This is what happens to product quality when you let lazy morons "work from home"...
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Some Older Macs Reportedly Bricked After Installing macOS Monterey
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Same for me. Big Sur seemed to always crash for various reasons.
Haven’t seen that with Monterey yet but I had customers called or come in just for us to monitor the installation.
Indeed. Microsoft has to write an operating system that is stable on literally millions of different hardware combinations from hundreds of different vendors, whereas Apple only has a small device portfolio all of which is under their tight control and yet they still manage to mess things up. OK they're not going to catch everything, and nobody's perfect (Microsoft have caused the odd bricking event as well), but I think the order of the day is more beta testing, Apple's biggest problem is that heir new OSes are often tied to a new hardware release which means upgrades are forced to release before they are properly tested and stable.
The update to 12.0.1 went flawlessly on my 2019 MacBook Pro, so I have to believe this is an extremely rare occurrence.![]()
macOS Monterey, released last week as the latest version of macOS, is bricking older Mac computers, rendering them unusable and unable to even turn on, according to a number of reports from users across social media and online forums.
![macos-monterey.jpg]()
If this sounds oddly familiar, it may be because last year, with the launch of macOS Big Sur, similar reports surfaced about that update bricking older MacBook Pro models. Less than a year later, similar issues are now seemingly taking place once again.
At least ten separate posts (1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) on Apple Support Communities contain users complaining that as they were attempting to update their Mac to macOS Monterey, the Mac went completely black and they're unable to turn it on. One post in specific includes several comments from users also reporting similar issues. Reports on Twitter are also plentiful.
A comment on a post on Reddit includes a user chronicling their experience, saying that the macOS Monterey update bricked their 2017 iMac, declaring that "it's just dead."
One possible solution floated on Apple Support Communities is that users may need to revive or restore their Mac's firmware. "In very rare circumstances, such as a power failure during a macOS update or upgrade, a Mac may become unresponsive and so the firmware must be revived or restored," Apple says in a support document.
All user reports suggest the issue is impacting older MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac models. More recent computers such as Apple silicon-based Macs are not seemingly having problems, at least according to the lack of user reports suggesting so.
While the issue with macOS Monterey bricking Mac computers is not as widespread as last year with macOS Big Sur, enough users are reporting that the update is causing problems to warrant some concern. It's possible that following this article, even more users will come forward and share their experience with macOS Monterey causing issues on their Macs.
Apple is currently testing macOS 12.1, but that isn't expected to be released for at least several more weeks. macOS Monterey is still in its first version, and it's typically a safe bet to wait until several updates are released before updating to the latest version from a previous generation. It's possible a smaller dot-update could be released to address bugs and security fixes.
Article Link: Some Older Macs Reportedly Bricked After Installing macOS Monterey
What a clever way of Apple to motivate people buying new hardware, and it’s also convenient that all these iMacs have no warranty left.
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I guess they officially declared intel Dead after all!? Though I think it is premature for Apple to create a remote kill switch on their older intel boxes. /s
This is really unfortunate!! I am hoping nobody is seriously impacted in a health / life safety situation.
This is really unfortunate!! I am hoping nobody is seriously impacted in a health / life safety situation.
One of the Big Sur betas ate my 2015 iMac in a similar fashion (IIR, it boots, starts to do it's thing, then the screen just goes black after about 15 seconds or so).
I wonder if there's anything I can do like revive or restore given that it's not a T2 Mac, via my M1 Mac.
I wonder if there's anything I can do like revive or restore given that it's not a T2 Mac, via my M1 Mac.
Slightly related, in our org we have 600+ Mid 2018 15” MacBook Pros. If the user had missed Catalina and was still running Mojave, upgrading directly to Big Sur would cause the Mac to be unbootable. Upgrading to Catalina and then Big Sur resolved the issue. Best we could figure, on that particular model, there’s likely a firmware update the Catalina to Big Sur updater includes that the Mojave to Big Sur updater oddly omits. It was dozens of Macs stuck in boot loops or worse, until we blocked Big Sur and turned it into a 2-step upgrade.
This article was written for 10 people out of millions that have an issue. Seriously?
Sorry to all of those who had this happen to their Macs. I wonder if restoring through recovery (Cmd R booting up) would solve the issue?
Kind of like how they broke 4K/144Hz output over USB-C in the early Big Sur betas — but only for Intel Macs. And it remains broken into Monterey — but only for Intel Macs. Now, M1 Macs can charge and output to 4K at high refresh rates over a single cable, but Intel Macs require a separate video-only cable, at least when they‘re running macOS. If you boot into Windows it works just fine over a single cable.
Apple pulling crap like this is part of why all of my current devices are getting pretty old, and I’m having a hard time convincing myself to upgrade any of them.
As much of an Apple evangelist I am, I have never upgraded the OS until the second or third update. If you depend on your Mac for school or to run your business (as I do) you can't take any chances. I don't know how Apple can cover all the bases, but they really need to do better.
Lucky me so far I guess, I updated my 2018 mini at home, and 2015 iMac 5K and 2015 MBP 13" at work.
But yeah, this is pretty ****** for those affected. How will Apple respond to fixing machines they bricked with an update that are out of warranty?
But yeah, this is pretty ****** for those affected. How will Apple respond to fixing machines they bricked with an update that are out of warranty?
I have been running beta since it was released. Every new beta release for the last couple of months I worry if my 2019 laptop will turn back on. I download the update and restart. Walk away. An hour or two later I come back and my laptop is off. I press power and wait, nothing. I press power for like 10 seconds and wait. Nothing. I leave and come back the next morning, most of the time I am at the login screen. Sometimes I play the power button game again.
We have a 2017 13" MBP, and a 2020 13" MBA; no problems updating, and they are running great!
macOS updater = malware?
Sarcasm aside, I find that whenever updating macOS versions, you just have let the process be, don’t touch power whatsoever whenever it initially restarts.
It’s updating the firmware and it can appear that the machine is dead, giving you the urge to intervene. But don’t! Just let it be. I’ve never had any problems. But sucks for those who have had trouble. I hope there’s an inexpensive fix.
Sarcasm aside, I find that whenever updating macOS versions, you just have let the process be, don’t touch power whatsoever whenever it initially restarts.
It’s updating the firmware and it can appear that the machine is dead, giving you the urge to intervene. But don’t! Just let it be. I’ve never had any problems. But sucks for those who have had trouble. I hope there’s an inexpensive fix.
Well, after reading this article it's more like Apple released "Universally Uncontrollable"
How do you properly beta test the firmware update procedure which seems to be the problem, rather than the OS’s day to day usage itself?
My 2019 MBP bricked during the Monterey upgrade. Had a good chat with my local Apple Genius And he got me back up and running without much fuss.
You need another Mac to do this. They both need a thunderbolt port (probably a TB3 port or better). On the working machine go to the App Store and get the Apple Configurator 2 app. Once you connect the two machines via TB, it should connect and it’s probably in DFU mode. Configurator will allow you to kickstart the other machine. As usual YMMV.
You need another Mac to do this. They both need a thunderbolt port (probably a TB3 port or better). On the working machine go to the App Store and get the Apple Configurator 2 app. Once you connect the two machines via TB, it should connect and it’s probably in DFU mode. Configurator will allow you to kickstart the other machine. As usual YMMV.
Sorry Windows, you are not so bad after all!
Mac is just the same, just different.
Free worthless update, gladly will pay for something that works. No need yearly new marginal incremental versions that break my older ios devices sync.
Mac is just the same, just different.
Free worthless update, gladly will pay for something that works. No need yearly new marginal incremental versions that break my older ios devices sync.
Whit iOS 15 my iPad Pro 10.5" was looping on boot and I need a clean installation and restore, now big issues also with Monterey! Less new features and more stability please!! Is anyone in Apple testing upgrade with older device??