How long should you wait before force shutting down your mac in case of a stuck upgrade/update?

Its been a while since my macbook pro started updating, and it is stuck.

Wondering if I should shut it down or leave it a bit longer?

The progress bar is stuck and there is no remaining calculated ( calculating time remaining ... )

I would wait as long as possible. When you force shut down a computer that’s in the middle of an update, you’re likely going to have to do recovery and reinstall the OS. I did hear of one case where that wasn’t necessary, but usually that’s the case.

The length of time you should wait is proportional to the time since your last backup.

i.e. if you backed up an hour ago, you can be as impatient as you like.

If it was last month, or never... more patience is warranted