A new macOS update released last week is reportedly bricking older MacBook Pro laptops, according to a number of dissatisfied Apple customers.
Big Sur, which was first unveiled during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last June, is rendering some devices unresponsive, causing them to display a static black screen without any way of bypassing or resolving the issue.
The problem with Apple’s latest operating system update is said to be affecting mostly 13-inch MacBook Pros released between late 2013 and mid-2014, according to MacRumors. However, the models have been listed as compatible with the update.
Apple’s engineering team is reportedly aware of the issue and Big Sur has become a popular topic of discussion on the Apple Support forum, with users describing how their MacBooks are stuck on a black screen with keyboards “completely disabled”.
Apple is reportedly telling users to bring their laptops in for repair, according to a discussion on forum site Reddit. However, this might not be possible for many living in regions under government-imposed lockdowns, such as England.
This is not the only issue facing Big Sur. On 14 November, when the macOS update was released, Apple users reported server outages that caused iMessage and Apple Pay to go down and performance issues for users running macOS Catalina and earlier, according to 9to5Mac. The issue also caused Big Sur downloads and installations to fail, as well as security and privacy concerns.