MacBook Pro bricked after failed Big Sur update 😵 ⚰️

nuoptik wrote:

Hi Guys and Gals.

I saw that there was an update to Big Sur today so clicked update. It all downloaded fine and I clicked all the items to go ahead. It said it'd be a while so i stepped away from the computer. When i returned the screen was black - no status bar, no nothing, but I could tell the LED was on. Nothing would wake it up so I eventually held the power button to force a shutdown.

Sounds like you shut down will the install was still in progress...

How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

Restore from back up

💻 MacBook Pro 13-inch, Mid 2014.

The same problem as many other people. 

My option, how to go beyond the black screen - at the very moment when the screen backlight turns on, you need to disconnect the MagSafe power connector. It doesn't always work (not every time), but it works after 10-20 power-up attempts. I also disconnect all external devices from USB / Thunderbolt. Possibly connecting / disconnecting MagSafe is causing some changes in the I/O board (some restart?).

My attempts to solve this problem (with stuck black screen) have so far been unsuccessful: 

• I tried to install Big Sur on top of the installed one;

1. from Recovery; 
2. from Internet Recovery;
3. from a bootable USB disk created on another Mac;

• I formatted the disk to HFS+ and tried to install Big Sur on a completely cleaned disk;
• I tried to install OS X Mavericks (using Internet Recovery with "Shift") and tried to install old EFI / SMC firmware from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201518#mbp but it didn't installed.

Now I try not to turn off or restart the MBP, so as not to spend half an hour trying to turn it on. 😅

Hope Apple engineers will release an update that fixes the problem! 😰

I wanted to give you a quite exciting update on my story, last updated here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252034110?answerId=252034110021#252034110021

I've had a case open with senior Apple support. They've been REALLY good, scheduling callbacks, calling me to update me on progress, hand-holding me through the process.

They were trying to get my logic board replaced on my now-bricked late-2013 Retina MacBook Pro. At no cost. They wanted to do this replacement for me.

But my two local Apple-approved service centres both said that they couldn't source the parts so they couldn't do the repair.

So the support guy said he wasn't going to make me travel far, so instead he was going to give me a like-for-like replacement. Not as in a 2013-MacBook for a 2013-MacBook, but the 2020 equivalent MacBook!!!

I kid you not. Here's a screen grab of the replacement message:

The courier are coming today to pick up the old one, and once it's been checked over they are going to ship me a new MacBook.

So, if you can get to the right person, be patient, go through all the diagnostic steps, remain calm and polite and do what Apple tell you, it seems that Apple ARE repairing or replacing old MacBooks that have been bricked by this update.

Hi People,

Is everyone replying in here referring to their devices being "bricked?" I am sorry if this has happened for anyone.

After releasing the update, Apple has now offered some Support Articles in regards to updating to Big Sur and what it would entail. Unfortunately, it may be too late for some or all of you for them to help, but read them to see if there is any other recourse besides taking your devices in for repair, or replacing them altogether.

Look here for the Apple Support Articles that concern updating to Big Sur. Please note that some, if not most, are dated after the update was seeded to the public: https://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&q=big%20sur&product=&doctype=SITE_HELP,PRODUCT_HELP,LEGACY,HOWTO_ARTICLES,TROUBLESHOOTING_ARTICLES&currentPage=1&includeArchived=false&locale=en_US&src=support_searchbox_main&type=organic

I hope this helps some/most of you and I wish you good luck!

I tried to edit my post above, but was prevented from doing so. Here is the above post, plus what I had added to it after having posted it.

Hi People,

Is everyone replying in here referring to their devices being "bricked?" I am sorry if this has happened for anyone.

After releasing the update, Apple has now offered some Support Articles in regards to updating to Big Sur and what it would entail. Unfortunately, it may be too late for some or all of you for them to help, but read them to see if there is any other recourse besides taking your devices in for repair, or replacing them altogether.

Look here for the Apple Support Articles that concern updating to Big Sur. Please note that some, if not most, are dated after the update was seeded to the public: https://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&q=big%20sur&product=&doctype=SITE_HELP,PRODUCT_HELP,LEGACY,HOWTO_ARTICLES,TROUBLESHOOTING_ARTICLES&currentPage=1&includeArchived=false&locale=en_US&src=support_searchbox_main&type=organic

There were a few things to consider prior to making this major update, which had not been mentioned, had been but it had been several months prior to the release, or just after the release was made public. There is a major change to how Time Machine will work, most notably that its filing system is changed to APFS from HFS+. There is a Support article in regards to that change, but again, it is either newly added, or was added months prior to the release of Big Sur. I will tell you that I am erasing/reformatting my Time Machine drive into APFS prior to doing my update: starting fresh backups.

One also had to considered, whether there were any 32-Bit Apps or 32-Bit scraps still hanging on, even after having had Catalina. Those items can either allow the update to carry on, but render 32-Bit permanently unusable once Big Sur is installed. The other problem that can or may occur, is failure of the update to continue.

One other thing to do for yourself, and this is something that I personally choose to do, please do not leave a major update unattended for any length of time in which your device can go into sleep mode. I know it is sometimes necessary to take a washroom break or get some food. The thing that I always do for major updates or when transferring large files from one drive to another is, I go into System Preferences>Energy Saver, and uncheck any boxes that would allow my computer to go into sleep mode during the process. One box in there to uncheck is, "Prevent Computer From Sleeping When Display Is Off." Once you are done doing the update, just go back and put your preference back in place. As I said, these are things I do on a personal level.

I implore you to please check the Apple Support articles in the link provided, and see if anything in there will get you back on track and/or your device "unbricked."

I hope this helps some/most of you and I wish you good luck!

Thanks for the update! We would also be grateful if you continue to post updates here regarding repairing your MBP.

Also, please tell me if the following is true: 

- during the update, you had an SD card inserted and / or an external device was connected (HDD / SSD / Thunderbolt Apple Display); 

- during the update, you had a firmware password set (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204455); 

- whether you installed Big Sur 11.0.1 RC1 or Big Sur 11.0.1 RC2 earlier, or you updated your MBP to the release version available on the Mac App Store;

GlasgowRoss wrote:

Apple's official response is pathetic!

You left out the part where Apple said, and I quote, "This article will be updated as more information becomes available."

Apple does not monitor this forum. If you really want to help Apple solve this issue, then you need to contact them directly.

Click on the link below and fill out the form. The more people that report this to Apple directly, the more specific information they will have, and the more resources they will give to quickly solve this issue.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

After more than a week dealing with this problem, we are still on page 15 here. I got numerous posts in my email inbox from this discussion regarding a problem with the I/O board. When I clicked on the link in the email back to the discussion, they were gone.

And now I see from Arslan77 that Apple replaced the I/O board.

As someone said, take some time and write a comment to apple feedback:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

I think this I/O board gate will become bigger than any issue before. Apple is forced by law to provide spares for seven years. Therefore this machines als old but not vintage.

In times of climate change it is important for a big company to produce long lasting products and to provide support for it. In the past Apple did that in a good way. For many people their older stuff do the job. They could easily afford a new one. Over the years many of them equiped their homes with Apple stuff. In my family there are Macs, iPads, iPhones, AppleTV, Earphones of different generations. It all started with a late 2013 macbook pro and let me spent over 25000€ on Apple products.

At this moment I write on my 2013 macbook with Big Sur on it, after having a black screen last week did the same what the geniuses did for Arslan77. I got deep in it and yes the geniuses are right there is a I/O board problem. But I fixed the problem without replacing this board.

I can’t answer that yet, hopefully today I’ll be picking up my MBP and ask about that. But ndv27 found a way to get it see: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252034110?answerId=253960482022#253960482022

I guess it depends if you have access to official physical AppleStore.

I don’t know if this applies to your machine but please confirm for yourself through model and country

https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks

also for SSD:

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-service

these and other issues( bottom of page):

https://support.apple.com/mac/macbook-pro

If so ask for refund

That is correct however keep in mind that you may not be able to install, or better rephrasing you’re prevented from install. See more info why here:

https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-0-1-20b50-releasedhttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211242

and here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211242

Hi RiizzoUK,

I've followed all the steps in:

If you can’t install macOS Big Sur on certain 13-inch MacBook Pro computers from 2013 and 2014

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211242

I've visited the Apple Store twice.

I've contacted Apple Support via chat 2-3 times.

I've contacted Apple "Tier 2" Support by phone 3 times (the Apple Store recommended I contact Apple "Tier 2" support).

I've sent a hard copy letter to Apple outlining what happened, Apple's response to date and asking Apple to own this problem.

I've provided Apple with links to articles such as:

macOS Big Sur bricks older MacBook Pro models

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/macos-big-sur-bricks-older-macbook-pro-models-3798046/?pn

One month has passed and I've purchased a Windows based laptop while I (hopefully) wait for Apple to resolve.

I am bewildered by Apple's response.

Hello!

To those who have T2 chip machines (if not sure check: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208862) unable to upgrade to Big Sur, I advise you to contact support and ask to schedule a technical appointment in store or authorized tech workshop to solve the issue and ask specifically to restore T2 firmware via Apple Configurator 2 (as I understood, a tech app only available to authorized technicians). Apparently on updating process a “conflict” may arise with T2 chip firmware that prevents the update process to complete. This might save you a lot of time and worries (in my case it took 30 days to find the origin of the problem and it’s solution with a lot of try and error going on between Apple engineering and tech repair). I wasn’t charged any fees for this “repair” which I must say meets my expectations and keeps in track with my previous good experiences with Apple’s support, which has been keeping me as a faithful customer. I guess it’s Apple’s silent but efficient way of acknowledge their responsibility on this issue.

I’m also pleased to see the new version of BigSur is apparently allowing older machines (2013/14) to successfully update as posted by ame1nc

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208862

I suggest to people who got “bricked” to insist with support to reset firmware before going for hardware substitution, which in some cases may prove unreasonable considering the repair price and machine value, as I also suspect these issues might be a bug on the original update packages.

Yes, you can check at the bottom of this page, (you can check the same way: “https:support.apple.com/[Apple product family/specific product]” for other Apple products you may have) https://support.apple.com/mac/macbook-pro