How long is it supposed to take to upgrade from Lion to El Capitan using a wifi connection? (I am upgrading a 15" Early 2011 MacBook Pro 2 GHz Intel Core i7) Thank you.
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)
The file is about 6.2 GBs. Determine the download time using your information on the speed of your Wi-Fi. It could take several hours if your Wi-Fi is slow and/or unreliable. If you can use Ethernet then I suggest you use it instead.
Downloading and updating over WIFi is pretty common now, especially with some Macs (such as Macbook Airs) always on WiFi. I upgraded my 2011 Macbook Air from Mavericks (10.9) to El Capitan (10.11) and the download took about 15 minutes (my internet speed is 60 mb/s, or a bit more than 6 MB/s; my router supports about 144 mb/s WiFI so the internet speed is the limiting factor, not the WiFi) and the OS update itself took about 15 minutes more to go from 10.9 to 10.11. I've been on El Capitan for about 4 months now and have had zero system freezes during that time.
Well then, you are fortunate. I have a DSL connection and a 6+ GB file takes 1 - 2 hours (there is nothing faster available in this area). Add about 20 - 25 minutes for the installation and the entire process can take quite some time. I use a wired connection as that is always far more stable and do not use any device online during the download time to allow all of the bandwidth for the OS download.
One option is to visit an Apple Store. I believe that users in the store can achieve 100 mb/s or faster, which is roughly 7 minutes to download the 6 GB El Capitan update. You can look at the latest new Mac or iPhone models while the download proceeds.
Great idea unless you need to lug a 27" iMac.
Ugh. A 21-inch iMac is not a problem, but a 27-inch one is a bit too much. In that case, I would simply download it overnight at home and save the file to install when convenient.
I also copy the installer after the download and put it on an external for safekeeping - I've got every initial release full installer for the last 4 OS versions plus a fresh out of the box bootable clone so I can return my machines to the initial OS easily and quickly if/when I sell them as needed by the licensing agreement.
steve626: the OP is talking about a MBP, not an iMac.
Upgrade to El Capitan speed
