10 Fixes for Macbook Won’t Turn On after macOS Sonoma Update

If your MacBook Pro/Air won’t turn on after the macOS Sonoma 14 update, you can follow the 10 troubleshooting steps below to fix the issue.

1. Press the Power Button Again

Press the Power button again. Make sure to hold the Power button or Touch ID for about 10 seconds.

2. Check If Your MacBook Has Power

If your MacBook won't turn on by pressing the Power button, you can check its power connections.

Make sure the power cable of your Mac is well connected and your MacBook is charging correctly. If your MacBook’s battery is completely drained, let it charge for at least 30 minutes, and then try to turn on it again.

You can also change another power cable or adapter to charge your Mac to see if it works. If your Mac still doesn’t charge, you may change a new battery.

3. Disconnect All External Devices

You can unplug all external devices like USB drives, external hard drives, printers, etc. Then press the Power button again to see if your MacBook can boot. Sometimes faulty external accessories may prevent your MacBook Pro from turning on.

4. Perform a Force Restart

If your MacBook Pro won’t turn on after update, you can press and hold the Command + Control + Power buttons simultaneously for about 10 seconds to force restart Mac to see if it can turn on.

5. Check Your MacBook Display

If your MacBook can turn on but you see a black screen, you can check your display and press the F2 key to increase the display brightness. If you think your display has problems, you may bring it to the Apple repair store for assistance.

6. Reset SMC on Mac

If your MacBook won’t boot after macOS Sonoma update, you can reset SMC on your Mac to see if it helps. The SMC (System Management Controller) manages power on your Mac. You can reset it to fix issues related to power.

Press and hold the Control + Option + Shift keys for 7 seconds, and then press and hold the Power button as well. This will reset the SMC on Mac and your MacBook might turn on.

7. Reset NVRAM on Mac

If your MacBook Pro/Air is not turning on after update, you can reset NVRAM (non-volatile random-access memory) on your Mac to see if it helps.

Shut down your MacBook and press the Power button. As soon as you press the button, hold down the Option + Command + P + R keys. Keep holding them until you hear the startup chime for the second time and then release the keys.

8. Start Mac in Recovery Mode to Repair Mac Disk or Reinstall macOS

If your Mac starts up to a blank or black screen, you can try to start your Mac into recovery mode to repair the startup disk.

For Apple silicon Macs, press the Power button for about 10 seconds until you see the startup options window. Select Options and click Continue.

For Intel-based Macs, press the Power button, and then press and hold Command + R until you see an Apple logo to boot your Mac in recovery mode.

After you are in the macOS recovery window, you can select Disk Utility and click Continue. Select your Mac startup disk in Disk Utility and click First Aid to repair your startup disk.

If you want to reinstall your Mac OS, you can select Reinstall macOS Sonoma in the macOS recovery window.

9. Try to Start Your Mac in Safe Mode

If your MacBook Pro/Air won’t turn on after updating to Sonoma, you may try to perform a Safe Boot to see if it can successfully start.

For intel-powered Macs, press the Power button and immediately press the Shift key to start your Mac in Safe Mode.

For Apple silicon Macs, press and hold the Power button until you see the startup options screen. Choose the startup disk, press and hold the Shift key, and click Continue in Safe Mode.

If you can get into Safe Mode on your Mac, then you can diagnose and fix your Mac. For instance, you can uninstall apps, change startup items, update macOS, reinstall macOS, etc. to see if you can fix the MacBook startup issues.

10. Contact Apple Support

If your MacBook still can’t start up, you may contact Apple Support for more help.

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To keep your Mac running with the best performance, you may try BuhoCleaner.

BuhoCleaner is a professional Mac cleaner app that helps you clean your Mac and make your Mac run faster.

You can use this program to remove junk data, uninstall apps, find and delete large or duplicate files, manage startup items, analyze disk space, free up RAM, flush DNS, etc. on your Mac.

Bottom Line

If your MacBook won’t turn on after the macOS Sonoma update, you may follow the 10 troubleshooting steps in this post to see if they can help you fix the issue. Remember to back up your data regularly to prevent data loss in case of any hardware or software issues.

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