MacOS Big Sur update - need a new MacBook?

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ATC110

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I've got a 128Gb 2017 MacBook Pro with 18.8GB of storage remaining but the Big Sur update requires circa 46GB.

Is it necessary to install this update? If so, will I need to get a new Mac with more storage?

TIA
 
What's the actual model number of your MacBook? Does it have a touch bar? If you're lucky, the SSD might be upgradeable.
 
Added to that, do you need Big Sur? It's a heavy-duty update and unless you have critical software that is going to be upgraded and dependant on Big Sur, I'd hold off. Contact the developers of your licenced software and check what their plans are.

In the meantime, as I've suggested to Windows users, try this: https://eu.crucial.com/

Click on either "Select Computer" or "Scan Computer" in the two boxes to see what upgrades SSD and RAM are available for your specific model.

Or just buy an external Crucial 2TB SSD for €295 including VAT and Delivery, that's very competitive pricing. Make sure you know what connector you'll need before completing your order. Your MacBook should have ThunderBolt 3 connectors so you'll need a cable to with that on the laptop end and whatever the external SSD has on the other. If you buy an external SSD, you keep all your stuff safe when you trade-in or sell your old MacBook, just remember to reset the laptop before passing it on.
 
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This article lists which 2017 models have upgradeable SSDs https://www.howtogeek.com/348398/can-you-upgrade-the-hard-drive-or-ssd-in-your-mac/

In my long experience, 128Gb Macs never have enough disk space for normal use - always get 256 Gb if you can - but as you only want this extra space temporarily to upgrade the OS, then there are various ways to save space described by Apple here: https://support.apple.com/en-ie/HT206996 and here's how to find your large, lurking files: https://osxdaily.com/2012/04/17/find-large-files-in-mac-os-x-search/

Or do you have an external USB hard drive (cost less than €60)? You could move some files there temporarily then pop them back on the Mac. I would always recommend having a Time Machine backup on an external USB hard drive before doing any major OS upgrade.
 
If you use only one language on your Mac, "English UK" or "English Ireland" for example, download the little Monolingual utility which is free and run it; it'll clear out lots of unnecessary "lproj" files which the system uses to support multiple languages. Remember if the check-box opposite a language is on, that language disappears after you've run the program.
 
Here's a full list of Big Sur enhancements https://www.apple.com/ie/macos/big-sur/features/
There's quite a bit of under the hood security/Safari stuff. It depends what kind of user you are. If you have a small set of tasks that you carry out and are happy with, probably don't worry about updating. Me personally, I do lots of different stuff, am security conscious, and I am definitely considering getting a lovely speedy new M1 chip Macbook, so I do want to explore Big Sur.
 
Coldwarrior said:
in general its best/safer to not update to the first version of a new operating system, wait until a few subsequent minor versions have been released that fix major teething issues with the OS.
Click to expand...
I used to agree with this but I don't usually wait more than a week or so these days. You've posted an article from 16 Nov ie over 3 weeks ago and Apple have since provided advice for these models - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211242. The current MacOS is already at 11.01. It is not particularly unusual for machines both Windows and Mac to hit a rock in the road and not restart entirely without a hitch after a major OS update. Good old fashioned "switch it off then switch it on again" if it hangs or fails to restart works around 80% of the time I find. There's quite a bit of commentary also that the people who encountered problems with Big Sur had left eg SD cards or other external devices plugged in during their update.
 
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