It does not happen just to some older MacBooks - my 2020 MacBook Pro died last night during the restart while updating with macOS Monterey. I took it to an Apple authorized reseller and they charged me $67.80 ($60.00+HST) for diagnostics...True, the MacBook is out of warranty, but never mind the warranty expiration, and never mind fixing the software problem is "free", why should I be charged anything for Apple OS update-related issue that occured last night? I am out of CAD 67.80 - not a significant amount of money for me personally, but still, c'mon Apple, you cause a problem, I cannot use my device, I am wasting my time, and I need to spend (any) money to get it rectified?!
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Some Older Macs Reportedly Bricked After Installing macOS Monterey
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Catalina ran perfectly.
Big Sur was a disaster. I assume the SSD part of the Fusion Drive was too small and Big Sur too stupid to put/keep essential files on that partition. But a lot of people with big SSD partitions (128 GB, I only had 24GB) also complained about performance issues. Apple Support did acknowledge the bug. It got somewhat resolved around 11.4 but never to the level of Catalina, a lot of people in the forums just gave up.
You could be right. But that’s a very un-Apple thing to do. I think I’ll just upgrade my hardware ;-)
Apple has replaced my power supply and logic board and everything works again. AppleCare paid for everything. I'm back up and running. This may have been the first time I had a restore from Time Machine go without incident as well.
I’m gonna guess it’s more than 10. Seriously.
Apple Fixes Bug That Bricked Some Intel Macs After macOS Monterey Install
Apple has fixed an issue that could cause some Intel Macs with a T2 chip to fail to boot up after macOS Monterey was installed, Apple said in a statement. There was a problem with the firmware on the Apple T2 security chip that prevented some users from being able start their Macs after updating...
forums.macrumors.com
Microsoft doesn't have to write an OS to support millions of different hardware combinations though do they? The write an OS that enables 3rd parties to write their own drivers to support millions of variations of hardware. They support a number of industry standards out of the box (just like Linux or Unix do) and PC components are all made to work to the same standards to support the motherboards they interface with.
Windows very rarely bricks a device as the OS runs after the boot phase, they have nothing to do with the moterboard bios that is run and maintained by someone else where as Apple does write this and software for various processors that then interface with Intel and other vendors work.
It'd be less like comparing to Microsoft making Windows and more akin to a Motherboard brand making a bios update that stops the computer booting.
It is like Apple doesn't have a lab of computers from various years for testing.
Here is a relevant email I just sent to my local sysadmin. I am pasting a proposed, known-working solution, should it help anyone else out with a recently patched intel-based Mac Mini:
< ... SENSITIVE TEXT DELETED
... >
[H]ere is the procedure I used to make my machine boot:
< ... SENSITIVE TEXT DELETED
... >[H]ere is the procedure I used to make my machine boot:
- Boot the Mac with CMD (WINDOWS KEY) + V until you get to the frozen part of the boot process.
- Power down by pressing the power button for a few seconds. Unplug EVERYTHING -- power cable, VGA cable, and USB peripherals inclusive. Wait a few minutes for the capacitors to discharge. Plug everything back in.
- Power up. When you see the Apple logo press and hold CMD+SHIFT+R. This boots into the disk recovery utility.
- When asked what the problem is, chose the second option that logging in with your password does nothing.
- Choose your account from the volumes and type the disk password. Press enter.
- Slower than usual, the Mac Mini should reboot as normal.
Presumably the most helpful response at the Apple support forums is "You should have bought a new Mac with the M1 processor, Intel is terrible."
I assumed "widgets" were an attempt to catch up with Windows Vista's "Gadgets", they look much the same. I've not been a big fan of Apple's OS evolution over the past few iterations... if I wanted an iPad, I'd buy a stupid iPad...but jeez. Say what you will about Windows, I've installed it thousands of PCs and have yet to see one get bricked yet. In fact, I've never seen anything brick a PC. Not even sure how that could happen outside of a firmware update?
I assumed "widgets" were an attempt to catch up with Windows Vista's "Gadgets", they look much the same. I've not been a big fan of Apple's OS evolution over the past few iterations... if I wanted an iPad, I'd buy a stupid iPad...but jeez. Say what you will about Windows, I've installed it thousands of PCs and have yet to see one get bricked yet. In fact, I've never seen anything brick a PC. Not even sure how that could happen outside of a firmware update?
I believe that is the official solution from Apple Support, paired with "Well...you should have bought AppleCare".
Just found this post.
A little too late.
After updating my wife's MacBook Air without issue I attempted to update my iMac (2017) last Wednesday (2022-02-02) to 12.2.
Started the update and came back to the black screen.
Chatted with Apple support several times and they walked me though all the different ways to blow a breath of life back into it. Talked to 2 different "senior" techs and everyone said I had to bring it it.
Closest authorized repair facility for me is 1 hour away.
They said diagnostics was going to be $150 which after figuring out what is wrong will go towards the repair.
Called and talked with Apple support again and believe it or not they agreed to pay for the repair. Which turns out to be the logic board. At least that's the latest update I've heard after calling to check. Still waiting to see if that's all...
Apple contacted the facility and this is their reply: "Everything is set for the in store appointment and you are good to go. They advised they would notate your account."
Sincerely, Dave.
A little too late.
After updating my wife's MacBook Air without issue I attempted to update my iMac (2017) last Wednesday (2022-02-02) to 12.2.
Started the update and came back to the black screen.
Chatted with Apple support several times and they walked me though all the different ways to blow a breath of life back into it. Talked to 2 different "senior" techs and everyone said I had to bring it it.
Closest authorized repair facility for me is 1 hour away.
They said diagnostics was going to be $150 which after figuring out what is wrong will go towards the repair.
Called and talked with Apple support again and believe it or not they agreed to pay for the repair. Which turns out to be the logic board. At least that's the latest update I've heard after calling to check. Still waiting to see if that's all...
Apple contacted the facility and this is their reply: "Everything is set for the in store appointment and you are good to go. They advised they would notate your account."
Sincerely, Dave.
we using beta on imac 2017 no problem . unsure why not yours. ram quite high usage monteray.
Sounds very strange that at the same time the logic board went bad you were installing an update!
That is exactly the reasoning I employed with the "senior" Apple techs.
Amazing coincidence.
Honestly, I'm amazed I was able to get them to agree to pay for the repair.
It's pretty bad if a software update's power management code can cause a hardware failure!
this is only my opinion , a tech may have diff opinion which support their story.The best please use ups(uninterup power supply)
Apple replaced the logic board for my 2020 iMac after the original Monterey update destroyed my computer. Since the logic board replacement, the two major updates also bricked my computer but I was able to get both of them up and running. The first time, Apple Support had me do some stuff. The second time Apple Support failed, but I found some process on Apple's website that allowed me to connect another Mac to my 2020 iMac and using an app from the Mac app store reflash the firmware, and that worked.
What did you use to connect the 2 Macs?
I saw How to Restore BridgeOS on a T2 Mac + Boot a Mac to DFU Mode but didn't know how to connect a laptop to an iMac to do the same.
Doesn't sound like it would've helped me anyway with the logic board fried...
But it would be nice to know for the future updates.
Sincerely, Dave.
I'm traveling for work and not home for a while, but as I remember it, it was from a USB port on the laptop to a particular lightning port on the iMac. This is the support page I believe I relied on:
Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator 2
In rare circumstances, Apple computers may become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived.
Thanks for that link.I'm traveling for work and not home for a while, but as I remember it, it was from a USB port on the laptop to a particular lightning port on the iMac. This is the support page I believe I relied on:
Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator 2
In rare circumstances, Apple computers may become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived.support.apple.com
Sincerely, Dave.
I hope it works for you. It worked for me, but I've already had the logic board replaced.
I'll admit I was dubious of this solution since the Apple Support phone agent never recommended it. But it worked.
It's funny. Apple DOES recommend everyone do the latest Monterey update.
Look where that's gotten us.
I just wish they would have warned us on the software update page that this may brick older Macs.
That would have made me hesitate.
Sincerely, Dave.