No more MacOS combos?

[romanof]

I went looking for the Monterey Combo package, which I didn't find, then began to search for where it might be. It appears that Combos might have been discontinued for "security reasons." But, I am not sure, since my searches turn up the usual jabber from posters who like to post, but actually have no knowledge about what they are writing about. The answers are yes, no, maybe, it is called something different, and why aren't you using windows like any normal person.

If combos are really discontinued, that is a problem for a household that might be full of Macs, but also has the usual data cap. At 13gb a pop, that adds up pretty fast.

I see lots of offers for a Monterey Installation Assistant, which is supposedly the full package, but always from a third party, and no way am I accepting an OS from some unknown ip.

So, it is now a requirement for every Mac to download the update separately? Would appreciate an answer from someone in the know.

Thanks.

 

[NoBoMac]

You can download the complete installer and use it. Will be the latest/greatest version.

https://apps.apple.com/app/macos-catalina/id1466841314?mt=12

 

[DeltaMac]

The combo updater is history. Last Combo updater was for Catalina, and none have been released for Big Sur, or Monterey.
If you have several Macs that can run Monterey, download the full installer, then make a bootable USB installer from that app. Then, you can use that one bootable installer to do installs on all your compatible Macs.
If you don't want to download the installer app through one of the various third-party tools (such as MDS), then download the current full installer for Monterey from the App Store.
I usually download any current system install through the MDS app.

MDS – Twocanoes Software

twocanoes.com

THAT app is used by large companies/institutions as a support aid. There are pricey support packages available at Two Canoes, but using the MDS app for software downloads is free. The app downloads macOS installers from Apple's servers, and you can also download beta installers, if you prefer.

 

[bogdanw]

Combos might have been discontinued for "security reasons."

For Apple’s security theater.
You have to set up Content caching at home if you don’t want every Mac re-downloading the same update.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/what-is-content-caching-on-mac-mchl9388ba1b/mac

The links for InstallAssistant.pkg listed here are from Apple https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-12-monterey-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

I made a script to get the links directly from Apple in Terminal https://gist.github.com/b0gdanw/26f528dda5abea7ce6fe633ca2ef1063

 

[MacGizmo]

I download all the OS installers through the Mac App Store, then quit when the installation starts and save the installer to an external disk for later use. Been doing it for years. Of course, I don't bother saving the beta installers because they're betas and I would have no reason to need them later.

 

[romanof]

I download all the OS installers through the Mac App Store, then quit when the installation starts and save the installer to an external disk for later use. Been doing it for years. Of course, I don't bother saving the beta installers because they're betas and I would have no reason to need them later.

View attachment 1987284

I was wondering if that would work, just didn't want to waste 13 gb for a test. I assume that you quit at the message "do you want to install now?" or suchlike.

 

[NoBoMac]

Correct. Just quit out of the install screen, copy/move the installer in Applications to external media.

 

[romanof]

Correct. Just quit out of the install screen, copy/move the installer in Applications to external media.

Yep. That worked just as good as a combo. Thanks.

 

[mjturner]

There are a couple of other options if you want to download macOS installers:

• installinstallmacos.py
• Mist