I've been trying to download macOS Sierra for the last few hours on my Mac, but it's still taking forever to download. Should I download the El Capitan instead? All the websites tell me I need to update my Safari.

Allan Eckert wrote:

Since the release of Sierra, El Capitan is no longer available.

This is not correct. You can still download El Capitan from the Apple App Store because there are many Macs that do not work with Sierra. For example, my 2007 Mac Pro is only supported up to El Capitan.

Instructions: Upgrade to OS X El Capitan - Apple Support

You should finish the Sierra download. It’s a very large file and will take a while, especially on a slow Internet connection.

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Since the release of Sierra, El Capitan is no longer available.

El Capitan is no longer available at the App Store.

All the websites are telling me I need to update my Safari

Upgrading is the only way to update Safari.

Total download and installation time should run around 45 minutes to an hour on a broadband high speed internet connection.

First, make sure your Mac can run Sierra > macOS - How to Upgrade - Apple

If your Mac meets the requirements, and it's running v10.7 or later. you can use OS X Recovery to verify and repair the startup disk if necessary prior to upgrading Sierra. Instructions here > OS X Recovery.

El Cap would not download any faster, even if Apple hadn't sent it to the cornfield; the installers are 4-5GB.

Nothing compels you to use Safari. Just use a different browser, as long as you are running OS 10.9 or later. What version of the OS are you using?

I gotta say, even now, more than two weeks after the release, the download is still glacially slow. I have a 25mbit connection, yet I get anywhere from 0 to a couple hundred kbit/s, but not more (Southern Germany).

That's kind of embarrassing for apple's CDNs IMHO.

PS: and yes, I've checked, other stuff is able to saturate the connection currently, it's not just generally slow right now.

El Capitan has been removed from the App Store by Apple so you can't get it.

Wait for 10.12 to download.

same here, it's definitely on apples end.

I clocked my internet at 288 mbps just a few minutes ago. I have a MacBook pro with solid state drive and 16 gigs of ram. After three hours, AppStore is telling me it will take 1-day 4-hours to download the remainder of 4.77 gigs. Something isn't right.

I Just purchased a new I Mac.( direct from apple uk ) It arrived today with el capitan and not sierra so I thought I would simply download the updated is. After all I have a 57 mb internet connection. It has so far managed to download 2 of the almost 5 gigabytes after 6 hours!!!! This is ridiculous. I have had to stop the Mac going to sleep at all and nothing else in the house is using the hub. Got to be a problem at the server surely.?

I did this over the past weekend. Download took over 3 hours. There is a second file that is an installer that you will find in the applications folder. But before you install it check all your apps and peripherals! Make sure the producers of your apps and peripherals are supporting the new OS. Check their websites for info on new releases, fixes, drivers, etc. I spent days trying to clean things up and find incompatibilities and I still had problems and now my HP all in one won't scan. HP says my only solution is to buy another printer. So now I'm trying to revert to El Capitan and am having no luck. The apple support was not very helpful either. If you do decide to go ahead with the update be prepared to restart in safe mode (after the chime, press shift until apple symbol appears) then gradually test all apps and peripherals. Beware!

The download usually takes about 1.5 to 4 hours.