Apple has released the second beta of macOS Sequoia to developers, and while the release notes contain information that is primarily relevant to developers, there is often information that users would also like to know. An important detail in the notes covers a long-standing problem in macOS: the free storage space required for downloading and installing software no longer exists. According to the release notes:
Starting with macOS 15, the App Store no longer requires twice as much free space for an app’s initial download and installation. The free space required will now be the final install size of the app, plus a small buffer. Developers should consider this change in any messages they may have regarding size requirements.
macOS Sequoia 15 Beta 2 Release Notes
The “twice as much free space” requirement is a problem for users who install many professional-level applications, but it is more problematic for installing games using detailed graphics. For example, Death Stranding Director’s Cut is 77 GB, which means that right now you need 154 GB of free storage space to install it. If you bought, for example, an iMac with a 256 GB SSD, you will probably need to move or delete some files to install the game.
With macOS 15, users with smaller drives will still need to make sure they have enough space to store and run the app, but with Sequoia they only need around 80GB, which is 75 GB less available space than before.
Learn more about the upcoming Mac operating system in our macOS Sequoia superguide.
