Big Sur is refusing to download under any circumstances

[frenchfri]

Hi, I have a mid-2014 macbook pro running Mojave 10.14.6. I've installed all the security updates, date & time has been set automatically, and there are no WiFi issues on my end.

I made a Time Machine backup of my computer in preparation to do a clean install of Big Sur because I wanted to try it out. My first attempt was through the app store, which brings me to System Preferences and returns this error...




I searched about this on the internet and found that others were having the same issue, and everyone said to just wait it out because Apple's servers are being hammered right now with everyone trying to update at once. They also said to wait until nightly hours when there wouldn't be a lot of downloads, and I was doing this at 3-4 AM eastern time, so I'm not sure that made a difference.

I tried booting into an old Sierra drive just to download the Big Sur installer app and try it through there, which returns this error every time:



Last resort, I tried booting into Internet Recovery Mode, which actually loaded the Big Sur recovery mode, so I thought I was making progress, until-

Also, just a side note, I have 38GB left of free storage on the drive I want to install Big Sur, which is more than enough for installation...

What is going on? Are Apple's servers genuinely just not working for 2 days straight? I mean, the "macOS Software Update" server shows that it's open and working on https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/

 

[Apple_Robert]

Apple Offers Instructions on What to Do if macOS Big Sur Causes Installation Errors on 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro

Following the release of macOS Big Sur last week, a number of 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro owners found that the update bricked their machines. Affected users saw their Macs get stuck displaying a black screen after attempting to install the new software. Apple has now addressed this issue in a...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Quackers]

Is the 2014 MBP one of the models that was originally supported but they had an issue with being bricked by Big Sur so now they've blocked the update to that hardware?
It's possibly temporary, if it is one such machine.

 

[Quackers]

https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-0-1-20b50-released-to-block-install-for-2013-14-13-mbpros/

 

[frenchfri]

Ohh dang, well, I guess I'd prefer that they block the installs if it bricks my specific computer. Thats a pretty major oversight on Apple's part... How long do you think it will take for them to release a fix and unblock updates?

Actually, is Big Sur even stable enough yet in the first place, or should I wait a few months?

 

[Quackers]

Ohh dang, well, I guess I'd prefer that they block the installs if it bricks my specific computer. Thats a pretty major oversight on Apple's part... How long do you think it will take for them to release a fix and unblock updates?

Actually, is Big Sur even stable enough yet in the first place, or should I wait a few months?

It's stable enough for me and my machine and many others but some have complained about it, to be fair.
In your case particularly it might be wise to wait a while and see what happens over the next few weeks.
If the problem does get fixed you could do worse than waiting a week or two beyond that to see how others fare.
Good luck