Catalina bricked my 2015 MacBook Pro. What to do now?

At this point there is nothing else I can do. Today at the Apple store they did not seem to want to believe that the software was doing this. I mentioned multiple times that this is not restricted to my machine, and that there are lots of others having this issue as well. They more or less just shrugged their shoulders, told me it would be $475 to fix my computer.

I am really upset that just because these devices are a few years old, they seem to refrain from testing certain functions of software upgrades on them.. When someone buys a Mac, they do so because they are supposed to last many years. I will update here if I manage to learn anything new, but I am not incredibly hopeful at this point. Please do the same, I would be interested to hear what they tell you, and I am sure everyone else would be too.

I seem to be lucky as I only have a bluetooth and wifi radio problem. It consistenly disconnects and reconncts and bluetooth devices will no longer stay connected. these devices all working fine before the upgrade. I did notice the Catalina upgrade seemed to take an inordinate amunt of time to restart and then shut down and I had to do a manual restart. I have a 2014 15" MacBook Pro. I dare not upgrade my Mac mini. What a mess. This is the first time I have upgraded without waiting a couple of months. Never again. Apple I have bought 5 computers over the few years. Daughter, wife, work office etc. I am feeling unloved.

What is even more amazing is that this was not caught in any beta testing. What is the point of beta testing if you leave something out? We have to assume that this EFI upgrade was not in any of the beta tests.

Quite funny you mention that, as I recall an Apple support advisor saying that had I purchased the laptop from Apple directly, I could have proceeded further under consumer law. Sadly I purchased it from Curry’s but they’ve taken it in under the pretext of consumer and said that anything other than liquid damage will be regarded as a manufacturing defect and repaired if “economically viable”.

Just an hour ago Apple issued Catalina Supplementary Update under the same version 10.15 but different build number 19A602 vs. 19A583 (original one). I am wondering if this actually contains a fix to EFI issue while installing Catalina and such a prompt action from Apple (not waiting to 10.15.1) may leave anyone who used the original installation on their own unfortunately....

I am curious if the Logic-Board-Exchangers in the Apple Store want money from me or Tim gave the green light and the whole thing is waved through.

I left my iMac at the Apple Store last Saturday and haven't heard anything yet. It should be repaired by Friday. Maybe a good sign...

[Edited by Moderator]

I have exact same problem. My MacBook Air Early 2015 is bricked.

Same symptoms for me: folder icon with question mark.

Computer isn't responding on any commands.

Worst thing is that service partnered with Apple requested motherboard change, and wanted to charge me 550$.

Thats really shame.

@Lycoming360. Thanks. They're ordering the part as we speak. I should have my machine back by the end of the week. And yes, I'll make sure it's fully functioning on Catalina before I take possession.

@jaygrow. Thanks for the advice. I let Apple know via their feedback page.

I'm not technically advanced enough to judge whether the failure was caused by the upgrade or that the upgrade just exposed a pre-existing flaw that regular reboots did not. If this does turn out to be an issue on their end, I'll have my receipt.

That sounds like a totally separate issue. I had that happen to my 2007 iMac. Almost traded it in. Search for fan stuck on high speed. I think resetting the PRAM did the trick. That machine is still working as a basic web surfer.

Recall that this site is "moderated" by Apple contractors. If one of them deems your input as being "unhelpful" or outside of the terms and conditions, it will be bounced.

I have had several mild rants deleted for this reason.

IF you explain the problem in matter of fact language and don't accuse Apple (or anyone on this site) of being less than a sterling person/entity, your request will stick and we can try to help.

It seems like its less about mild rants and more about legal protection... but ok, I can play along... I know there are rules.

Right now I'm going to sit back and wait - there are enough users coming forward that they won't be able to ignore this. My guess is eventually they will have to reprogram the EFI for users affected or some good Samaritan online will figure out a way to do it at home and share. I have faith in the Internet.

My MAC pro mid 2015 13’was also working like a charm. I mean, never had anything to complain until now. After waiting for any known major issues I finally succumbed to the upgrade. It bricked after that. Guess I’ll take the Mac on the 3500km journey to one of the nearest Apple stores to hear what they have to say and if anything can be done.

anyway, just adding my voice to this issue to see it recognized and solved by apple.

Add me to the list. 2017 MacBook Pro with no issues, post-upgrade: nothing but folder question marks.

Tried all sorts of iterations of resetting, reinstalling, etc. and it always hangs at the point where it’s trying to reinstall the EFI.

Was going to try and tough it out in hopes that Apple would acknowledge/fix the problem, but seems clear that’s never going to happen.

Heading to the Apple Store today to see how much a new logic board is going to set me back for their error. :/

My 2015 MacBook Pro was in like new condition (even the tech at the Apple store agreed) after doing the update it will not power on. Non of the trouble shooting suggestions have worked over the phone and the apple store said they couldn’t figure it out. My laptop literally was stationery since I did the update Friday now it’s a pile of parts. And they want 600 to send it in for mystery repairs

So so irksome that its still happening. Is this going to be the sudden wind that sends the apple crashing to the ground? I hope not. I am a little paranoid about restarting my mac 15" laptop at present. My external USB backup harddrive was connected to my mac when I did the update. It was wrecked but the computer seems Ok. Not sure if this was a co-incidence or not but only just realised that it happened when I did the update. My god its so so annoying.