Why can’t I get into my computer when it needs a critical security update?
I did what the screen told me to do which was to connect to my wi-fi so a critical security update could be installed. It didn’t install it, and it wouldn’t let me in without it.
MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11
I am not aware of any typical situation where you would be prevented from logging into your Mac for lack of a 'critical security update'. Is this an organization-administered machine (provided by work/school/etc.)? If so, contact their IT department. If it's your personal Mac, boot in Safe Mode.
Thank you for replying. It's a personal MacBook pro, and I get very strange situations like that here and there on it. It wouldn't let me in after I did what was asked of me (sign into wi-fi (which I am always signed into). So, I shut it down and started it up again, and poof no signs of anything that had previously happened.
I appreciate the link and will check it out.
I wouldn't expect Apple support to understand this error message as I've never seen any information on it from Apple. I only know this information from repairing our organization's Macs through trial and error and observation. I learned about the Touchbar and EmbeddedOS from other users posting on other non-Apple forums. If you have the error I mentioned, then you will need to have the laptop repaired. Performing a clean install of macOS will not work as you will encounter the same error.
If the message is "A critical software update is required", then it means there is most likely a hardware issue with the laptop which is affecting the Touchbar. I believe macOS is trying to upload the EmbeddedOS onto the Touchbar. Once you receive this error there is no way to boot the laptop normally until a network connection is established and the software downloaded/installed (even if the hardware is all good). Normally I would say either the Touchbar and/or the Logic Board is defective, but I recently encountered an issue where the Display Assembly actually caused this to occur as well.
You should be able to boot into Safe Mode which can allow you to backup your system and continue using the laptop in a degraded mode until the laptop can be repaired assuming the message you are receiving is "A critical software update is required". This is not a security update. It is a shame that Apple uses such cryptic error messages and prevents the laptop from booting when the Touchbar is having problems.
If you are seeing an error other than this, then please post a picture.
Thank you, much for all of that. I will take pictures the next time it happens.
The problem happened as soon as I opened my laptop this morning. I didn't even remember that the message was "critical software update required." My mind went to what it knew--"critical security update required," which I thought peculiar that it should lock me out of my computer for that.
So thank you for clearing that up. I'll try tech support again with the proper language to see what they'll tell me this time.
It is a shame that the warning language doesn't help a person to know or understand what is really happening, or that something is truly critical, especially when you continue to get glitches or weird situations that go away. And the only solution you will get from tech support is update to the new OS. I don't mind doing that most times, but this time I couldn't find
a reason to leave Mohave, yet.
Security updates needed before entering my computer
