without issues this time. Still going through the OS changes and such but everything appears to be legit.

When I called and asked the very same question on the 19th, I was told to try downloading it again in 3 to 5 business days. If it still does not work, then call them again.

I just reported this to

feedbackassistant.apple.com

and noticed that no one else has reported this. It says:

Recent Similar Reports: None

Please report this annoying bug!

They need to know that many are having this problem!

I just talked to Apple Support Europe and they confirm that Apple is aware of the problem and developers are investigating.

There are now a more reports logged with Apple Feedback Assistant which is good:

Hope they fix this soon…

From your terminal run:

softwareupdate --list-full-installers

DESCRIPTION
     Software Update checks for new and updated versions of your software
     based on information about your computer and current software.


     Invoke softwareupdate by specifying a command followed by zero or more
     args.


     softwareupdate requires admin authentication for all commands except
     --list.  If you run softwareupdate as a normal admin user, you will be
     prompted for a password when required.


     The following commands are available:


     -l | --list
                 List all available updates.


     -i | --install
                 Each update specified by args is downloaded and installed.
                 args can be one of the following:


                 -r | --recommended
                             All updates that are recommended for your system.
                             These are prefixed with a * character in the
                             --list output.


                 -a | --all  All updates that are applicable to your system,
                             including those non-recommended ones, which are
                             prefixed with a - character in the --list output.
                             (Non-recommended updates are uncommon in any
                             case.)


                 --os-only   Only macOS updates


                 --safari-only
                             Only Safari updates


                 item ...    One or more specified updates. The --list output
                             shows the item names you can specify here,
                             prefixed by the * or - characters. See


                             EXAMPLES.


                 -R | --restart
                             Automatically restart if required to complete
                             installation. If the user invoking this tool is
                             logged in then macOS will attempt to quit all
                             applications, logout, and restart. If the user is
                             not logged in, macOS will trigger a forced reboot
                             if necessary. If you wish to always perform a
                             forced reboot, use --force.


                 --stdinpass
                             Collect a password from stdin without
                             interaction. Apple silicon only.


                 --user      An owner user to authorize installation. Apple
                             silicon only.


     -d | --download
                 Each update specified by args is downloaded but not
                 installed. The values of args are the same as for the
                 --install command. Updates downloaded with --download can be
                 subsequently installed with --install, or through System
                 Settings (as long as they remain applicable to your system).


     --list-full-installers
                 List the available macOS Installers.


     --fetch-full-installer
                 Install the latest recommended macOS Installer. Use
                 --full-installer-version to specify the version of macOS to
                 install (e.g.  --full-installer-version 10.15).  Use
                 --launch-installer to launch the installer automatically
                 after it has been downloaded.


     --install-rosetta
                 Install Rosetta. Only applies to Apple silicon Macs. Pass
                 --agree-to-license to agree to the software license agreement
                 without any user interaction.


     --background
                 Trigger a background check with a forced scan.


     --schedule  Returns the per-machine automatic (background) check
                 preference.


     -h | --help
                 Print command usage.

EVERYONE who has this problem should report it to Apple via this form: Feedback - Mac Studio - Apple Select "Bug Report" as the feedback type. Only posting about this problem in the forums won't help, Apple's OS developers aren't here, and if you contact support you just talk to a costumer service agent. The feedback form is the ONLY certain way to actually get your feedback passed directly to the macOS developers at  HQ for released OS software.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

I cannot confirm for sure that skipping 15.7 would solve the issue (going from 15.6 → 26), nor that installing the developer RC would avoid this bug. What I can say is that a brand-new M3 Ultra unboxed last night first required the upgrade to 15.7 to update my old TM archive, and then stalled as everyone is describing here.

System Firmware Version: 13822.1.2

I did not bring it to the Apple Store for a manual firmware upgrade, and Apple should push that as part of the patch.

Additionally, I tried again at 10 a.m. Pacific on 9/18, and it is still not upgrading. I contacted Apple Support, and apparently, they opened another bug; however, they didn't provide any record of that.

It would be best if they released a patch once the issue is fixed, rather than having customers “try” for some hidden update swap on their server. This is a very time-consuming operation (1+ hour), only to end up with another error message.

They should have a bug-tracking system with test resolution and the patch version once released.

Same problem here...MacStudio M3 notifying an available upgrade from 18.6.1 Sequoia to either Tahoe 26 or Sequoia 15.7. From the point I were (15.6.1) I chose 15.7 first. After being upgraded to 15.7 I chose Tahoe 26...for no avail. I am stuck on Sequoia 15.7...15.7...15.7...15.7...

On the other hand on my macbook pro M1 I did the direct leap from 15.6.1 to Tahoe 26. It worked.

Oh, as per 18th Sep, 2025 GMT-03 , on my MacStudio m3 Ultra, I got this return on my CLI: "softwareupdate --list-full-installers ...

Software Update found the following full installers:

* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.0, Size: 16550645KiB, Build: 25A354, Deferred: NO

* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7, Size: 15285579KiB, Build: 24G222, Deferred: NO

...

etc"

No, the firmware pushed by "revive" was exactly the same as for 15.7, which then I knew it would have failed installation. So basically "revive" simply puts back whatever there was on the original os image, while "restore" updates to the latest software version (firmware + OS 26). I am restoring with TM right now, so I don't have access to detailed system reports to confirm, but this is just my guess.

This is a really a poor and untested deployment!

Boschje79 wrote:

As much as I would like to DFU restore my Mac, I just think Apple should come up with a decent solution instead really.

First, how many people in this thread and the several other ones have actually provided feedback to Apple about this issue? And how many have opened an official support ticket with Apple? That is the only way Apple will know about this issue & how wide spread it may be. Apple does not participate on this forum....we are only other regular users such as yourself.

Plus it may take time for Apple to actually address the issue. Most patches take weeks as Apple must first be made aware of the problem, then more time to reproduce it & analyze the issue, before coming up with a fix, then needing to test the fix to make sure it does not introduce other issues.

I was going to try to use one of the DFU revive methods or maybe even a restore, but it sounds like it's kind of a mixed bag for some people. Imagine doing a restore or a wipe and install and then finding out that your Time Machine backup won't actually restore.

Best to just wait for the next Tahoe update and install that. It's annoying bc everyone I know is on *os26 and I'm not getting things like polls and all that, but it's better to deal with that annoyance than to have to setup a machine fresh and deal with that headache.

hummersallad2 wrote:

Thanks HWTech but I have already tried that and that resulted in a system that didn't start.

Without an option to reinstall I ran DFU restore once more. This time I noticed that migration stops after transferring 1 400 000 files out of 1 750 000 files. And then I am back to a basic Apple Tahoe system without any of my files. I give up and will visit an Apple Store and hope they can help.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/edeb3cca-4961-40b3-b7c3-94c7a7b15516

Interesting.

Is it possible to select a different TM backup....perhaps one from a day or two earlier just in case something with the most recent backup is causing a problem (don't know if this is possible with Setup Assistant)? I think @John Galt is asking to try with a different physical TM backup drive which is even better if you have a second one.

Also, I would suggest creating a bootable macOS Sequoia USB installer & reinstalling macOS Sequoia & trying to restore from your backup to compare results. At least this would tell you whether the backup is good and if it works for Sequoia, then there is something with Tahoe which is causing a problem. It would not be surprising for the latter since macOS will need to make some adjustments to the backup to handle Tahoe changes.

If you elect to reinstall Sequoia, then you will need to use the Disk Utility method to erase the disk instead of the simpler "Erase All Contents & Settings" option. See the details in the following Apple article:

Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Another option is to create a macOS admin user account during the initial setup of Tahoe. Then try using Migration Assistant to transfer everything from a backup. I've heard there are a few differences between how Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant works (I think the former does more than the latter so it is possible not everything will be transferred).

Please keep us updated.

Spoke with Sr Engineer; hotfix ETA is 24 hours or so.

Has anyone had any luck with Revive? That's my only choice.

I install the beta for the developers 26.1 from sequoia 15.7 and seems all ok