Cant Update To Catalina

We all know that it’s important to “stay patched, so you stay secure.” But macOS is making that a bit harder these days. Apple really wants you to upgrade to macOS Big Sur, but if you’re not ready for that big jump, it may be hard to notice that you have macOS Catalina and Safari updates to apply.

macOS Big Sur is a huge change and it’s usually a good idea to let the bleeding edge folks work out the kinks. It’s also not a bad idea to wait for Apple to make at least its first update before jumping on the new hotness. You may have applications that are not yet macOS Big Sur-compatible so be cautious with a big upgrade like this. I’m not a proponent of waiting a long time to upgrade to the latest OS but caution, especially on such a big change, is definitely warranted. While you’re waiting for the OS to stabilize, you want to keep macOS Catalina up to date, but Apple makes it difficult to see just how to do that.

While you’re still on macOS Catalina, if you open System Preferences and select Software Update, you’ll see the icon for macOS Big Sur with an obvious “Upgrade Now” button. But we don’t want to upgrade to macOS Big Sur just yet.

When I took the screenshot for this post, I actually had updates to macOS Catalina and Safari waiting for me, but it sure wasn’t obvious they were there.

Because you have Mac OS Catalina 10.15.1 and AutoUpdate brought your install up to the current 16.16.17 update (Yay!) we know that you did not have an Office 365 subscription. If you had a subscription, your Office version would have automatically updated to Office 2019. Update: I got hardware acceleration working by connecting the monitor to the motherboard, but I still can't upgrade to catalina. Last edited: Apr 9, 2020.

Under the icon for macOS Big Sur, there was some smaller text that said, “Other updates are available” and blue link text that said “More info…”

Can

Can't Update To Catalina From Mojave

Catalina
  1. If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, your Mac needs 35.5GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, your Mac needs up to 44.5GB of available storage. To upgrade from OS X Mountain Lion, first upgrade to OS X El Capitan, then upgrade to macOS Big Sur.
  2. After updating to Catalina, Word can’t work properly, so you can try to download a fresh copy of the current version of AutoUpdate from this link, install and then run AutoUpdate to bring your installation to current update level, then restart your Mac. Or close all Office 365 app for Mac applicationsFrom Finder Go/Go to Folder (Shift+Cmd+G.
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Click on that tiny More info link to reveal the updates you really need to apply. In my example, I had macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update waiting, and the notes below clearly say that this update “improves the security of macOS.” There was also a Safari update to 14.0.1 which had some speed enhancements but also security fixes, including the removal of support for Adobe Flash. You really want this update!

After you apply any Safari or macOS Catalina updates, the Software Update Preference Pane will still say “More info…” As shown below:

But if you click the link now, it will take you to the Apple web page telling you about all the awesome features of macOS Big Sur. I presume this “More info…” link will change back to showing you security updates for macOS Catalina and Safari when new ones are available, so you’ll have to be vigilant and pay attention in looking for the updates.

I don’t like that Apple has made it so undiscoverable that security updates are awaiting us. I would really prefer that they had made two equally-obvious buttons, one to upgrade to macOS Big Sur and one to update macOS Catalina and Safari. They’re doing a disservice to the community by making it this hidden. As I said up front, I’m a big proponent of getting on a new OS when it’s practical to do so, but it is the user’s decision when to do it and shouldn’t be tricked into what could be a catastrophic upgrade.

Can't Update To Catalina From High Sierra

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Can't Update To Catalina

Since you’re probably the family nerd if you’re reading or hearing this, please pass this post along to your friends and family so they stay patched so they stay secure.