Apple as usual have been putting out software updates regularly, but some of them are very big. Software update 10.13.5 is over 2GB and 10.13.4 was 2.5GB. We have 4 Macintosh computers in our household so when they each download it, that ads up to approx 10GB of downloads. This  is not a problem if you are on unlimited internet but if you have a small plan or if you are using your mobile phone hotspot for internet this can chew through your downloads pretty quickly!

Did you know that you can download the update once then copy it across to each computer by hand to save space? Here’s how.

Step 1 – Turn OFF automatic software updates.

Go to system preferences, then app store, and turn off ‘ Downloaded newly available updates in the background’

You can keep the box checked that says ‘ Automatically check for updates.’  This means you will still get a notification about the update,  but your computer will not download it automatically in the background.

Step 2 –  Download the update manually.

When you receive a notification that there is new software to install, do not click on install. Instead go to https://support.apple.com/downloads/macos  which is where Apple publish their newest software updates. From there you can download the installer there manually by clicking on the link. It will download to your ‘downloads’ folder.

NOTE: Apple usually Release two versions of each update.  For example there is the High Sierra 10.13.5 Update,  and there is also the ” High Sierra 10.13.5 Combo Update”.   The difference is this: the 10.13.5 update will only update from the previous version (10.13.4)  whereas the ‘Combo Update’  will upgrade from any version (10.13.0, 10,13,1 etc). Usually the ordinary update is fine but if you have missed one or two previous updates then you might need to grab the combo version.

Step 3 – Copy it to your other computers and install.

Now all you need to do is grab the downloaded installer file and copy it across to your other computers. You can do this by Apple file sharing  it to your other computers,  or by copying it onto a thumb drive.

Once you’ve copied onto your other computers you can just double-click on it and it will upgrade your OS-X to the latest version.