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How to Stop Apple’s MacOS Sierra Automatic Download

Do not want. Yet.

Change is scary. Change sometimes bricks laptops. But change is also inevitable. And so, following in the footsteps of Microsoft's Windows 10, Apple has decided to push out automatic downloads of macOS Sierra, its latest operating system, onto Macs.

While the Sierra operating system has had nowhere near the same about of criticism seen by Windows 10, the rollout—which will hit up users who have automatic downloads turned on starting from now—will still be unwelcome for many who are happy sitting pretty with OS X Yosemite.

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Apple won't technically force users to upgrade (it won't install without consent or if there's not enough room for the new OS), but if "automatic downloads" are turned on, macOS Sierra will still download in the background on devices that meet the operating system's minimum requirements, according to The Loop.

The "automatic downloads" option is turned on by default. To turn it off, go to System Preferences > App Store > and then uncheck "automatically check for updates."

Image: Ben Sullivan

The automatic downloads will start for random users over the next few weeks, Apple confirmed, and even then, only hitting up users running on 2014's Yosemite or last year's El Capitan. If storage starts to run low part way through the download, it will stop and delete the files. When the download is finished, a user will still have the option to delete or ignore the update.

Motherboard has asked Apple why the company has made the decision to roll out updates this way, but has yet to receive a response.

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