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.
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.
@AppleSupport ever since downloading Monterey OS my macbook pro doesn’t turn on anymore — Susuya (@Susuyachan) October 31, 2021
@AppleSupport hello, I really need assistance, was updating my macbook pro and it shut off and I can’t turn it back on — Taltos ️ (@taltos_mi) October 25, 2021
@Apple So, installing #macOSMonterey literally killed my 2020 16in #MacBookPro . No boot. No nothing. Dead. 18mo old... How long is it supposed to work these days? :(
Guys, update at your own risks... — Freddy Mini (@freddymini) October 26, 2021
@AppleSupport @Apple this is not the way a simple OS update should go on a Mac. On my 50th restart with some sort of incremental install of #Monterey and a dead iMac. Can’t even restore from TM because I can’t even get to the migration app. Crazy — Ken Lyons (@kenlyons) October 31, 2021
@AppleSupport my MacBook Pro 2108, 13" 4 Ports not turning on at all since yesterday's update. I've called yesterday, and again today, no other information than "an update is going to be released 'soon' that should resolve issues". How am I going to install that on a dead Mac? — Mieszko Ślusarczyk (@spitf1r3) October 27, 2021
2019 #Apple #MacbookPro bricked again, second time in two years. Wow. Ports continue to stop working, not allowing charging, which bricks this. Can’t reset SMC because there’s no power going in. What else could help me determine I bought a lemon??? #applesupport @AppleSupport — Daniel Lin (@itsDannyLin) October 27, 2021
Don't update to Monterey until it's fully stable!!! My MBA (early 2015) will automatically turn off after 5min or sometimes even while it's booting. Now it's not usable... @AppleSupport @Apple #Apple #MacBookAir #Monterey pic.twitter.com/H10DFi9uWT — Akhil NJ (@nj10_Akhil) October 30, 2021
MacOS Monterrey completely bricked my new work Macbook. The second you commit to updating, it freezes the machine and forces a hard reset. This has happened 3 times now. @AppleSupport — Brodie SZN (@wari0world) October 29, 2021
Hey @AppleSupport what’s going on with Monterey on my MBP Pro 19? Just installed rebooted and bricked — Chezee (@i_Chezee) October 31, 2021
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."
Same thing happened to my 2017 iMac. Said it needed to restart. Never restarted. Waited a couple hours and tried to power cycle it. Reset pram ect. Nothing seems to be working it's just dead. Took a couple tries to get it installed on my 2015 Mac Air. That seems to be running but I'm at a loss as to what to do with the imac. I unplugged it and headed to work. Hoping to find some solutions tonight to get this resolved in the am.
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.
