I have Xcode 7.2 running and want to update to version 7.3. The update prompts for not enough disk space. Then, I removed the current version of xcode and frees more space. My harddisk now has 23GB disk space. Installation through Mac App Store still prompts "There is not enough disk space available to install the product." My machine is a MacBook Air 2011 and has only 64GB SSD harddisk. Therefore, I have to use the bare minimum harddisk space for Xcode. Don't tell me to free up 50GB disk space which is impossible. What is the minimal disk space for installing Xcode 7.3?
Not enough space to install Xcode 7.3
64 GB is really not enough for development. I would strongly recommend upgrading to a machine with more disk space ASAP. Myself I found 120 GB unworkable and had to upgrade to a 256 GB SSD in my MacBook Pro.
You might be able to install it without needing as much space if you don't go through the Mac App Store. Download the .dmg from developer.apple.com/downloads and save directly to external storage such as a USB drive. Delete the old Xcode.app from /Applications and empty the trash first. Then mount the .dmg from the external volume and drag the new Xcode.app into /Applications.
xCode 7.3 is almost 10 gigs on disk after installation. The download is around 6 gigs
give or take. Once downloaded, the archive has to unpack which means at least 25
gigs for temporary files and scripts to build the app resources and move the xCode.app
into Applications. OSX requires a minimum of 15% (20% is better), of free disk space for
swapping and general housekeeping.
Which means, for El Capitan you need about 18 gigs just for the OS.
So, if you consider 18+ gigs is already gone, and it will take at least 25 gigs to download and
install xCode 7.3. 18+25 = 43 gigs. That means you have less than 17/18 gigs to play with for
other apps and files. 64 gigs isn't actually 64gigs. After formatting it's more like 61 gigs or so.
So, get an external drive and move everything you can to it. Photos, iTunes libraries, etc.
And all that ignores /Library/Developer - that means no downloaded documentation, simulators and no builds. /Library/Developer on my drive is sitting at just under 65gb alone right now. I panic if I see less than 300gb free on my boot drive.