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 Catalina Could not be installed, How to fix macOS Catalina Update Stuck at Setting up screen? Some users find that the update process gets stuck. Is it stuck with ‘Setting up your Mac Screen’? The other place the update can appear to be stuck is in the ‘Find My’ app. I try to update my Mac Pro 2018 for installing Catalina but my Mac says your Mac is up to date - macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and last checked: 24 October 2019. I tried to install Catalina from App Store and it says to me Update not found and The requested version of macOS is not available. PLEASE DO NOT UPGRADE TO BIG SUR 11.3, THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THIS VERSION CURRENTLY. What Are The Benefits? This OpenCore Catalina install guide is perfect if you’re looking at moving straight from Mojave or High Sierra straight up to Catalina with little to no effort at all. 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. Catalina installed seamlessly on my Imac Retina 5k, 27-inch, 2017 w/ 3.8GHz QuadCore Intel Core i5.but with 40 GB 2400 Mhz DDR4 RAM, (2) two 16GB upgrades from OWC DIY Kit, Apple will not complete install of 10.15.1 update.
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.
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…”
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.
Mac Os Catalina Not Installing On Mac
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.