What to do if your Mac with the M1 "doesn't see" the macOS 12.1 update

Updated: April 04, 2023
6 min read
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What to do if your Mac with the M1 "doesn't see" the macOS 12.1 update
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by Ivy Davis
Tech Expert & Writer
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Quality Control team

The solution to the problem is simple, but not at all obvious.

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Recently, there have been multiple complaints on the web from Mac users with M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Pro Max processors who can't update to the new macOS Monterey 12.1.

The offer to update simply does not appear when they go to About this MacSoftware Update. Downloading the Monterey installer from the App Store doesn't help either: several users have complained on Twitter that the download is stuck at the same "52 minutes left" mark.

Strangely enough, Apple has not yet offered a solution to this problem. Initially, it was thought that you could only put the Mac into recovery mode and reinstall the system to update it. In this mode, the computer will automatically download the newest version of the OS, but after rebooting the user will have to restore his data.

Meanwhile, users have found an unusual, but working solution.

  1. Open System PreferencesSoftware Update. Make sure there is no prompt to upgrade to macOS 12.1 and leave this window open.
  2. In the list of applications, find UtilitiesSystem Monitoring". Open the application.
  3. From the View menu, select the All Processes display mode.
  4. In the search, type com.apple.NRD.UpdateBrainService. If there is no such option, check com.apple.MobileSoftwareUpdate.UpdateBrainService. Double-click the found process and click Finish in the window that appears.
  5. After that, the new version should appear in the Software update. Click Update Now.
  6. If the update fails to load, complete the process again starting from step 4 and the problem should go away.

If this method does not help, the only thing left is to reinstall the system. However, you can also wait for the next version - chances are the problem will be fixed by then.

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