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M1 MacBook Pro not booting

peejay1977

peejay1977

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2015
125
125
Hi all, kind of desperate to find a fix for this. Yesterday using my new MacBook Pro and the battery got quite low so I closed the lid and plugged it in to charge, as I did it made the usual charging noise.

Just went back to it, opened the lid, it looked like it had run out of power and was trying to boot from scratch but parts of the progress bar we’re missing vertically. Eventually it just started flashing the Apple logo every 10 seconds or so.

If I press and hold the power button it flashes up “continue pressing for startup options” or words to that effect and then says it’s “loading startup options” if I the right release the power button it just starts flashing the Apple logo again. Apple support are next to useless and can only make me a Genius Bar appointment on the 5th January but I need it for work and won’t get paid without access to a laptop so I’m kinda stressing.
Thanks
 
I can’t even get the damn thing to switch off, how do I get it to turn off? If I hold the power button it tries to do recovery options if I press it once nothing happens lol
 
peejay1977 said:
I can’t even get the damn thing to switch off, how do I get it to turn off? If I hold the power button it tries to do recovery options if I press it once nothing happens lol
Click to expand...
Just press and hold the power button for 10+ seconds until the display turns off. If the display is already off, just time it.

Edit: If the display turns on with the message to hold for Options, release the power button after getting to the recovery page. Then hold the power button for 10+ seconds until the display turns off.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately I don’t ever get the recovery page. If I press and hold the power button it just cycles between “keep pressing for recovery options”, says “loading recovery options” and then the screen goes black and then it repeats. If I release the power button just as it says “loading recovery options” I just get the Apple logo flickering on the screen snd cycling every 10 seconds or so and if I release the button when the screen is black I get the same. Literally cannot get it to turn off other than holding Command Option and right Shift, but then the minute I press the power button the Apple logo just flashes and repeats. I appear to be stuck in this loop.
 
Already have, the M1 is so new they say they don’t have any support info for it and I can’t get a Genius appointment until 5th in the meantime I can’t work 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
peejay1977 said:
Already have, the M1 is so new they say they don’t have any support info for it and I can’t get a Genius appointment until 5th in the meantime I can’t work 🤦🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...
Well that's a shock. Plenty of people on here have contacted them and to varying degrees have been helped, myself included.
The normal instruction of "please try re-installing macOS" won't work in your case because you can't get to the recovery environment. This is something that needs sorting out. It's likely that you'll need to arrange for a visit to an Apple Store though. That would be my guess as it's so unusable at the moment.
 
Yeah you’re right, just really crappy timing as I’m supposed to be working today and tomorrow but now I can’t. The guy on the support app said they didn’t have any info and could suggest a “cold boot” but he didn’t seem to grasp that I can’t turn the machine off properly despite me repeating it. Will have to wait and see what happens.
 
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Nothing to see here.. just another next gen CPU from Apple. What could go wrong ?
I mean, after the T2 bricks, three generations of butterfly keyboards, the useless Macbook Air fans, the problem-free Catalina and Big Sur macOS releases.o_O🤔

Anyway, good luck.
 
Hi try this;

first shut it down. Turn him on an right away the key combination: Option+Command+P+R. Wait until the restart and the Apple logo. Then release the key combination. No data or settings will be gone!
 
Brandmail said:
Hi try this;

first shut it down. Turn him on an right away the key combination: Option+Command+P+R. Wait until the restart and the Apple logo. Then release the key combination. No data or settings will be gone!
Click to expand...
Those key combinations don't work on a M1 Mac.
And he can't turn his Mac off.
 
Well just thought I'd update, spoke to Apple Support, they suggested a bootable Big Sur USB drive which I managed to get from a friend (confirmed working USB key), my Mac doesn't even light it up at any stage so will not boot from it.

Guy said it would be very unlikely that the Apple Store would be able to remedy onsite on Tuesday so to prepare for the likelihood it will have to be sent off for repair and the turnaround for this would be possibly several weeks.

Anyway, he said theres nothing on the system to show that they've encountered this specific issue on an M1 Mac so couldn't really help much further. He suggested I speak to the aftersales team as I said I wasn't happy about a 4 week old MacBook needing to be repaired and I would prefer to return it for a refund. The aftersales team immediately requested an advanced replacement which unfortunately will need to be shipped from China, but he feels it'll still likely be with me sooner (he expedited the shipping) than if I took it in on Tuesday, sent it off etc etc.

Very disappointed with it breaking, but can't really cry about the service, the guy did everything he could to get me up and running ASAP.
 
I didn’t actually see any other dead ones but I’ll have a look
 
I had this happen to my iMac last year...... Same symptom, 0 sign of life. Apple support had no clue told me to bring to store.


Here is the thread....

forums.macrumors.com

PLEASE HELP - iMac 27" 2017 wont turn on...

Thank You. I agree. This thing finally came back to life after the hold the power button down as you plug it in the wall trick. Never knew that one. This forum helped me, not Applecare support. Applecare said my local store had no appointments and I had to check daily for an opening Gotta love...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

This trick from a fellow member fixed it for me

"you can unplug the machine, hold down the power button, and plug the machine in whilst holding the power button down - keep it pressed down for another 5 or so seconds, then turn your iMac on normally, if it turns on the fan should ramp to max."

I thought it had 0 chance but it worked.....
 
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