Macbook pro keeps crashing after installing updates

Hi guys,

I have a Macbook Pro Early 2015 13" and I have been having issues since I recently bought it. One of them is that every time I restart it to install new updates, it gets stuck on the progression bar with the apple logo, I have to hold down the power button to turn it off, then i can restart it and everytime it works and the mac restarts, it even seems it just gets back to where it was stuck and this time has no issues.

Any ideas why this is happening?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Mar 20, 2018 12:09 PM

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Posted on Mar 21, 2018 11:47 AM

Then it would appear the 10.13.3 upgrade did install. What updates are you trying in which the computer gets stuck? If it's this 10.13.3 update then I suggest you Download and Install macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Combo Update. Give this a try after repairing the disk drive:


Repair the Drive for El Capitan or Later


  1. Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
  2. Select Disk Utility and press the Continue button.
  3. Then select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
  4. Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar and wait for the Done button to activate. Click on it, then quit Disk Utility.
  5. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
  6. Run the High Sierra 10.13.3 Combo Update you downloaded.
15 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 21, 2018 11:47 AM in response to naturalganja

Then it would appear the 10.13.3 upgrade did install. What updates are you trying in which the computer gets stuck? If it's this 10.13.3 update then I suggest you Download and Install macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Combo Update. Give this a try after repairing the disk drive:


Repair the Drive for El Capitan or Later


  1. Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
  2. Select Disk Utility and press the Continue button.
  3. Then select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
  4. Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar and wait for the Done button to activate. Click on it, then quit Disk Utility.
  5. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
  6. Run the High Sierra 10.13.3 Combo Update you downloaded.

Mar 20, 2018 12:31 PM in response to naturalganja

You have/had a malfunctioning version of macOS that you were trying to upgrade. The progress bar stopped so you shut down the computer then restarted it after which it picked up with the installer and finished the upgrade. You need to check what version you have in About This Mac from the Apple menu. If the version did not change then your upgrade didn't pick up where it left off. So if you want to try upgrading again you will have to fix what you have first. I would start with booting from the Recovery HD then opening Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and running First Aid on your startup disk.

Mar 25, 2018 10:23 AM in response to naturalganja

You cannot change your startup volume unless you have booted from the Recovery HD.


Install El Capitan or Later from Scratch


If possible backup your files.


  1. Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the CommandandRkeys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
  2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
  3. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
  4. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
  5. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  6. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
  7. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  8. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.

Mar 23, 2018 12:03 PM in response to naturalganja

I don't know what procedure you are following, specifically, but if you make a current backup on an external drive, then erase your internal drive, then you can restore your backup. If the backup is made by Time Machine then you can boot from a hidden Recovery HD on the backup so you can then restore the backup using the Recovery HD.


If you use some other backup utility then you want to be sure that it can make a bootable backup. And, you should test it before you commit to erasing the internal drive.

Mar 21, 2018 12:07 PM in response to Kappy

I did all the steps but when I want to install the combo on drive I have this error message:

"macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Update Combo can't be installed on this disk. In order to upgrade to a newer version of macOS High Sierra on this disk, please see the instructions here APFS Fusion "


When I read what is on this page it seems like everything on my drive will be deleted, is this correct? Is this step going to modify the contents I have on my mac (softwares, files etc...)?

What should I do to avoid losing anything?

Sorry I am obviously not the most knowledgable about all this...

I gotta run to work, I'll do whatever I need to after my long long shift...

Thanks for your help

Mar 25, 2018 1:36 PM in response to Kappy

I finished all the steps and at the final reboot, once MacOS High Sierra was installed and data from my back-up were migrated, once again the progress bar would fill up all the way and even after 20 minutes it would not move from there. So I kept down the power touch, restarted the mac and I'm back in control of my Mac. (Also I notice that 2 Non-apple apps that were in my dock do not have the appropriate logo, they're showing but just a blank)

Mar 23, 2018 10:52 AM in response to naturalganja

I'm afraid not much is public about APFS so repairing it is mostly dependent on using First Aid in Disk Utility or erasing the SSD and starting over from scratch. I'm not sure there is any third-party utility that can handle APFS formatted SSDs. So the information you have read that says you will need to reformat the SSD then doing so will erase all your files. A backup is all that will help you recover them.

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Macbook pro keeps crashing after installing updates

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