Fix MacBook Not Turning on after a macOS Update

Recover data from Mac that won't turn on after a macOS update

To recover data from a MacBook that won't fully start up, running data recovery software in Recovery Mode is necessary. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, a handy tool with a high data recovery rate, fully supports recovering data from unbootable Mac hard drives and various external hard drives.

Watch the video below to learn how to easily recover files when Mac won't turn on after an update in macOS Recovery with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac:

What to do when MacBook won't turn on after macOS update?

Here are some proven, efficient solutions to fix a MacBook that won't restart after a macOS update, applicable to macOS Tahoe, macOS Sequoia, macOS Sonoma, macOS Ventura, macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur, or other macOS updates.

Check the power connections

Sometimes, your MacBook Pro shows a black screen after upgrading to macOS Sonoma, which is simply due to a lack of power or a power outage. Turn on your Mac, then check if you can hear a startup chime or drive or fan noises.

If you can't hear any noise, your Mac has power connection issues. Just try these fixes:

If you can hear the startup chime but Mac still won't boot, try to do a Power Cycle. Power Cycling involves fully cutting all traces of power from the Mac and then restarting the Mac from scratch.

Perform a power cycle to fix the MacBook won't turn on after an update issue:

After a complete power cycle, your MacBook should restart normally. If your Mac still won't restart, move on to the solutions below.

Disconnect all peripherals

Although it's rare, it could be the external accessories connected to your Mac causing a frozen Mac and leading to your MacBook not turning on after an update. You can unplug the connected external hard drive or other devices, or simply unplug all the peripherals at once. Then, restart your Mac to check if the peripherals were causing the issue.

If the peripherals weren't to blame, keep reading to fix the MacBook not turning on after an update issue.

Reset SMC

SMC (System Management Controller) takes charge of your low-level settings, like thermal and battery management. So, resetting SMC can possibly help if your Mac won't restart after an update.

Reset SMC to fix MacBook Air won't turn on after update:

Reset the PRAM / NVRAM

PRAM (Parameter Random-Access Memory) and NVRAM (Non-volatile Random-Access Memory) are small memory caches on your Mac. They are used to store certain settings, including startup disk selection, recent kernel panic information, and system volume.

To fix the issue of when your Mac won't boot after the Ventura update, resetting PRAM/NVRAM (hold down the Command + Option + P + R keys at startup) sometimes works.

If resetting NVRAM didn't solve the "MacBook not turning on after update" problem, try troubleshooting it in Safe Mode.

Boot your Mac into Safe Mode

If Mac won't restart after a macOS 13 or other updates, another possible reason could be that the login items, installed drivers, or third-party applications are not compatible with macOS 14 Sonoma yet. They interfere with the normal loading of the Mac operating system.

To solve the problem of when a Mac won't turn on after an update, you can boot the Mac into Safe mode to determine if there's any program that's not compatible with your updated macOS. Safe Mode will only launch some basic, necessary programs at startup, and then you can remove incompatible software that makes your Mac unbootable.

Make sense, right? Then let's dive into the details of fixing your Mac that is not turning on after an update.

To boot an Intel-based Mac into Safe Mode:

To boot an Apple M1 MacBook Pro or MacBook Air into Safe Mode: 

If you boot into Safe Mode successfully, you'll see Safe Boot in the top-right corner. At least that indicates that the macOS Sonoma update was completed. Then, the troublemaker that makes your Mac not start after an update should be incompatible third-party software.

However,  if your Mac won't start in Safe Mode or you want to figure out exactly which program is making your Mac unbootable, you need to reboot into Mac Verbose Mode. Verbose Mode allows you to see what's happening during macOS booting up via an active log.

To enter into Verbose Mode, you need to shut down your Mac and hold Command + V at startup. Then you'll see a live log report when your Mac is booting. Once you find out the culprit, rendering Mac not working after updating, you can simply uninstall the apps in Safe Mode.

Boot into macOS Recovery mode

If you can't boot into Safe Mode, your startup disk may have a corrupted APFS file system.

If this is the case, you can try to repair the hard drive with Disk Utility while booted into macOS Recovery mode. Read on to discover how to use First Aid to repair Mac disk and help macOS load from a working startup disk.

If your Mac still won't boot after running First Aid, you should reinstall macOS in macOS Recovery mode.

Simply return to the Disk Utilities window and choose Reinstall macOS. As an alternative, you can also boot your Mac from an external drive to reinstall the operating system.

If you don't want to install the update for now, you can restore your Mac to a previous state using an APFS snapshot through Time Machine. Just remember to always recover all necessary data before dramatically modifying your startup disk.

Ask the Apple repair store for help

If you have made it this far but still can't fix the MacBook not starting after update issue, your Mac might have some hidden hardware-level issues.

Professional knowledge and equipment are needed to check and repair hardware-related issues with an Apple computer. As an average user, you should take your Mac to a certified Apple repair shop or make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar.

Common Mac won't turn on after update issues

macOS updates are supposed to be easy and straightforward via Software Update or the Apple App Store, but a major macOS upgrade can cause serious problems due to varying hardware and software profiles on a given Mac computer.

1. Mac won't boot after macOS Tahoe/Sequoia/Sonoma/Ventura/macOS Monterey/Big Sur update

To reduce the risk of macOS installation failure, Apple temporarily (or for good) discontinued offering standalone delta or combo update files from macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 and requires all users to download the same installer for an update regardless of what version of macOS is running on the Mac.

macOS Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, and Big Sur update installers become large, so it requires more free space to download the update files. A full startup disk could jam the macOS reinstallation & loading, thus resulting in a Mac that won't turn on after the update.

2. Mac won't start up after macOS Catalina update

macOS Catalina update is the first Mac update that will automatically divide your hard drive into two volumes: the read-only Macintosh HD system volume and Macintosh HD - Data for saving your files.

If there is not enough free space for the update, you'll get an update failure and find that your MacBook does not start up fully afterwards. What's worse, you might see the Mac folder with a question mark at startup because the macOS Catalina update is not found.

In macOS Catalina, unauthorized applications are not allowed to access the Kernel resources. When you boot up, these programs will ask for resource permission constantly and thus cause your iMac to get stuck on the loading screen or the Apple logo.

3. Mac won't restart after macOS Mojave update

As you might know, Apple introduced the System Integrity Protection (SIP) feature as of OS X El Capitan.  If this feature was disabled before updating to macOS Mojave, it could result in the Mac not starting after the update.

For example, the Google software update on September 23, 2019, was shipped with a bug. This flaw damages the macOS file system on computers where System Integrity Protection is disabled. Many video professionals reported that their Macs crashed due to this.

So, think about it, if even Google can't avoid such unforeseen software conflicts, how about other third-party software developers? That's one of the reasons why many Mac users who disabled SIP previously ended up with a crashed Mac after installing macOS Mojave.

4. Mac won't boot after macOS High Sierra update

One of the major updates in macOS High Sierra is the introduction of the Apple File System (APFS). As a part of the upgrade process, the macOS High Sierra installer will automatically convert the SSD to the APFS file system.

Even though Apple claims that the conversion process is risk-free, many Mac users still encounter problems and disk corruption during the update.

When you boot up after an update, you will often find your Mac stuck on the login screen or experience the white screen of death on Mac.

Prevent the 'MacBook won't update' failure

Every time there is a new macOS update available, you'll receive a notification from the Software Update pane in System Preferences/Settings asking you to update your Mac. It reads "Do you want to restart to install these updates now or try tonight?" 

However, it's not safe to update directly from the Apple menu because you may receive an error message during the installation and experience a stalled macOS update or even lose important files.

In case your Mac won't boot after an update, you can take some steps to prepare before disaster strikes.

If your Mac won't update to Monterey but displays an error message, read macOS Monterey Update Problems and Fixes (roundup)

Conclusions

In most situations, you can resolve the boot problem by following a structured approach: recover important data first, check power and hardware connections, reset SMC or NVRAM, try starting in Safe Mode, and use macOS Recovery to repair the system.

If your Mac still fails to start after these steps, it may require professional diagnosis. You can contact Apple Support or visit an authorized repair center for further assistance. If your priority is retrieving important files, consider using a reliable data recovery tool before attempting additional system repairs.

Also read:

What to Do if Mac Won't Turn on or Boot after macOS Sequoia Update?

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