macOS Sierra Available as an Automatic Download Starting Today - MacRumors
Skip to Content

macOS Sierra Available as an Automatic Download Starting Today

Starting today, Apple is making the new macOS Sierra operating system available as an automatic download to customers running OS X El Capitan in order to encourage them to update.

Customers who have auto downloads enabled will see macOS Sierra start to download automatically, but it will not install without express user permission.

012-macos-sierra-970-80
Apple shared the news with The Loop and says the update will only be downloaded on computers that meet the specs for macOS Sierra and have an adequate amount of storage space.

Apple is also being smart about the download. If your computer is low on space, macOS Sierra will not download. In addition, if it has downloaded and your computer starts to get low on space, the download will be automatically deleted.

Customers who do not want to upgrade to macOS Sierra can manually delete the update to keep from being prompted to do the install, and the download can be turned off by disabling automatic downloads. Disabling the feature can be done by going to System Preferences -> App Store and unchecking "Download newly available updates in the background."

automaticupdatessierra
Automatic downloads of macOS Sierra will be rolling out to customers over the next week.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 CarPlay Light mode 250609

Six Popular iPhone Apps Now Available on CarPlay

Thursday May 14, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's CarPlay system for accessing iPhone apps on a vehicle's dashboard screen has received six popular apps in recent weeks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and the indie artist streaming platform Audiomack. Make sure you have the latest version of each app and they will automatically appear on CarPlay. ChatGPT Starting with iOS 26.4, CarPlay supports voice-based...
ipad mini 7 blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Thursday May 14, 2026 5:08 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...

Top Rated Comments

Schwyz Avatar
126 months ago
*hurriedly disables auto updates*
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ToM7 Avatar
126 months ago
somebody there did homework with Microsoft
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MagMan1979 Avatar
126 months ago
OMG this place truly is troll heaven... Nothing but a bunch of whiney little bi__hes here!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainMac Avatar
126 months ago
I bet people will complain about this below.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
126 months ago
But you're not, so no worries.

For those who are, turning off automatic updates should be already done.
It should be off default. If not it’s the wrong angle to take Mr. Holier than thou
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleFan91 Avatar
126 months ago
I don't get why people are upset about this. How is it any different than iOS? Actually the only difference is that it can be disabled as where iOS does it automatically. I guess I'm not understanding why people are complaining about it unless it's because it's Apple and people here complain more about Apple lately than on Android Central.
[doublepost=1475518967][/doublepost]
quick -- how can we spin this negative?!
Look above, somehow they already are.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)