The macOS Monterey woes continue — now it's bricking people's Macs

macOS Monterey preview (Image credit: Bryan M. Wolfe / iMore)

What you need to know

A number of people are reporting that installing macOS Monterey is causing their Macs to refuse to start.
Impacted machines include both portable and desktop Macs.

Apple's recent macOS Monterey release had something of a troublesome beta program for various reasons, but things aren't improving now that it's available to everyone. A growing number of people are taking to social media and Apple's own support forums to report that their Macs refuse to start after updating to the company's latest big release.

More than ten different Apple Support Communities threads, first spotted by MacRumors, highlight the issue. People have been tweeting about their problems as well, all with the same theme — updating to macOS Monterey caused their Macs to no longer power on. It also seems that the issue only crops up on older Macs running Intel chips. If you're using a modern M1 Mac you should be good to go.

@AppleSupport hello, I really need assistance, was updating my macbook pro and it shut off and I can’t turn it back on@AppleSupport hello, I really need assistance, was updating my macbook pro and it shut off and I can’t turn it back on— Taltos 🇨🇦🇮🇹🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈 (@taltos_mi) October 25, 2021 October 25, 2021

@AppleSupport @Apple this is not the way a simple OS update should go on a Mac. On my 50th restart with some sort of incremental install of #Monterey and a dead iMac. Can’t even restore from TM because I can’t even get to the migration app. Crazy@AppleSupport @Apple this is not the way a simple OS update should go on a Mac. On my 50th restart with some sort of incremental install of #Monterey and a dead iMac. Can’t even restore from TM because I can’t even get to the migration app. Crazy— Ken Lyons (@kenlyons) October 31, 2021 October 31, 2021

Hey @AppleSupport what’s going on with Monterey on my MBP Pro 19? Just installed rebooted and brickedHey @AppleSupport what’s going on with Monterey on my MBP Pro 19? Just installed rebooted and bricked— Chezee (@_chezee) October 31, 2021 October 31, 2021

One Reddit user sums things up pretty well when saying that their Mac is now "just dead."

Same thing happened to my 2017 iMac. Said it needed to restart. Never restarted. Waited a couple hours and tried to power cycle it. Reset pram ect. Nothing seems to be working it's just dead. Took a couple tries to get it installed on my 2015 Mac Air. That seems to be running but I'm at a loss as to what to do with the imac. I unplugged it and headed to work. Hoping to find some solutions tonight to get this resolved in the am.

Anyone who is experiencing issues trying to update to macOS Monterey should reach out to Apple Support for assistance. However, one support document might offer some relief.

In very rare circumstances, such as a power failure during a macOS update or upgrade, a Mac may become unresponsive and so the firmware must be revived or restored.

I'd still suggest reaching out to Apple in the first instance, especially if your Mac is covered by AppleCare.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.