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macOS Monterey Update Bricking Macs, Just Like Big Sur

By Laura Tucker
Macos Monterey Bricked Macs Featured

At some point you have to ask yourself if major OS updates ever go smoothly. It seems there are always problems of some sort, whether macOS, Windows, Android, or iOS. This week’s “lucky winner” is the macOS Monterey update that was just released last week. Some users of older machines are complaining of their Macs not restarting after installing the macOS Monterey update.

User Reports of macOS Monterey Update Bricking Computers

Reports are rolling in across social media and message boards of older Macs not restarting after the macOS Monterey update. It may be notable that older Macs could also translate to Intel Macs.

There are many posts left at Apple Support Communities, and of course, Twitter has its share as well.

A MacBook Pro 2019 owner in the Mac forum said, “Seems like a computer without power, but it is fully powered.”

“I have no sign of life on my MacBook,” said a MacBook Pro 2018 owner, while a Mac Mini owner said, “What am I supposed to do with my dead Mac Mini after Monterey killed it?”

Macos Monterey Bricked Macs Wont Restart

“After the update downloaded, it started installing, and on the first restart, it never came back,” reported a 2016 MacBook Pro owner, while the owner of a machine one year older said, “All I’ve done is attempt to install an official update, and it wrecked my computer.”

One MacBook Pro owner noted that the Apple Store was able to fix it. Another said the “Apple service center” quoted them $600 to replace the main logic board.

A Twitter user addressed Apple Support in a tweet: “Hello, I really need assistance, was updating my MacBook Pro, and it shut off, and I can’t turn it back on.”

Another noted that the macOS Monterey update “killed” their 2020 MacBook Pro. “No boot. No nothing. Dead. 18 mo old … How long is it supposed to work these days? :-( Guys, update at your own risks … “

A frustrated Twitter user said, “On my 50th restart with some sort of incremental install of #Monterey and a dead Mac. Can’t even restore from TM because I can’t even get to the migration app. Crazy.”

Apple’s Response to the Monterey Issues

A MacBook Pro 2018 user tweeted that Apple had said, “an update is going to be released ‘soon’ that should resolve issues.” The poster questioned how they would install a new update on a dead Mac.

It should be noted that this seems a little like deja vu. Big Sur had similar problems last year, with more users seemingly affected. Perhaps it’s difficult to develop an OS that works on two different chips.

Macos Monterey Bricked Macs Update

Apple Support Communities did suggest a possible solution: reviving or restoring the Mac firmware. The company said in a support document, “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.”

As was suggested by the Twitter user above, Apple is, of course, working on a version update, macOS Monterey 12.1, but it’s not supposed to be released for many more weeks. Yet, it’s entirely possible that Apple will rush out a quick update before 12.1 to address the problem with 12.0.

Having trouble with your Mac? Learn how to repair hard disks with fsck on macOS and downgrade macOS to a previous version.

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Laura Tucker Avatar
Laura Tucker
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.

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