MacBook Pro bricked after failed Big Sur update 😵 ⚰️

You are aware we have absolutely no access to any form of recovery? The effected devices do not respond to any key combination, online recovery, regular recovery or booting from an external drive are not an option.

This isn't a case of not being a 'responsible user' this is a case of users installing an update pushed by apple on to their devices, resulting in a 'brick' of the device.

It doesn't matter if I had a backup I have no ability to restore it.

Also bricking is not a set in stone definitive term, the device in it's current state is unusable and not recoverable by common methods, it's an expensive 'brick'

I have no access to anything never mind system preferences because my machine is bricked. I switch it on and the screen LED lights. That is it......nothing else.

I have no way of fixing it. All genius bars in this country are closed.

I am reassured by your "feelings" that Apple are fixing it but I might get a bit more comfort if the mighty Apple was actually to say something about the situation, even if only to acknowledge it and state that they are working on it.

Apple, traditionally, will not say anything about any given situation. They will simply, behind the scenes, find a solution, and then release it.

Saying your machine is "bricked" is misusing the term. While your computer might be currently unusable, that does not mean that in the future a solution won't be found to get it up and running again.

So what do we do in the meantime?

Apple has spent the last few years concentrating on the iPhone and neglecting computers/laptops. With their iPhone market diminishing (how many fools is there available to spend £/$100's for marginal gains) they need to refocus on their computers or on selling us television shows. I can work out on what their focus is on at the moment........

Update: I just restarted MacBook and it fixed itself.

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My MacBook Pro 2015 (A1502), also stacked on the black screen after the upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur.

Googeling solutions and people say:

"The only way out of this for me was to login into Recovery MacOS (by keeping cmd+r pressed during reboot), then format the Macintosh HD (inside Disco Utility) and finally re-install Big Sur (again from Recovery MacOS). The main drawback is that all my apps (either purchased or downloaded for free) were erased by Hard-Disk formatting."

I am glad I took a backup of my data before the upgrade. Always do your backups, make it a habit.

Customer support took days to call me back today. They didn’t help with this issue. So my late 2018 MacBook Pro is out of commission. Apple would like to see everyone buy another Mac.

192B on balance sheet and customers receive no solution for Big Sur.

Just an update with my MacBook Retina 12” 2015. It’s been plugged in, SMC reset yesterday around this time. It’s been going from warm to hot back to warm throughout the last 24hours but still nothing on the screen though it seems the CPU is processing something and definitely is not idle but what it’s doing I have no clue! Tried other things with Apple support but none of that worked.

This is a hot topic right now. My MacBook Air also bricked with the update. Blank screen, no start up disc, no ability to recover anything. This is a terrible, inconvenient, and untrustworthy experience. My MacBook worked fine until the install. Any news on what Apple may do to remedy this dilemma?

Apple refused to fix my mid-2014 MacBook Pro 13", unless I paid $500 to replace the logic board. It was working perfectly fine until I tried to upgrade to Big Sur. As everyone else, I'm stuck with a black screen and an unresponsive computer. I've tried pretty much every fix I've seen here, plus the ones that Apple support recommended. One thing I don't feel comfortable doing is cracking it open. I'm hoping that Apple will do the right thing and apply the fix, or reimburse all of us for our spoiled computers.

Apple, come on. The 2013 and 2014 macbooks are vintage, that is not your fault. My eight your old Thinkpad got broken because of an overheated grafic chipset. But there is a big difference between your hardware and Lenovo. It took me half an our to order a new mainboard because spares are easy to get.

[Edited by Moderator]

I just got back from the Apple Store they told me it was cost about $500 for a logic board replacement that's pretty disappointing I've taken care of my Late 2013 Macbook Pro really well and this Big Sur update bricked my computer.

Thank you for the update. I'll visit an Apple Store Genius Bar today to ask about this same issue. I pay for Apple's premium products (MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, AirPods) to ensure reliability and to avoid these issues. I am stunned by Apple's response so far. I have learnt a painful lesson about ignoring Apple system generated notifications to Upgrade the OS.

I visited the Apple Store Genius Bar. The customer support representative was pleasant but stuck to his colleague's response from Monday's visit to the Apple Store that a ~AU$1200 repair is required to replace the logic board and battery. I said no. He also suggested re-contacting Apple Support via telephone or message to request that the issue is elevated to engineering and/or tier 2 support (I don't know what tier 2 support is).

As far as I can see there is still no solution for those who own a 2013 or 2014 macbook that has got bricked.

After I updated my machine I tried all the methods mentioned by Apple according to black screen problems.

The macbook responds noting, no way to restore anything.

In the past Apple handled their issues in a proper way. iPhone batteries got replaced, expanded macbook batteries got replaced too, staingate problems got fixed.

At the end it will be important that all the customers having this issue with their macbook get in contact with Apple. They call it vintage hardware but they provided this update for our computer. What would you say if your six years old Mercedes or Tesla would brake down after you did a service?

My MacBook Pro 2015 was completely corrupted and ruined during the Big Sur installation. After the update the MacBook hits at the black screen, the Apple Supports have no idea after trying several diagnositc steps in almost two hours, all Apple stores online appointments are full in next several weeks due to the COVID. Please DO NOT update the macos.