Where the output is… Error: There is not enough free space on the selected volume to upgrade the OS. Run_startosinstall = $(/Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall -agreetolicense ) Startosinstall also reports on how much additional free space is needed when running an upgrade. In keeping with good IT stewardship, you probably want to start having conversations with those people now to avoid the inevitable help desk ticket later. Jamf Pro admins can easily identify how many Macs have under 47.74 GB free space by using Boot Drive Available MB criteria in an advanced search or smart group with a value of 47740.

As I prepare to move everyone to Big Sur the problem is only going to be exacerbated. Even with Catalina upgrades, which require far less free space, the most common failure is due to lack of storage. As of writing this, only 27% of my Mac fleet has ~47 GB free space. Note that’s 35.5 GB (to be exact) with 12.24 GB Big Sur installer, so 47.74 GB total. These aren’t rich organization problems, but when economies of scale play out for cash strapped school districts, people take notice.įor a Mac with 128 GB SSD, which is really closer to 121 GB after accounting for recovery partition and similar, 35 GB is a lot of space. It wasn’t until March 2017 when Apple introduced the 5th generation iPad with 32 GB storage that schools rejoiced at finally having sane entry level options. The current situation with Big Sur harkens back to iPad (mini) coming stock with 16 GB storage, the reality for 7 years between 2010-2017. It just so happens that’s almost all of my fleet, and probably most of what exists out in Apple education environments too. If upgrading from an earlier release, macOS Big Sur requires up to 44.5GB of available storage.įor those with deep pockets buying specced out machines you may think, “What’s the big deal?” Well, an entry level MacBook Air with 128 GB SSD is going to have a bad time. If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, macOS Big Sur requires 35.5GB of available storage to upgrade. At the bottom of Apple’s Big Sur Technical Specifications page there’s a note describing storage requirements. Not including the over 12 GB installer, it takes 35 GB to upgrade from a previous OS to Big Sur.

Like many of us during the pandemic, Big Sur has gotten a bit chonky.

No disk to install macos big sur