MacBook Stuck on Apple Logo

Macs are reliable and trustworthy, but like any computer, they’re prone to errors. It is a nightmare booting up your computer to get your Mac stuck on Apple logo.  

For iMacs, you may see the spinning wheel cursor or a frozen loading bar (you might not see either). MacBooks can experience the same, or they may shut down after being stuck at the logo. An Apple computer just staying on the Apple screen is a common frustration among users.

Experiencing a problem like this is alarming. But we’ve done the hard work for you. In this article, we’ll look at some potential causes and solutions if your Mac decides to start freezing at the Apple logo.

A note from our experts:

 

A common cause of a Mac freezing is unwanted junk, ads, and viruses. We recommend using MacKeeper’s Antivirus to carry out a full virus scan on your computer. It might solve the issue of your jammed Mac.

 

Here’s how to do this with MacKeeper:

1. Download MacKeeper and install the app.
2. Select Antivirus from the sidebar.
3. Click Start scan.
4. Wait for the scan to complete.
5. If MacKeeper locates any malware, select it, and click the Quarantine button.

Why Your Mac Is Stuck on The Apple Logo When Booting

To aid us in figuring out the issue at hand, we’ll get a quick understanding of what Mac does when it boots up.  

Every time a Mac powers on or restarts, it’ll check a series of hardware connections to be verified. It’ll then continue to check RAM, hard disk, GPU, CPU, etc. to ensure everything is running correctly.  

Your system will boot up as usual if your MacBook detects no issues. If errors are detected, you can encounter problems like being stuck on startup. In many cases, users find their Apple logo stuck on the screen with no clear explanation.

When installing or updating macOS software, you’ll find that your Macbook/Pro/iMac will stay on the loading screen quicker than the usual process. The loading bar is prone to pausing and can move slowly. Sometimes, you’ll see your MacBook stuck on Apple logo without loading bar, leaving no sign of progress. It’s a good idea to install OS before you go to bed or when you are not using your machine for a while. If the system encounters driver or compatibility issues during updates, the MacBook might stay on the Apple logo.

In conclusion, some causes of your Mac freezing are file corruption errors and system incompatibility issues. Sometimes it is caused by either lack of storage, memory, or hardware malfunctions.

12 Steps to fix Mac stuck on Apple Logo 

Here is how you can fix your Mac not booting past the Apple Logo:

1. Force Restart Your Mac
2. Boot in Safe Mode
3. Disconnect All Third-Party Accessories from your Mac
4. Reset PRAM/NVRAM
5. Reset SMC
6. Use Disk Utility To Repair The Startup Disk
7. Recover The System by APFS Snapshot
8. Boot In Single User Mode
9. Reselect The Startup Disk
10. Reinstall macOS
11. Clean Up Your Start Disk and RAM

Step 1. Force Restart Your Mac

On occasion, simply restarting your machine can be the solution to unfreeze your Mac. You should only force restart if you have no other option. But, in this case, it might be your only hope.

Force Restart by pressing the Power button until it completely shuts down. You can then hold down the Power button to see if your machine is running as usual.

If you have the same issue and your MacBook Pro won't boot past the Apple logo, try another potential solution and boot in Safe Mode.

Step 2. Boot in Safe Mode

Safe Mode can come in handy. When your Mac is in this setting, it allows it to be in a space without any interference from startup errors or hardware malfunctions. Being in this environment can eliminate some temporary failures.

To use Safe Mode on an Apple Silicon Mac:

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button. Release the button when you see Loading startup options.
3. Select a volume.
4. Press and hold Shift, and select Continue in Safe Mode.

Here’s how to boot in Safe Mode on Intel Mac:

1. Hold down the Power button until your Mac shuts down.
2. Wait ten seconds, then press the Power button and hold down Shift.
3. When you see the login screen, release the Shift key.

If you look to the top right side of the screen, you’ll see the red Safe Mode. You may have to enter your password. If you wish to install/update macOS, you can do that in Safe Mode without interference.

Step 3. Disconnect All Third-Party Accessories from Your Mac

Commonly, third-party accessories can also cause your MacBook to get stuck on the Apple logo. You should unplug all third-party accessories like a mouse, monitors, USB flash drives, etc. After doing this, you can boot your Mac to see if the MacBook is still showing the Apple logo but is not turning on.

Step 4. Reset PRAM/NVRAM

If your MacBook keeps freezing when booting up, it’s because of a startup-based issue. We’ll have a look at PRAM/NVRAM. It saves settings like the startup disk selection to ensure your Mac powers up efficiently. If your MacBook is only showing Apple logo during startup, it may be having trouble locating the correct disk.

Too many connections can result in the saved information going haywire, causing your MacBook to get stuck on the Apple screen and other problems when booting up. So it’s worth giving this a try.

Note: This is only for Intel Macs, and it won’t work with Apple Silicon models.

Reset PRAM/NVRAM like this:

1. Hold down the Power button until it turns off to Force Shut Down.
2. Press the Power button, followed by Option + Command P + R keys concurrently.
3. It will take 20 seconds to reset the PRAM/NVRAM then you can boot your machine up again.

If you still encounter the same issue, we’ll have a look at resetting the SMC.

Step 5. Reset SMC

SMC, short for System Management Controller, is accountable for many core system functions within your Mac like power, battery, fans, sensors and charging. So it can be vital to reset the SMC if your MacBook is frozen on Apple logo during startup or iMac won’t boot up.  

FYI - If you’re using an M1 Mac, there is no SMC. Proceed to step 6.

Here is how to reset SMC:

1. Hold down the Power button to force turn off your Mac.
2. For 7 seconds hold down the Command + Shift + Control keys.
3. Now, hold down the Power button also and hold the other keys for a further 7 seconds.
4. Wait a few seconds and then try to reboot.

Note: If your Mac uses a removable battery like an iMac or a Mac mini, resetting the SMC can be slightly different.

Step 6. Use Disk Utility to Repair The Startup Disk

Disk Utility is a tool used to repair the startup disk. It can be a resolution for a startup-based problem. If you can’t get into macOS, you can run Disk Utility in Recovery Mode rather than accessing it through the Finder.

Enter Recovery Mode on an Intel Mac:

1. Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold Cmd+R until you see the startup screen.
2. If needed, enter your password.
3. You’ll now see macOS Utility in the macOS Recovery Mode screen.

On an Apple Silicon, get into Recovery Mode like this:

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button until the Options button appears. Click the Options button.
3. Select your system volume and click Next.
4. Choose an admin account and click Next.
5. Enter your login details and click Continue.

Now you can use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk:

1. From the list, select Disk Utility in macOS Utility.
2. Select which disk you want to fix.
3. Select the First Aid button at the top of the page then the disk process will start.
4. First Aid can highlight and resolve errors in the disk. Bear in mind this process can be lengthy.

When it’s complete, start up your Mac and see if you have the same occurrence. If so, proceed to recover the system by APFS snapshot.

Step 7. Recover The System by APFS Snapshot

In some cases, changing macOS can cause your machine to run into issues. So, downgrading your macOS software can be a lifesaver. If your model runs Ventura, Big Sur, Catalina, High Sierra and Mojave, you have a good shot at restoring your machine to a previous version of the OS.  

A note from our team: the Time Machine has to be on and the hard disk connected for the process to be effective.

Here is how you recover the system using APFS Snapshot:

1. In the Menu bar, select the Time Machine icon. If you can’t see the Time Machine icon, you can add it to the menu bar by entering System Settings and selecting Time Machine, then clicking “Show Time Machine in Menu Bar”.
2. You’ll now see a list of local snapshots and backups in the timeline. Select one of the latest snapshots.
3. Proceed to follow the instructions to downgrade your OS.

This procedure can take some time. After completion, wait a few seconds and boot up your machine. You may notice that your MacBook keeps restarting after the Apple logo if it fails to load the operating system correctly. If the issue is still prominent, we will run Apple Diagnostics for any hardware failures.

Step 8. Run Apple Diagnostics

Formely known as Apple Hardware Test, Apple Diagnostics will check your Mac for hardware-related problems.

Here’s how we use Apple Diagnostics on an Apple Silicon Mac:

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button. Keep it held until you see the startup options.
3. Press and hold Cmd+D.
4. Wait for Apple Diagnostics to finish.
5. Check the results and note down any reference codes.

To get into Apple Diagnostics on an Intel Mac, do as follows:

1. Turn off your Mac, then turn it back on.
2. Immediately press and hold the D key.
3. Release the D key when you see a progress bar or if you’re asked to choose a language.
4. If this didn’t work, press Opt+D instead.
5. Run through the Apple Diagnostics scan and note down the results.

Step 9. Boot in Single User Mode

When you use Single User Mode it carries out maintenance and troubleshooting tasks. By booting up as a single user it requires the minimum resources giving use to a single user in a multi-user network.  

If you’re using an Intel-based Mac with a T2 Security chip, you’ll need to change to Full Security in the Startup Security Utility in Mac Recovery Mode.

Here is how to boot in Single User Mode:

1. Restart/Start your Mac and hold down the Command + S key.
2. Continue to hold down the Command + S key until you see white text, which means Single User Mode is loading.
3. Enter the admin password if required.

Step 10. Reselect The Startup Disk

As we’ve covered earlier, this is a start-up-based issue, so reselecting the startup disk can be the solution to your Mac being stuck at the Apple logo. This process can fix potential errors occurring in the startup disk.

Here’s how to reselect the startup disk:

1. Go to System Settings and select General > Startup Disk.
2. Select your available Startup Disk, then click Restart.
3. After your Mac has restarted, you’ll have successfully reselected the Startup Disk.

Step 11. Reinstall macOS

It’s advised to reinstall macOS when your machine is experiencing a serious issue. If your Mac is still stuck on the startup after all of these steps, it’s best to reinstall macOS.

Here’s how you reinstall macOS:

1. Put your Mac in Recovery Mode.
2. Select Reinstall macOS.
3. The installer may ask you to choose between Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data, select Macintosh HD.
4. Leave your Mac to complete installation by not putting it to sleep or shutting the lid.
5. Your machine might restart and show progress bars periodically.

When it’s complete, your Mac might restart to the Setup Assistant. If not, boot your Mac and proceed to follow the instructions to set up the reinstalled macOS.

Step 12. Clean Up Your Start Disk and RAM

Unwanted junk and unnecessary files can cause interruptions in your performance, and it can cause your startup disk to overload. Running MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup won’t only free up space on your disk, it’ll help your Mac to run at top performance.  

Here’s how you run Safe Cleanup:

1. Open Mackeeper and select Safe Cleanup then choose Start Scan.
2. After the scan, you’ll see the following categories:
   • Logs
   • Caches
   • Trash
   • Languages
   • Mail Attachments.
3. Select Clean Junk Files.

Now your startup disk is free of unnecessary files and junk, let’s see how we can clean your RAM with Memory Cleaner.

Here’s how you run Memory Cleaner:

1. Open MacKeeper, and select Memory Cleaner from the sidebar. Here you’ll see the overview of your Mac's memory, where you have the opportunity to clean your memory. Under Memory Usage and Apps and Processes, you can find the details of the cleanup.
2. Select Clean Memory at the bottom to quickly free up space.

In the two categories under Memory Cleaner, you can check further details. First, we’ll have a look at Memory Usage.

1. Select Memory Usage from the two categories.
2. Review your memory usage then select Clean Memory.

Now, we’ll check Apps & Processes.

1. Select Apps & Processes.
2. You’ll see a list of active processes that your Mac is currently running. By default, the list will include the most memory consuming processes.

If you choose the nine-dot button in the top right and choose Sort By you can change the order of these processes. You can also choose Ascending or Descending order.

Use this category to eliminate any needless processes your Mac is running.

Quitting one of these processes through Memory Cleaner works the same as force quitting an app through macOS. Remember, before quitting anything running like Word or Photos, make sure you’ve saved your progress.

1. Select the process you’d like to quit and hover your mouse to the right of the storage.
2. Click the Cross button and select Quit on the pop-up menu.

What To Do if You’ve Unexpectedly Lost Data

It’s easy to lose files. Whether they were deleted by accident or lost, there are a couple of ways you can get your data back. Unless your data has been overridden, it is possible to recover it.

Here are some options if you’ve unexpectedly lost data:

1. Recover files from the Trash

It could just be that the files are hiding away in the trash folder. (Files only stay there for up to 30 days).

1. Select the Trash icon on the far right of the menu bar.
2. Right-click on the desired file and select “Put Back” to restore your deleted file.

2. Recover using Time Machine

If you have Time Machine on and the backup disk connected, you have the option to retrieve deleted/lost data here.

1. Go to System Preferences and select Time Machine.
2. Click Restore on the deleted file.

Fixing the Mac stuck on Apple logo problem easily

We’ve covered many potential solutions to your Macbook/Pro/iMac freezing at the Apple logo. Alongside providing you with some handy third-party tools to recover your data.  

If the problem persists, it could be worth sending your Mac to a technician. Schedule a visit or send your Mac in for fixing. Alternatively, you can use a support line such as MacKeeper’s Premium Services. They can give you further professional assistance.