macOS

Written & tested for accuracy by a developer (not AI)

Download macOS

Download macOS at faster speeds with Apple's InstallAssistant package installer. Plus instructions for macOS clean installs, bootable USB creation, system recovery, macOS ISO download, or the standard Software Update option.

Looking for the next version? See macOS 27 Golden Gate, in public beta now and expected to release in mid-September 2026.

For the usual "over the top" upgrade to the latest macOS version, without deleting user files, you have two options:

  • Upgrade using the System Settings (slow, link below)
  • Upgrade using a downloadable package installer (faster, described here)

The first option, using the Software Update option in System Settings, is easy but slow. It is described in the article:

What is here

This article shows how to speed the upgrade time from hours to minutes using the package installer option instead.

  • Download macOS faster: Skip the slow Software Update with Apple's InstallAssistant.pkg installer package.

Before you get started, install a better Terminal

You'll need a terminal application for some operations. Apple includes the Mac terminal but I prefer Warp Terminal. Warp is an easy-to-use terminal application, with AI assistance to help you remember terminal commands. Even if you already use another terminal, now’s a good time to download Warp and try it for free.

Getting ready

Check compatibility before downloading anything. Your Mac determines which macOS versions you can download and run.

Check your Mac model by clicking the Apple menu > About This Mac > More Info.

MacOS Tahoe 26 was released September 15, 2025, marking Apple's transition to a unified numbering scheme across all platforms. This version will be the final macOS to support Intel Macs, with compatibility limited to select 2018-2019 models including specific iMac, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, and Mac mini configurations.

Storage requirements: macOS Tahoe 26 needs about 60 GB of free space for installation. The installer itself is about 18.4 GB. Clear space before downloading to avoid errors.

Network connection: Large downloads need stable broadband connections. If you can, use a hard-wired ethernet connection, for faster speeds than wifi.

Faster downloads with the package installer

Here's how to get faster downloads with the package installer.

Software Update is Apple's official way to download the current macOS, but it is often painfully slow, even on a fast internet connection. The download tool opens only a few connections to Apple's servers, so it often cannot use your full bandwidth, especially when you are far from those servers. A download that should take 15 minutes can stretch to hours, and users report multi-day estimates on brand-new Macs.

The package installer is faster. Apple offers a macOS installer as a file named InstallAssistant.pkg, hosted on Apple's own download server. Download that file in a web browser (which uses your full bandwidth), resuming automatically if it stops. In my test on a fast 300 Mbps connection, I was able to download using the web browser in about 14 minutes while Software Update needed an estimated 4 hours at about 9 Mbps. That is roughly 18 times faster, on the same connection at the same time.

The InstallAssistant.pkg file is the same full installer Apple delivers through Software Update, so it is legitimate and fully supported. Apple has offered one for every macOS version since Big Sur 11.

See if your connection is the problem

Before you assume a slow internet connection, test it. macOS includes a built-in tool that measures your download speed to Apple's own servers, the same network that hosts the installer. Open a terminal application and run:

$ networkQuality -v
...
==== SUMMARY ====
Uplink capacity: 313.557 Mbps
Downlink capacity: 131.295 Mbps
Responsiveness: Medium (203.614 milliseconds | 294 RPM)
Idle Latency: 37.592 milliseconds | 1596 RPM

The test takes about fifteen seconds, and a single line rewrites itself with rising numbers while it runs, so wait for the summary at the end. Downlink capacity is the number that matters for a macOS download. Responsiveness, counted in round trips per minute, rates how well the connection holds up while it is busy, and a higher number is better.

It is not unusual for "Downlink capacity" to be medium or high, for example 100 Mbps or more, while Software Update crawls. That means the connection is fine and the Software Update tool itself is the bottleneck, in which case you can download the installer package with your browser instead.

How to download the installer package from Apple

Here is the direct link to the current macOS release, hosted by Apple:

The download comes straight from Apple's server. Check your browser's downloads list and you will see the address starts with swcdn.apple.com, an Apple domain. For older macOS versions, or a newer release if this page is out of date, see the Mr. Macintosh full installer database for the complete list of Apple's InstallAssistant.pkg links.

Verify the package came from Apple

You can confirm the file is Apple's genuine, unmodified installer before you run it. Open a terminal and run:

$ pkgutil --check-signature ~/Downloads/InstallAssistant.pkg

Look for Status: signed Apple Software and a certificate chain that ends with Apple Root CA. This is a cryptographic check performed on your own Mac, so it protects you no matter where you found the link.

Run the package

Double-click InstallAssistant.pkg. It does not upgrade your Mac. It places the full installer app, "Install macOS Tahoe", in your Applications folder and finishes in about a minute. From there, open the app to upgrade your Mac, or use it to create a bootable USB installer or reinstall macOS.

Be aware that the package installer speeds up the download process but the actual installation, once the package is on your Mac, may take an hour or longer. So allow yourself time.

Other macOS install purposes

A full installer has uses beyond upgrading the Mac you downloaded it on. Here are the common ones.

Create a bootable USB drive

A bootable USB installer is a USB drive that a Mac can use to start up. Use a bootable USB installer to install macOS on several Macs without downloading the installer on each, to start a Mac whose installed system will not start, or to keep a trusted installer on hand for repairs. Two limits are important. The target Mac must connect to the Internet during installation, because the installer gets firmware and model-specific information from Apple. And a bootable installer cannot fix failed hardware; it starts a Mac with a damaged system, but not one whose drive or firmware has died. See the article Create a Bootable USB Installer for macOS for how to format the drive and run Apple's createinstallmedia tool.

Reinstall macOS or force a clean install

The macOS recovery mode gives you two options: reinstalling "over the top" of existing files or initializing a "clean install."

Reinstalling replaces the operating system and leaves your files and applications alone, which repairs a macOS that no longer starts or otherwise fails. A clean install goes further and erases the drive first, clearing out years of accumulated files, damaged preferences, and software conflicts. Both jobs run either from macOS Recovery, which needs no USB drive and no downloaded installer but does need Internet access, or from a bootable USB drive. To wipe a Mac for sale or trade-in, you can use Erase All Content and Settings to remove your data and the Activation Lock without reinstalling anything. See Reinstall macOS for all three options, and for what to back up before you erase anything.

Create a macOS ISO file

An ISO file is a disk image that virtualization software can use. Apple's installer application bundle is not an ISO file, so there's a hdiutil utility that can convert it. A typical reason to make an ISO file is to set up a macOS virtual machine on an Intel-based Mac, using software such as VMware Fusion, so you can test against an older macOS version or keep a legacy application working. There are two limits: On a Mac with Apple Silicon, VM applications do not install macOS from an ISO at all; they use an IPSW restore image, which UTM and Parallels download for you. And Apple's license permits macOS virtual machines only on Apple hardware, so an ISO does not turn a Windows or Linux PC into a licensed macOS host. See Create a macOS ISO File for how to run the hdiutil conversion to convert an installer package into an ISO file.

Other options for downloading an installer

A complete macOS installer is a large app file (about 18 GB) containing everything needed to install macOS. This differs from a small "stub" installer that downloads additional files during installation. The current version, macOS Tahoe 26, requires about 60 GB of free space for installation, though the installer file itself is about 18.4 GB.

You need the complete installer for:

  • Installing on several Macs without downloading the installer each time
  • Clean installations to fix persistent problems
  • Starting a Mac whose installed system will not start
  • Keeping a trusted installer on hand for repairs

The fastest method is the direct InstallAssistant.pkg browser download described above. The methods below also work, and some offer more version options.

Download older versions from the Mac App Store

Starting with macOS Tahoe 26, Apple no longer offers the current macOS version in the Mac App Store, and searching for "macOS Tahoe" on the Mac App Store finds nothing. For the current version, use the InstallAssistant.pkg download described above, Software Update, or the terminal command below.

The Mac App Store still offers installers for older macOS versions, including Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14, and Ventura 13. Apple lists the App Store links on its How to download and install macOS support page.

  1. Open the App Store link for the version you want
  2. Click Get to start downloading
  3. Wait for the download to finish, and the installer appears in Applications

Downloaded installers appear in the Applications folder as "Install [Version Name].app" and launch automatically or can be saved for later use. The App Store dims the "Get" button and displays "not compatible with this device" warnings if you don't have a compatible Mac.

Download using the command line

Use a terminal application for direct access to Apple's servers for more version options. Find the Mac Terminal in the Applications > Utilities folder or by searching for Terminal using Spotlight search. Or use a better terminal application such as Warp Terminal. The first step is to open the Mac terminal.

The softwareupdate command manages all system updates from the command line.

List available installers for your Mac:

$ softwareupdate --list-full-installers

This command shows every macOS version your specific Mac can run.

Download a specific version:

$ softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 26.0.0

Replace "26.0.0" with your desired version number. The installer downloads to Applications automatically.

Download the latest compatible version:

$ softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer

This grabs the newest macOS version that works on your Mac.

Obtaining older macOS versions

Apple maintains direct download links for legacy macOS versions through their support site.

  1. Open Safari (other browsers may have issues)
  2. Visit support.apple.com and search "download macOS"
  3. Select your desired version from the results
  4. Download the .dmg or .pkg file when prompted
  5. Double-click the downloaded file to extract the installer

The installer extracts to your Applications folder automatically.

Third-party tools and resources

Take a look at third-party tools that provide alternatives to Apple's macOS installer options:

Mr. Macintosh maintains databases of direct InstallAssistant.pkg links to Apple's servers for every macOS version from Big Sur through Tahoe. Verify any download with the pkgutil --check-signature command described above. See a comprehensive article showing 8 Different Ways to Download macOS Full Installers.

Mist is a free, open-source Mac app that lists every available macOS installer with its version and build number, then downloads the full installer from Apple's servers at your connection's full speed. It has replaced older scripts such as installinstallmacos.py in many Mac admin workflows.

gibMacOS offers a Python-based download tool with direct Apple server access and cross-platform support for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. The tool automates recovery USB creation and provides menu-driven version selection.

Verify your installer

Check that your installer is authentic and uncorrupted using the codesign command.

$ codesign -dv --verbose=4 /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Tahoe.app

Look for "Apple Mac OS Installer" in the output. This confirms the installer came from Apple.

Troubleshooting macOS download issues

If you encounter problems downloading macOS, try these solutions.

Problem: Download stalls or fails repeatedly

  • Explanation: Downloads may stall or fail due to network instability, server overload, or connectivity issues.
  • Solution: Skip the slow tool entirely: download InstallAssistant.pkg in your browser, as shown in "Faster downloads with the package installer" above. Browser downloads resume on their own if they stop. You can also try downloading during off-peak hours to avoid server congestion, and switching to an ethernet connection can provide a more stable and faster download experience than wifi.
  • Comments: Users report that downloads sometimes resume or succeed when retried at different times, suggesting possible server-side load balancing issues. Some recommend using command-line tools like wget with the --read-timeout and -c (continue) options for large files that repeatedly fail in browsers or download managers.

Problem: "Update not found" error in App Store

  • Explanation: This error can occur if the App Store cannot locate the requested update, often due to caching, regional restrictions, or server issues.
  • Solution: Use terminal commands to download the update directly. A command such as softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 12.6.9 can bypass the App Store for macOS installers.
  • Comments: Some users mention that switching between beta options or trying different sources (such as third-party sites) can help, but the official terminal commands are more reliable and secure.

Problem: Insufficient storage space

  • Explanation: macOS updates and large downloads require significant free space, not just for the installer but also for temporary files and installation.
  • Solution: Free up at least 40GB of space before attempting to download and install updates.
  • Comments: Users have found that the updater may not always warn about low disk space; instead, it may simply fail or stall. Deleting large files or unused applications often resolves the issue. Always check the partition where your Downloads folder is located, as it may differ from the main system partition.

Problem: "Installer verification failed"

  • Explanation: This error can occur if your Mac’s date and time are incorrect, causing certificate validation to fail.
  • Solution: Set your date and time to update automatically in System Settings.
  • Comments: This is a recommended solution in Apple’s support documentation.

Additional tips from users

  • Try Alternative Browsers: If Safari fails, users report success with Firefox or Chrome for downloading large files, especially when the issue is browser-specific.
  • Check Downloads Folder Permissions: Some users suggest moving or recreating the Downloads folder if downloads consistently fail, as permission or file system errors may be at play.
  • Prevent System Sleep: For long-running downloads or installations, prevent your Mac from going to sleep or locking the screen, as this can interrupt the process.
  • Retry After Restart: Restarting your Mac can resolve temporary glitches that prevent downloads from completing.

Continue setting up your Mac

Don't miss the full visual roadmap and checklist that shows how to set up a Mac for software development, with all the essential tools and settings you might not yet know about.