macOS 11.3 bricked my M1 Air

[xk991]

You could try booting from a USB installer. Use DU to completely erase the internal drive (normally a very bad thing to do, and forcing the use of Configurator) but in your case it might prepare the internal drive such that Configurator could work.

At this stage I don't think you have anything to lose by trying this.

EDIT you would have to create the USB installer on another Mac if you dont have one, but you can do this on an Intel Mac.

Thanks for the suggestion! I cannot boot into recovery so I can’t choose to boot from an external drive. I do have a USB installer so tried booting with it inserted but no luck.

Attempting to boot from the other recovery system with a double press and hold of the power button doesn’t work either.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Thanks for the suggestion! I cannot boot into recovery so I can’t choose to boot from an external drive. I do have a USB installer so tried booting with it inserted but no luck.

Attempting to boot from the other recovery system with a double press and hold of the power button doesn’t work either.

You don't need to boot into Recovery to boot an external. After pressing and holding the power button to load Startup options, you should see all start up options ie all bootable drives, including the USB installer and a Settings icon. At that stage chose the USB Installer. You are not in Recovery yet.

To get to to Recovery you would select the Settings icon, and it reboots to Recovery.

 

[xk991]

You don't need to boot into Recovery to boot an external. After pressing and holding the power button to load Startup options, you should see all start up options ie all bootable drives, including the USB installer and a Settings icon. At that stage chose the USB Installer. You are not in Recovery yet.

To get to to Recovery you would select the Settings icon, and it reboots to Recovery.

Thanks! Couldn‘t get into startup options either, said loading then continued the reboot loop.

 

[xk991]

Took the machine to the Apple store and they confirmed that DFU restore doesn’t work and that it needs a logic board replacement which will take about 5 days.

Apple store couldn’t offer a replacement device due to stock levels, or so they said. Were nice enough to suggest buying a new one and returning within the 14 day window so that’s what I did.

 

[Mike Boreham]

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[Mike Boreham]

Took the machine to the Apple store and they confirmed that DFU restore doesn’t work and that it needs a logic board replacement which will take about 5 days.

Apple store couldn’t offer a replacement device due to stock levels, or so they said. Were nice enough to suggest buying a new one and returning within the 14 day window so that’s what I did.

Glad it has worked out and a definite fault confirmed. Sounds like the fault had existed before 11.3 since you had trouble with 11.2 as well.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Took the machine to the Apple store and they confirmed that DFU restore doesn’t work and that it needs a logic board replacement which will take about 5 days.

Apple store couldn’t offer a replacement device due to stock levels, or so they said. Were nice enough to suggest buying a new one and returning within the 14 day window so that’s what I did.

Glad to read Apple got you going with a machine. Good on them for offering to do a quick return. Great customer service is one of the reasons I stay with Apple.

 

[curdy]

Have you tried this?

Exclamation at startup on M1 Macbook Air - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

1st comment on this page seems to corroborate a specific order of restoring is what is causing the error.

Restore macOS Firmware on an Apple Silicon M1 Mac + Boot to DFU Mode

Need to install macOS on an Apple Silicon Mac? I will show you how to boot into Boot to DFU Mode + Use Apple Configurator 2 to restore macOS!

mrmacintosh.com

This just saved me shipping my M1 Pro 14inch to Apple! Thank you!

 

[rajarsi]

Facing exact same issue as xk991 in my 2020 macbook air m1. Unable to even get to the recovery partition to try any of the other bootable option. Took it to an apple authorized service station (do not have an apple store near to my home). The feedback is same - need to change the logic board. As my laptop is out of warranty so it will cost me a fortune so checking if there are any other alternative before I go down that route. It seems more of a software issue than a hardware but apple support insist on changing the logic board. Any thoughts/ideas that I can try?