MacOS Big Sur updates can no longer be downloaded in installer form from the web

MacOS Big Sur updates can no longer be downloaded in installer form from the web

Apple has made a change in the distribution of macOS that will not change anything in the lives of end users, but that will impact the work of technicians, amateurs and experts when dealing with the system. Hereinafter macOS updates can no longer be downloaded in standalone packages.

In other words, macOS Big Sur can only be updated from the corresponding panel in System Preferences, and no longer through an installer that can be downloaded from the official website in an independent way. It seems that macOS Catalina has been the last macOS with which these updates could be made.

A new middle step for Mac administrators on a network

The general user, again, is not affected. You can keep updating macOS just the way Apple wants you to: through automatic updates in System Preferences. But downloading the update as an installer it was something that made the work of technicians and administrators easier, since with a single download you could update all Macs on a local network.

That can continue to be done but with an extra step, according to what they say from MacRumors. Administrators will be able to download the update for macOS Big Sur and later versions through System Preferences, activating the ‘Caching’ option from the ‘Share’ panel so that the installation can be mirrored on all Macs on the same local network.

Apple may have made this change to better control downloads of macOS updates, which it cannot do as well by releasing a simple installer package from the official website.