MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro boot loop after update

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Level 1

4 points

MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro boot loop after update

Hi everyone!

I’m having an issue with my MacBook Pro 16 (M3 Pro 36/512)

I started a macOS update overnight. In the morning, I noticed that the progress bar hadn’t moved at all. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of forcing a shutdown by holding the power button

After turning it back on, the progress bar appeared again for a few minutes, as if the update was continuing. Then the device rebooted - and since then it seems to be stuck in a boot loop

What happens now:

The Apple logo appears and starts kinda blinking
After about a minute, it shows the recovery screen with a link to support.apple.com/mac/restore
It stays on that recovery screen and does not restart again on its own

Is this a known issue?

Does this usually indicate a corrupted system/firmware that can be fixed with DFU restore, or could it point to a hardware problem?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Feb 17, 2026 4:01 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 17, 2026 8:04 AM in response to 0xkostya

When the install does not complete in that way, the next step should be to re-Install, of the exact same version. Since you do not have a working MacOS, you can use Recovery to accomplish that.

MacOS does not modify itself, so a new successfully-installed instance of a version of MacOS is equivalent to any successfully-installed instance of the same version of MacOS. (Nothing is lost in re-install.)

By design, MacOS only modifies SYSTEM directories during a Re-Install, leaving user files untouched.

(That said, if your drive is malfunctioning, there could conceivably be data loss. That is why having a Trusted Backup on an external drive is so important.)

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Apr 14, 2026 1:21 PM in response to ziqi17

you likely do not need DFU unless your Mac is VERY sick

what is a combination key? on a Mac with Apple-silicon, you use the Power key to invoke Recovery

How to start up from macOS Recovery - Apple Support

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Answer 3

ziqi17

Level 1

8 points

Apr 14, 2026 12:56 PM in response to 0xkostya

I am having this exact same issues of apple logo blinking and going back to black screen loop. I am not able to get into DFU because the computer seems to restart while I press the combination key.

Did you get the issue fixed and by how?

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MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro boot loop after update

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