An error in updating Apple’s macOS software causes problems for Mac system administrators and mobile device management deployments.
As mentioned by microMDM, the problem arose after the release of macOS Big Sur version 11.1. There have been widespread reports of system administrators not being able to see the software update or downloading and installing it.
Apparently, the cause of the problem is that the macOS 11.0.1 and macOS 11.1 hosts require the update servers to send through macOS 11.0.1 instead of the next available software update. For this reason, the server rejects the request because a machine already has 11.0.1 installed.
This specific error appears to be related to MDM enrollment profiles. Both MicroMDM and other system administrators have confirmed this.
As such, removing the MDM profile should solve the problem. Of course, this is not always an option for some MDM implementations.
Although it seems that a restart could alleviate the problem, there may still be problems downloading the update, as “the condition that made it not work the first time can be triggered again”.
The fix is also made worse by the fact that Apple has stopped providing independent installers for macOS software updates with Big Sur. Because of this, there is no option to manually upgrade to the new version of Big Sur. Updates must come from Apple servers.
Other issues include the fact that Apple Silicon kills the option for third-party processes to create a software update command.
At this point, Apple is undoubtedly aware of the problem here. Because of this, a solution to the problem is likely to come in macOS 11.2.