Mac not updating to Big Sur 11.4

[colinwebb]

I’ve been trying for days to update to Big Sur 11.4
The download starts and takes ages before announcing download failed. My internet is fine Virgin M600 but the download is painfully slow.
I read to turn off the Mac when it stalls then restart but this did not work.
System info: MAC OS 11.2.3, Retina 5k 27” 2017, 935GB available space.

 

[chscag]

It sounds like your internet connection is slow or perhaps intermittent. I have the same machine that you have and can download a Big Sur update in less than 15 minutes, but I have a very fast fiber optic connection.

If there is an Apple store near by you can go there with an 8 to 10 GB flash drive and have them download the combined Big Sur update for you. Then when you get home you can transfer it to your iMac and install it.

 

[colinwebb]

It sounds like your internet connection is slow or perhaps intermittent. I have the same machine that you have and can download a Big Sur update in less than 15 minutes, but I have a very fast fiber optic connection.

If there is an Apple store near by you can go there with an 8 to 10 GB flash drive and have them download the combined Big Sur update for you. Then when you get home you can transfer it to your iMac and install it.

I was a bit vague there and misleading it’s not the download that stalls in fact that’s pretty quick, it stalls when preparing install gets to about 15 minutes.
Apple store is about 30 miles away is there not a way of aquiring the download online?

 

[ferrarr]

If your Mac is still using OS X El Capitan, you may have to install a different macOS first.

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

 

[chscag]

If your Mac is still using OS X El Capitan, you may have to install a different macOS first.

He's trying to update from Big Sur 11.2.3 to 11.4.

I was a bit vague there and misleading it’s not the download that stalls in fact that’s pretty quick, it stalls when preparing install gets to about 15 minutes.

That's odd since you appear to have lots of free space on your drive. Does your iMac have an SSD or is it a Fusion drive? When an installation hangs up like that it usually has something to do with hardware. Have you tried running Disk Utility First Aid on the drive?

There doesn't seem to be a combined update for Big Sur 11.4 as there have been for past versions of macOS. I'm guessing Apple has done away with that since the Big Sur downloads are for both the M1 and Intel.