Problems upgrading to macOS Mojave on MacBook Pro 2018

Reiterating for the 6th time on here, the non-Pro iMacs do not have T2 chips and have been experiencing epic failures with respect to repeated attempts at Mohave upgrades. My initial failure had nothing to do with any restore from My Passport/TM since it was obviously used subsequent to the initially failed Mohave download. If you go back into his thread I think we more than proved/demonstrated with as many diagnostics/tests we could think of, that my iMac itself when running High Sierra has excellent performance - and becomes inoperable after the Mohave upgrade. It’s Mohave that’s the problem!

It's not just the 2018 models. My well-maintained and regularly updated mid-2015 top-of-the-line MBP had the same catastrophic Mojave install failure as described here. Despite trying every remedy I could find online (SMU reset, NVRAM purge, disk first aid, and multiple attempted reinstalls including creating a bootable USB drive with a fresh download), the only solution was a Time Machine restore of High Sierra. Not only was my "wi-fi hardware not found" (but wi-fi was mysteriously still fully functional in command-R mode and command-D mode with no hardware problems found), the Systems Preferences > Network pane was empty and my libraries had no network preferences anywhere. I could not even add a network to the Network pane. I never did get the usual upgrade welcome pages to set up the new system. Hideously bad behavior included repeated freezing, stuttering, recurrent spinning beach ball of death, very slow keyboard responses, failure to log into my other accounts including the guest account, and just general brain damage. Like the other posters, I have been using numerous Macs for 25 years and have never, ever experienced anything like this. The OS X original version in 2001 was a pokey pain and didn't do much but it sure behaved better than this.

Very comprehensive description Ann of the various issues that we’ve experienced - and interestingly, my wi fi continued to work perfectly on my iPads, smartphones, printers, and other devices while the iMac lost everything after the failed Mohave upgrade. Not a peep from Apple...yet.

I'm on a 2018 i9 MBP, and I'm not able to upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave either. Part of the installation is executing while I'm still logged into my admin account, and everything seems fine at first, but after logout, the MBP will restart after a while, then sit idle for a short period of time, and then the normal boot process starts, and High Sierra is back, working as before.

When I tried this the first time, there were actually two reboots, so I assume that the installer tried to do something else at first. Can't say. I tried a couple of times, with and without WiFi, with Little Snitch and XFENCE enabled & disabled etc. Always the same result: no installation.

I will wait for the 10.14.1 update, then I will try to upgrade again, and if that doesn't work, I will boot into single-user/recovery (CMD-SR) and run `nvram -c` and `pmset -a restoredefaults`, and then try upgrading again. If that doesn't work, I will contact Apple Support.

Since this was mentioned before: yes, I have had T2 bridgeOS panics on my MBP too, those after wake-from-sleep, but I had no problem fixing that myself. In my case it was a combination of FileVault and power management settings: I have set macOS to destroy the FileVault keys when going into safe sleep (hibernation), which you should do, because otherwise there's no use in enabling FileVault in the first place. Now `pmset -g` still showed some scenarios in which the MBP would wake, namely womp, powernap, networkoversleep, acwake, tcpkeepalive etc., so I assume that for some reason (e.g. power nap, network activity) macOS wanted to wake the MBP from hibernation, but the FileVault keys were destroyed, and since I had disabled normal sleep completely, the machine was then sitting around with the lid closed waiting for FileVault password input, which at some point resulted in bridgeOS panics and instant hard reboots after opening the lid.

I have now disabled all of the stuff that could lead to wake-from-hibernation, and I've also enabled normal sleep again, just in case the MBP still wakes for some other unforseen reason. I haven't had bridgeOS panics for weeks.

Please note that this only covers the wake-from-sleep bridgeOS panics, not the crashes during normal operation. (I haven't had those.) So I don't think that there's a hardware error with the T2, I only think that Apple don't really know what to do with this chip, how to correctly program it, so it will function without hiccups.

Does the Mojave installation catastrophe have anything to do with the T2? Maybe the T2 is a factor, but I can't say.

Hello all,

Just a quick update. I've just been to the Apple Shop and they've downloaded and installed Mojave on my MacBook Pro 💻 13" (2018 model with Touch Bar) via an Ethernet cable.

The file downloaded OK and the installation went beyond the 15-second error threshold! I'm now typing this reply on it and it seems fine so far ...

Again, this may or may not work for everyone, but it certainly did for me.

Good luck!

I'd have to test that. Something possibly related: I noticed a few weeks ago, when booted into Recovery Mode, that the base system had not stored my WiFi credentials that I had entered during a previous visit to Recovery Mode. So it's possible that the installer needs to contact the Apple Servers, which then fails because WiFi is disconnected from your AP unless you're logged in. So yeah, maybe doing it over Ethernet might solve the problem.

According to the feeds I follow, today Apple Released the second beta of 10.14.1. I've been keeping an eye on this thread, and watching the articles from MacRumors, and nothing has come up yet regarding all the issues people are having on varying degrees with the upgrade.

Either no one from MacRumors has had issues, or Apple hasn't said anything yet.

I once and a while get stuff from iMoore, and I watch MacBreak once and a while, but haven't heard anything more then what people are saying here. So, so far, no new sources have crossed my path yet. I am keeping my eyes open though.

You are correct, the 10.14.1 beta was first seeded last week, this week they seeded the second 10.14.1 beta.

I'm not personally sure of the security status, I do know like iOS 12.1, the 10.14.1 release notes from last week said it was released to add back Group FaceTime which was removed by initial release.

I haven't looked ate release notes for beta 2 yet.

The Main issue I've had with Mojave since the beta period prior to initial release, is certain Siri commands don't work correctly. In my case it's not a big deal since I don't use Siri much.

I mainly wanted to bring to the attention of the thread however, that the second beta is out, and the main theme of current apple release articles on MacRumors seems to be either something about the iPhone, or privacy and security.

NOTHING about the issues people are reporting.

Just an update from me: As I wrote last week, I formatted by MBP 2018 which has the T2 chip and wanted to install Mojave from a USB drive.

As many other MBP 2018 owners, I couldn't install Mojave and also couldn't restore High Sierra.

Hence, I had my Apple Genius Bar appointment yesterday and they confirmed that also their own Apple Store MBP have the update issues.

Anyway, I left my MBP 2018 there and they could restore High Sierra and I just picked it up today.

So, if you have the chance, set up an appointment with Genius Bar or any other authorized Apple reseller and get your MBP 2018 with T2 restored.

I will continue using High Sierra until we get a stable Mojave update which works with MBP 2018 with T2 chips.

Thank you for that reply.

I do not have the T2 and will try Mojave one more time with a different TM backup. I have been able all 4 times to reinstall HS. If this does not work I will also wait till they have this straighten out.

You must be the eternal optimist - trying again pickle, for a 5th time. I’m holding fast to my High Sierra until Apple acknowledges and fixes this. My sense is that it’s a much more serious problem than anyone ever anticipated effecting mutiple devices regardless of type chips, etc.

Could be an issue Apple currently doesn't know how to fix. This thread is my main source of repeated reports right now. Based on what I've seen here, there isn't even a real pattern to the issue. It doesn't seem to matter the make and model of the Mac. Random ones don't work, while others of the same make and model work fine. Then you have those who can't install at all, or in some cases couldn't restore. Then there are those who got it to install, and have operational problem. Then you have those, who had no issues.

Out of all the adverse effects that have been described on various posts throughout this thread, the oddest of them all is the fact that Mohave downloads on my iMac, shows up in “About this Mac,” initially shows the new Mohave desert screen and then upon install, the screen slowly fades out and the High Sierra mountain screen slowly fades in and becomes crisp. Yet, the iMac at this point is essentially inoperable with no connectivity including wi fi, bluetooth, keystrokes and mouse that are buggy and delayed, slow loading of apps, random pop-ups, etc. etc. Even with the crisp High Sierra mountain screen showing, the “About this Mac” continues to show that Mohave is installed. That’s when I’m forced to Command R and do a restore from My Passport for Mac/Time Machine.

You have actually hit on the truth. Apple does not know how to fix the problem. I received a callback from Apple regarding my inability to upgrade my 2012 2.6 GZ i7 15 inch MacBook Pro. I had spent a good bit of time with them Sunday morning. We worked for just under two hours last night using screen share. Our attempts were unsuccessful. There is obviously a problem with the installer file.

I have taken some of the posts people have reported to this particular thread, and have plugged them into Google such as:

"macOS Mojave won't install"

Mojave install fails, etc.

What I still find hard to believe based on what people are saying here and what web results are showing, there are still more widespread results showing up regarding High Sierra, and even Sierra.

There are a few results regarding Mojave, but they are usually articles that provide problems and fixes. Not so much complaints regarding issues.

I think the one thing that still sticks in my mind is: While there are genuine issues from people here on this thread, if Mojave upgrades were as bad as people are saying, why aren't there more widespread results popping up on searches.

In fact, any other results that do show up say, other people reporting issues, have either come directly from people here, or people that people here have talked too.

This brings me back to my initial comment, does Apple not know how to fix it, or have they not considered it big enough yet in the broad spectrum of users and installs to bother yet? Usually if it's something big, Apple is pretty quick. I still haven't heard anything beyond this thread, and people associated with MacAdmins which is private.