If you’re having trouble updating your Mac to macOS Big Sur, you're not alone.
“Users may not be able to download macOS Software Updates on Mac computers,” Apple said on its system status page this afternoon, though it has since been updated to say the issue is resolved.
The errors are occurring on day one for the Big Sur release, which is about 12GB in size. Mac users have been posting screenshots on social media showing their computers displaying an “Installation failed” pop-up when they try to update the macOS software.
Others are experiencing unusually slow load times before the installation aborts. “MacOS Big Sur won’t install. Been waiting three hours only to get this (error) message,” one user tweeted.
We suspect the download problems have something to do with Apple’s servers. Earlier in the day, the company’s developer website was also briefly down.
So you’re probably better off waiting a day or two before installing Big Sur. The update should arrive as a notification that pops up on your Mac. But if you want to check for the update manually, go to the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your desktop and select System Preferences > Software Update.
To see whether your Mac is compatible with Big Sur, check out our installation guide. According to our review of Big Sur, the new version of macOS is loaded with subtle enhancements, which make the operating system easier to use and more secure than ever before.