One thing about Big Sur is that it’s likely to be big. Many of us are hoping that it’s going to be a big improvement on Catalina, and with the introduction of Apple Silicon Macs, its going to support a bigger range of hardware than any version of macOS since 10.5 Leopard, the last to support both PowerPC and Intel models. As I explain here, it’s also likely to be significantly bigger when installed on your Mac, something you might like to start planning for.
Going Universal
Perhaps the most obvious reason for Big Sur systems using more storage space is the fact that many apps will become Universal, containing code which runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Universal Apps are larger than single-platform equivalents, but much of what makes apps so large isn’t code, it’s resources such as documentation and localised versions of its interface. For example, Silent Knight is 14.7 MB for Intel, and 15.9 MB as a Universal App. The increase in size is more significant when you look at only executable code, though: Ulbow’s 358 KB for Intel grows to 730 KB when Universal. For larger apps that difference will be significant for those who are tight for space.
One interesting question is whether Apple will deliver macOS in Universal form, a single installation which will run on either architecture. The system and its bundled apps contain a lot of code, and together in universal binaries would be significantly larger than the Intel-only version now in beta-testing.
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