As we’ve been covering this month, macOS Sequoia brings a lot of new features for Mac users, including iPhone Mirroring and a new Passwords app. But there’s also a discreet but important change coming with the update. That’s because the new version of macOS eases the free storage requirements for downloading apps from the Mac App Store.
macOS Sequoia changes storage requirements for Mac App Store apps
Currently, the App Store requires the Mac to have twice as much free storage compared to the size of the initial app download. This means that if you want to install a 1GB app, your Mac needs to have at least 2GB free for the App Store to start downloading it.
While this isn’t a problem for smaller apps, it can be an issue for downloading large apps and especially games, which can easily exceed 10GB. Luckily, Apple is making things a bit easier for installing large apps on macOS.
With macOS Sequoia, the Mac App Store no longer requires twice the available storage compared to the size of the app. Apple said in the macOS 15 beta 2 release notes that the requirement is now the “the final install size of the app, plus a small buffer.”
Starting in macOS 15, the App Store no longer needs twice the space free for an initial app download and install. The free space requirement will now be the final install size of the app, plus a small buffer. Developers should consider this change in any messaging they might have around size requirements.
Of course, if you want to download a 10GB app, your Mac still needs to have that much storage space available. But the change will certainly make some users happy, especially those with 128GB and 256GB Macs.
macOS Sequoia will be available to the public this fall. A developer preview is now available, while a public beta will be released next month.
Read also
- Hands-on: iPhone Mirroring with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia [Video]
- macOS Sequoia brings an unexpected update to Apple’s Chess game
- These are the macOS Sequoia features not available on Intel Macs
- How to install macOS Sequoia developer beta, now available for all users
- macOS Sequoia brings Headphone Accommodations feature to the Mac
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