Sorry to here that. So glad I paid for AppleCare. Did you try to talk to a senior advisor? They might be able to do something.
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Mac mini died during software update.
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He told me he is a senior advisor. I told him it was too expensive to replace the logic board. Then he removed the new logic board and put back the original one. And then my Mac mini was back live again! He told me he tried to replace power module and tried to restore T2 a few days ago but didn't work.
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My 2018 mini bricked during this update. I thought it was dead due to a faulty PSU, honestly until I found this thread and this website explaining how to fix it.
The guide on that website states you need a USB-C host Mac, but I managed to get it working with a 2014 MB Pro using a USB-C to USB-A cable. Reviving the bridgeOS with Apple Configurator 2 was all that was needed in my case, so no data loss occurred.
Noted, I did have 32 GB of non-Apple memory so that might have been the cause of the brick as it seems to not play nicely with this specific software update.
Apple really need to get their updates together because not everyone owns a second Mac, and going to the Apple Store is not an option.
The guide on that website states you need a USB-C host Mac, but I managed to get it working with a 2014 MB Pro using a USB-C to USB-A cable. Reviving the bridgeOS with Apple Configurator 2 was all that was needed in my case, so no data loss occurred.
Noted, I did have 32 GB of non-Apple memory so that might have been the cause of the brick as it seems to not play nicely with this specific software update.
Apple really need to get their updates together because not everyone owns a second Mac, and going to the Apple Store is not an option.
Mine was all Apple RAM. 24GB. Didn’t help. It’s at the service centre right now.
My Mac mini has aftermarket
My Mac mini has aftermarket RAM and updated with no issues. Maybe if the memory isn't within specifications it causes an issue.
I have apple care too for my mini 2014 2.6ghz I5 8gb ram. Never had issues with 10.15.4.
But in future would using an external help others. Install the new OS on an external 3.0 or tb. And if you don't like it then unplug it and go back to the old OS. The system can brick the external but not the internal? Or it still mess with the system regardless?
But in future would using an external help others. Install the new OS on an external 3.0 or tb. And if you don't like it then unplug it and go back to the old OS. The system can brick the external but not the internal? Or it still mess with the system regardless?
In theory yes. But it was just a minor supplementary update. Not like going from Maverick to Catalina.
Either way I’ll not be running any updates for a while.
Glad to hear you'll be getting your Mac mini back soon, AFB! Ah, so a new logic board, eh? Weird that what seemed like a simple, ordinary update would wreak such havoc! Yours isn't the only machine that has had to have the logic board replaced, though, so something definitely wasn't quite right about that update. Both my machines did fine with it, thankfully, but I failed to do my usual due diligence in checking MR before running the updates, because if I had, I would have known to be very careful and cautious and might have also skipped this update. Normally when I get notification of an update or see mention of it on MR I wait a day or so, read comments from others on here so that I know ahead of time that there might be a "gotcha" or an issue of some sort, and for some reason this time I didn't do that. Lesson learned: back to the due diligence before doing any updates in the future!
Tbh I normally wait as well but as it was a convenient time to do it, I just went ahead and did it. Lesson learned indeed.
Keep your old Apple memory in hand. It's will be needed for 10.5.5 update. I tried mine non-Apple memory with the update. And my mini bricked again. Using Apple configurator and another MBP can bring my mini back from dfu mode, but I have to restore all the data from time machine. Finally, with the old Apple memory, I've got my catalina updated to the latest version.
I was on the fence about adding AC+ this time, to my $600 2018 refurb before the deadline next month, but your issue just convinced me to give Apple another $99.
Yeah, it's __so__ cheap for a Mini, ~$50/year, ~$4.17/month, ~$0.14/day
Hahaha, or however you want to calculate it, knowing I'm covered for 3 total years of ownership is outstanding.