WARNING macOS Catalina 10.15.4 Supplemental Update BRICKED my 13 inch Macbook 2018!

[w1z]

That’s the issue. No other Mac in the house with USB c. Plus it’s a work MacBook Air so not really mine.

The MacBook Air would work as long as you have a usb-a to usb-c cable to connect to the mini. No harm will come to the MBA.

Worth a try if you really need to get your Mac mini working without having to expose yourself to unnecessary risk dealing with AppleCare during these tough times.

 

[HDFan]

Mind you I’ll not be installing any more updates until the Apple store is open.
Having no computer sucks when you are home 24/7.

If you have made a bootable backup disk using CCC or similar then if you have problems you can just restore things back. I have multiple backup disks available if I have any problems doing an update. Probably should have those backups anyway before upgrading.

 

[KPOM]

If you have made a bootable backup disk using CCC or similar then if you have problems you can just restore things back. I have multiple backup disks available if I have any problems doing an update. Probably should have those backups anyway before upgrading.

10.15.4 bricked my 12“ MacBook (not the supplemental update). It just keeps panicking right after boot up. Nothing works. Not Recovery, Internet Recovery, reinstalling from a bootable drive, or even placing in target disk mode and cloning from a working Mac. Fortunately, it’s a secondary Mac, so I sent it to an authorized service center. But it will be 2 weeks before they can even get to it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

If you have made a bootable backup disk using CCC or similar then if you have problems you can just restore things back. I have multiple backup disks available if I have any problems doing an update. Probably should have those backups anyway before upgrading.

I do have a TM back up here. My CCC back up is off site. Due to the lock down I can’t really get to it right now.
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The MacBook Air would work as long as you have a usb-a to usb-c cable to connect to the mini. No harm will come to the MBA.

Worth a try if you really need to get your Mac mini working without having to expose yourself to unnecessary risk dealing with AppleCare during these tough times.

Not sure if I do. I’ll go hunting through my drawers later. I take it a USB C adaptor connected to a USB A cable probably won’t work?

 

[rhinckley]

Anybody with a 16 inch Macbook Pro having issues? My Macbook Pro, while left unattended, will just randomly crash and when I come back and touch the keys it reboots. Nord VPN also seems to be broken.

 

[w1z]

I do have a TM back up here. My CCC back up is off site. Due to the lock down I can’t really get to it right now.
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Not sure if I do. I’ll go hunting through my drawers later. I take it a USB C adaptor connected to a USB A cable probably won’t work?

I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work if you can use the same cable setup (usb-c adaptor + usb-a cable) for transferring data and power (requirement for DFU operations)

 

[Bo6340]

Haven’t talked with Apple’s help team since 2004—today we spent 2 hours on the phone—we tried every method to get my bricked 2018 15” MacBook Pro to boot. Hopefully this issue is a small epidemic and not a pandemic; the MBP became unresponsive today while updating to 10.15.4. The last thing I saw before the MBP went quiet and the screen went black was, “about 14 minutes remaining”. Apple Help quoted $815 to ship it to them for a diagnostic and repair. I explained it was working perfectly well before the update—CSR elevated it to a senior who is starting with a new charger and cable. I explained several times that I charge it from two LG UltraFine 5k usb-c displays.

**Update**

Revived the MPB 2018 15" using the "Revive the firmware on the Apple T2 Chip" with the Apple Configurator 2 which can be downloaded from the App store. The method I used was: connect the bricked MBP to an iMac via USB-C cable and followed the instructions on the link below under the section, "Revive the firmware on the Apple T2 Chip".

Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator 2

In rare circumstances, Apple computers may become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived.

support.apple.com

 

[hallux]

Does this seem to be an issue only impacting machines with the T2 chip? I have a 2012 Mini and a 2012 MBP and have been holding on doing the update to both because of this thread.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I installed it on my 2012 MBP and it was smooth sailing.

 

[5097842]

Anybody with a 16 inch Macbook Pro having issues? My Macbook Pro, while left unattended, will just randomly crash and when I come back and touch the keys it reboots. Nord VPN also seems to be broken.

I have the 16” MBP - the update went fine, though I continue to have kernel panics when the MPB is in sleep. When I open the lid, I get a message that the computer has restarted because of an error - the same issue I was having before the update

I may try another clean install of the OS from scratch, just because I have the time due to the stay at home order, and also because I have a spare Mac Air still on Mojave. At this point I wish I could install Mojave on the 16“ MBP.

 

[rhinckley]

I have the 16” MBP - the update went fine, though I continue to have kernel panics when the MPB is in sleep. When I open the lid, I get a message that the computer has restarted because of an error - the same issue I was having before the update

I may try another clean install of the OS from scratch, just because I have the time due to the stay at home order, and also because I have a spare Mac Air still on Mojave. At this point I wish I could install Mojave on the 16“ MBP.

What you're describing sounds very similar to what I've been having. I wish I could have Mojave on it as well haha. If you do happen to restore your MBP and it seems to fix the problem, please let me know!

 

[CerberusVsKitty]

Same here:MBP 2018 13-inch-touchbar.
No power at all.
for the record this is my second time.
last time cost me over 500 bucks to replace the logic board.

 

[CerberusVsKitty]

**Update**

After I restored it by using Apple Configurator2, the MBP is alive.

But I lost all my data.

and for the record, in the Apple Configurator2, there are 2 choices:

• Actions > Advanced > Revive Device = Reinstall BridgeOS Only
• Actions > Restore = Reinstall BridgeOS & ERASE OS AND USER DATA!

Revive Device did not work for me.



It seems the problem is the T2 Chip.

 

[hallux]

A note for the future - back up to TM BEFORE doing an OS update...

 

[ike185]

A note for the future - back up to TM BEFORE doing an OS update...

Yep. I agree. I make sure I do that these days more than ever as  updates are not as they used to be. It worked well on my 2017 iMac 4K but my MacBook Air 2013 refuses to update to 10.5.4 after 4 tries. I'll just leave it then till a new update comes out and as before, backup before updating.

 

[Plutonius]

One issue that many people (along with myself) is guilty of during an update is being impatient.

Often (usually during a firmware update), the screen will go dark and the computer will seem unresponsive.

Never do a forced restart of the computer during an update but instead just wait (sometimes it takes a long time).

When I do an update now, I also turn off the display sleep timer.

 

[Apple fanboy]

One issue that many people (along with myself) is guilty of during an update is being impatient.

Often (usually during a firmware update), the screen will go dark and the computer will seem unresponsive.

Never do a forced restart of the computer during an update but instead just wait (sometimes it takes a long time).

When I do an update now, I also turn off the display sleep timer.

Mine was over an hour. Could it have taken even longer?

 

[skardvin]

One issue that many people (along with myself) is guilty of during an update is being impatient.

Often (usually during a firmware update), the screen will go dark and the computer will seem unresponsive.

Never do a forced restart of the computer during an update but instead just wait (sometimes it takes a long time).

When I do an update now, I also turn off the display sleep timer.

I waited 2 hours before attempting to turn on my computer.

 

[hongkonghk]

the update bricked my late 2018 Mac mini. Apple store saying main board needs replacing, just 2 months out of date On warranty.....

any further thoughts on this topic?
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Haven’t talked with Apple’s help team since 2004—today we spent 2 hours on the phone—we tried every method to get my bricked 2018 15” MacBook Pro to boot. Hopefully this issue is a small epidemic and not a pandemic; the MBP became unresponsive today while updating to 10.15.4. The last thing I saw before the MBP went quiet and the screen went black was, “about 14 minutes remaining”. Apple Help quoted $815 to ship it to them for a diagnostic and repair. I explained it was working perfectly well before the update—CSR elevated it to a senior who is starting with a new charger and cable. I explained several times that I charge it from two LG UltraFine 5k usb-c displays.

Any luck on resolving this?

 

[Macbookprodude]

Pardon my ignorance, how can an update destroy a system ? If this T2 is what cause it, then get rid of it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

the update bricked my late 2018 Mac mini. Apple store saying main board needs replacing, just 2 months out of date On warranty.....

any further thoughts on this topic?
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Any luck on resolving this?

Same issue here. Mine was under AppleCare so is currently on its way to the repair centre.
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Pardon my ignorance, how can an update destroy a system ? If this T2 is what cause it, then get rid of it.

The T2 chip? You mean Apple? It’s not a user swappable component.

 

[sk8andmetal]

i made the 10.15.4 supplemental upgrade on the 3 apple computers I have here.
on the Mac mini 2011 > no issue
on wife mba 2016 > no issue
on my rmbp late 14 > upgrade went OK, reboot too but after one or two hours, got disconnected randomly from wireless. to the point few hours later that I was not able to associate the computer to wireless network anymore.i've tried to reset SMC and such no luck, same in repair mode. so I did a backup and reinstalled with 10.15.4 and no more issues. took me 1 day overall to solve ... First time for me to face apple software issue in 15 years :/

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

Pardon my ignorance, how can an update destroy a system ? If this T2 is what cause it, then get rid of it.

The T2 chip is run by software called BridgeOS. With each Apple Combo & Security Update this software is updated. If this update goes wrong, it can prevent your Mac from booting. This is exactly what happened to the users in this thread.

I wrote an article on it last night explaining the issue, I also talk about how you can revive the Mac by reinstalling BridgeOS.

10.15.4 Supplemental Update Bricking Small Number of T2 Macs

After installing the 10.15.4 Supplemental Update, a small number of users are reporting their T2 Macs are bricked. Only a DFU BridgeOS Restore will fix it!

mrmacintosh.com

 

[ca$hout]

anyway to block this update or stop it from showing up in system update? my 13 inch mBP 2018 is out of warranty and only just got it back for a keyboard replacement.

 

[hongkonghk]

The T2 chip is run by software called BridgeOS. With each Apple Combo & Security Update this software is updated. If this update goes wrong, it can prevent your Mac from booting. This is exactly what happened to the users in this thread.

I wrote an article on it last night explaining the issue, I also talk about how you can revive the Mac by reinstalling BridgeOS.

10.15.4 Supplemental Update Bricking Small Number of T2 Macs

After installing the 10.15.4 Supplemental Update, a small number of users are reporting their T2 Macs are bricked. Only a DFU BridgeOS Restore will fix it!

mrmacintosh.com

The Apple store said they tried to restore it already when I took it in but without luck. I still have a bricked Macmini.... worth trying myself at home?