How to Fix a Bricked Mac Prohibitory Symbol White Screen of Death
The prohibitory symbol is a sign of trouble on a Mac running Mac OS X or macOS. It is similar to a Sad Mac icon and the Chimes of Death in classic Mac OS, which signifies that the Mac is unable to boot normally.
Description[]
Mac OS X[]
In past versions of Mac OS X, the prohibitory sign appeared as a large gray circle with a diagonal line across the middle of it, on a lighter gray screen. Normal booting would display a gray Apple logo with a spinning animation of progress beneath it.
A screen indicating halted startup of macOS Catalina.
macOS[]
In recent versions of macOS, the prohibitory symbol appears as a light gray symbol on a black screen. Normal booting would display a white Apple logo with a progress bar underneath.
See also[]
External links[]
- If your Mac doesn't start up all the way at Apple Support (2022-05-17)
- iMac shows prohibitory symbol at Ask Different
- Resolve boot issues showing 'prohibitory' sign by Topher Kessler at CNET (2010-01-29)
- Managing a prohibitory sign at OS X bootup by Topher Kessler (2011-07-14)
- System Integrity Protection at Wikipedia