M4mini not updating to 15.6.1

It’s the converse of a watched [cylindrical cooking vessel with a handle]* never boils, an unwatched Apple device may not update.

Though I prefer to initiate the updates myself in case something goes wrong with the process nothing ever has (at least, so far – I’ve been using Macs for nearly 40 years, so that’s a pretty good track record).

* Because apparently the word “P O T” is on the forum naughty list, even though it’s legal in the state of California where Apple is headquartered and also in the state where I live, and the word cannabis is perfectly acceptable, and I was not referring to marijuana, but rather to a cooking implement. Sheesh.

I did see another user who claimed to have installed Sequoia 15.6.1 and there after also claimed to have installed Sequoia 15.6.2 in not less that 2x in their original posting

Come to find out, after the fact, their post was removed by the Apple Moderation Team as a possible Violation of the NDA agreement for Beta Testers

Reading elsewhere and not on these forums

There are Unconfirmed Reports of a possible Sequoia 15.7 Release Candidate 4, which is currently Still In Beta Testing

Since 15.6.1 is an urgent security update, I've been deploying it to the fleet of Macs I manage at work. I've seen some Mac's upgrade to 15.5 and need to update again to reach 15.6.1 and others that hit 15.6 and had to re-check again to install to 15.6.1. Most of them were either an entire macOS version behind or they were on 14.4.1 and not entirely up to date on the 14.x releases. This is because many Mac users in a PC shop will have their Mac sitting in a desk drawer for months at a time. Then dusting it off, they need to put it online and install all the updates. I have some tools for DIY assistance. But with the urgent patch being aggressively pursued by InfoSec staffers. All my Mac users are being told to update or risk getting kicked off the company network until they do update.

The reason for requiring multiple upgrades to be performed is likely due to missing firmware updates that are a prerequisite to installing the newer dot release. Therefore it installs an older release that contains the missing firmware then you can check and install the next dot release level a second or even 3rd time if your Mac is woefully out of date.

Apple Updates are delta so the size of the download and installation will vary considerably depending on your hardware and how close you are to being fully up-to-date. This saves on bandwidth as less data is needed to be downloaded to perform an update. Nothing is wasted by being overwritten when unnecessary. The older your Mac the slower the upgrade. It's also potentially a 12GB download and the further behind you are the bigger the download.

Best practice is to keep your Mac and Apps up-to-date for security but also for bug fixes. Enable automatic updates for the OS and the Apps makes it much easier. You'll be prompted to update tonight and that usually works most of the time. But as the 'author' indicated. Not always...

Shedor wrote:

Well I do not have any proof, but I have good Mac and Linux knowledge and as I said I updated twice - 15.6.1 and 15.6.2, but 15.6.2 does not show…

There is an iOS 18.6.2 update for iPhones but macOS 15.6.2 update does not exist for Macs. Perhaps you were thinking of iOS?

Shedor wrote:

Well I do not have any proof, but I have good Mac and Linux knowledge and as I said I updated twice - 15.6.1 and 15.6.2, but 15.6.2 does not show…

As as you have said to yourself

Sequoia 15.61 was Successfully installed and subsequently update to Sequoia 15.6.2

This 15.6.2 would probable show up in System Information applet under Installations

That should be proof enough

Check the build number by clicking the Apple menu > About This Mac and holding Alt/Option key while clicking on the macOS version. Mine = 15.6.1 (24G90). If you received another update and you were at 15.6.1 then perhaps the build number changed but not the dot release version. Or perhaps you missed a firmware version that was subsequently installed afterwards. In the past I've re-received a second update without a version number change because some critical flaw was fixed and the update re-released.

iBridge Firmware, subsequently fixed in a later build number ?

https://eclecticlight.co/2024/09/23/which-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-8-sequoia/#:~:text=The%20current%20iBoot%20version%20is%2011881.140.96.

I updated to 15.6.1 at once, but a few days later a similar warning came to update to 15.6.2 and I installed it, but next day when I checked it only showed 15.6.1. WHY?

Well I do not have any proof, but I have good Mac and Linux knowledge and as I said I updated twice - 15.6.1 and 15.6.2, but 15.6.2 does not show…

Are you sure it was on your Mini? My iPhone is at iOS 18.6.2. Perhaps you got that notification from your iPhone on your Mini. Check your iPhone's system.