macOS 12.4 update broke charging on some MacBooks, but there're a few workarounds

Released in October last year, macOS 12 Monterey is Apple’s latest stable operating system for Macintosh computers. It also introduced several new features such as Shortcuts and TestFlight among others.

But macOS is far from perfect with bugs and glitches like slow internet speed, disconnecting from Wi-Fi and second monitor showing ‘no signal output’ error message after the macOS 12.3 update troubling many.

That said, Apple released macOS 12.4 update in May this year with official support for the long-awaited Universal Control feature.

However, recent reports from those who upgraded to macOS 12.4 Monterey suggest the update broke charging function for some. Users are angry with Apple since they cannot access their machine because it isn’t charging.

Many tried switching to different adapters and turning off Optimized battery charging but that didn’t work either.

After upgrading my M1 mbpro to macOS 12.4, my Dell U4021QW not connecting via Thunderbolt. All was working great before this morning upgrade to 12.4 – now my M1 mac is not charging from dell’s thunderbolt anymore and not reacting to it at all, no display, no charge. All was working nicely just an hour ago on 12.3.1 and all continues to work nicely with via thunderbolt on my older mac with Big Sur 11.6.4. Should be something related solely to 12.4 upgrade.
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This is with a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021). I had the machine since January. No problems until this week – possibly starting right after I upgraded to macOS 12.4. Here’s the problem. My MacBook sporadically loses the ability to use the power adapter. I would be using a power source (via MagSafe3 or usb-c), but the outside power source is not recognized. This has happened now 4 times in the past week. Has anyone else had this problem? Before this, I often went weeks (possibly even over a month) without rebooting. Now, I’m having to reboot every day or every other day.
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Unfortunately, Apple is yet to officially comment on the matter where macOS 12.4 update broke charging. But luckily we stumbled across some workarounds that might help fix the problem for some.

The first one is pretty simple and requires users to reboot their MacBooks since it is reportedly working for many.

+1. This happens to me every time since 12.4. After a restart, if I plug it in, it charges just fine – but if I then unplug my Macbook, it won’t charge anymore unless I restart it.
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The second workaround involves resetting the SMC which you do by simply removing the battery.

In case you have a MacBook with a non-removable battery, shut down your machine, hold the “Shift+Control+Option” combo and the power button. Keep pressing the buttons for ten seconds, plug in the power, and turn on the machine.

If nothing works, try charging the MacBook in safe mode to see if any third-party app is drawing excessive power and preventing the device from charging.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple macOS section so be sure to follow them as well.

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