Apple macOS Sequoia 15.4 Beta Broke Docker (and Everything Else)

I've just reinstalled macOS on my Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max. Why did I reinstall macOS? Because I got suckered! I've been riding the macOS system betas for years now—rarely an issue. Before you comment, I'd bet you've had more issues riding mainstream—released—Windows and Linux distro updates than I have riding macOS betas. This time, however, I regret it!

I had a huge error. The new macOS beta broke Docker virtualization. I rebooted the machine after installing the update, and Docker started up on login. The error occurred, and the screen froze. This was a hard fault, a kernel panic, and I ended up in a reboot cycle until finally booting into macOS' Safe Mode. I managed to finally log in to macOS after disabling Docker in Safe Mode, but now I had no Docker capability! Unacceptable. I need Docker for literally everything I do. I was not prepared to wait for the next release, which may well be weeks or months out. And Apple, tediously, doesn't provide an easy way to roll back the upgrade.

So, I resigned myself to formatting the disk and reinstalling. I git pushed any in-progress code and made sure my Synology Drive app (which functions sort of like Dropbox's native operating system experience) had synchronized all files to my Synology NAS. Then, I booted into Safe Mode again and began the reset process. Except midway, the device just sort of reboots, and I get dumped into a horrific black screen with a grey exclamation mark and a link to Apple's support portal explaining how to do a Device Firmware Update. Ruh-roh.

Device Firmware Updates require you to connect the MacBook Pro via a USB-C to USB-C cable to another, healthy, MacBook Pro and attempt to sort of heal the broken laptop's firmware. Thank goodness I hadn't yet sold my old Apple MacBook Pro M3 device! The DFU process was sort of like an open-part surgery. Or a firmware transplant.

I did everything as directed, and it kicked off the process. Then, suddenly, bam, it rebooted. No idea why. This happened a few times.

Off to the Apple Store. Turns out they can't fix it, so of course, they take possession of my device and ship it off to the true Genius Bar at Apple HQ or something. Now I'm without my main laptop, and I've got 15 hours before I need to board a plane for Confoo in Montréal, Canada. So this led to a scramble to reset my old M3 and get it ready—which I did—and everything was basically fine.

But still: don't upgrade your macOS beta if you are a Docker enjoyer!