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If Zoom is crashing your Mac

Hi everyone,


I recently updated my 2019 Macbook Pro to 10.14.6 and since then every time I use my video camera (FaceTime, MS Teams, Zoom, etct) the OS crashes or just the machine hangs.

I even re-installed macOS twice and the issue now continues! My first macOS reinstall I used Time Machine to recover apps and my files - that didn't work. The second macOS reinstall I didn't use Time Machine, my laptop crashed within an hour of using FaceTime or any app that uses the video camera.

I even reset SMC and this didn't help either.


I'm considering bringing my laptop to the Apple Store and have them replace it - the laptop is not even two months old.


Any suggestions?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Aug 9, 2019 9:41 AM

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Posted on Aug 13, 2019 11:39 AM

Well, I took my laptop to my closest Apple Store and let me tell you that I'm somewhat disappointed.


First, they were quick to blame a 'third party' application when there were no applications loaded on my laptop as I left it as a 'clean' install with no apps other than whatever is bundled from Apple. On their technical forums (as they refuse to look at these or read these notes as I politely asked them to) there's no mention of issues reported other than Skype and the camera after update 10.14.6 - so they kept insisting that the issue was Skype! I told them there is no Skype app installed!


Second, this is a month old laptop with Apple Care and after two complete MacOS re-install they're not allowed to replace the laptop as it may be a software issue. Finally they stopped chanting 'third party' application issue. The store manager was pleasant to speak to but when I was dealing with the floor technician I believe he took offense on how knowledgeable I was and I wasn't buying his bs comments and explanations. I also challenged him on several of his comments and he seemed to get annoyed at that.


Finally the laptop crashed after 15 minutes of FaceTime use!


They're keeping the laptop for repairs and will keep it for at least a week.


I guess I have to follow the same mantra I used to follow with Windows updates - wait at least two months before upgrading.


242 replies

Aug 28, 2019 9:56 AM in response to bryantp93

We already did a full wipe and re-install on an affected 2018 a few weeks ago, but to humor your Apple support person's suggestion, today I rebooted into Recovery mode and reinstalled Mojave (an "in-place" reinstall as suggested), and it crashes just like before after an additional restart. It didn't crash in 2-3 minutes with the first test post-reinstall, but I remembered a previous trial worked once but then not after a restart, so I restarted it, logged in, and joined the Zoom meeting again, froze and restarted within 30 seconds, exactly like before.


Can anyone else with a repeatable crash in Zoom try plugging in an external webcam as I mentioned above and joining a meeting, but still just using the the built-in Facetime camera? As I described, that was the most odd thing about this: I didn't even have to utilize the external webcam, just having it plugged in seemed to "fix" the crash issue. I suppose it might do the same for those using Facetime, etc. I would love to hear your results.


Thanks

Aug 29, 2019 12:38 AM in response to edgonz305

Zoom and other video chat applications started to consistently crash for me last week (around 8/20/2019).


Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i9

Processor Speed: 2.9 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 6

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 12 MB

Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled

Memory: 32 GB

Boot ROM Version: 220.270.99.0.0 (iBridge: 16.16.6568.0.0,0)

Aug 29, 2019 8:29 AM in response to subash873

I've had a ticket open with Zoom for a few months for an "early adopter" laptop with this problem, and it does seem to be a problem with the 2018-19 MacBook Pros with the T2 chip and its interaction with the built-in "Facetime HD" webcam. It's happening with many different video meeting apps (including Facetime) now for different people, so I think Zoom is right to send this ball to Apple's court. Letting Apple blame other app vendors has only prolonged the problem.

If anyone is still being told by Apple that this is a problem with Zoom or other vendor, I'd be interested to know.

Aug 29, 2019 4:26 PM in response to edgonz305

Not sure if this will help anyone, but if I run a Windows Fusion VM with Skype in that VM the problem does not occur using integrated camera. This is not a solution for everyone, but for me it works better than using an external camera.


Recently upgraded from a 2016 MBP to new 2019 i9 so this is very disappointing to have to rely on Windows to get something pretty fundamental to work on a very expensive new laptop.

Aug 29, 2019 9:33 PM in response to edgonz305

Update: I got my machine to stop crashing during zoom meetings by adjust the energy saving setting in system preferences. I changed the sleep time, turned off put hard drive to sleep when possible (or something to that effect) and I now move the mouse around a bit ever so often. No crashes since this change. Sucky workaround but it works!

Aug 30, 2019 7:50 PM in response to edgonz305

This is happening to my Macbook Pro 2018 10.14.6 as well. It only happens when using my laptop camera. When I plug my laptop into my apple monitor and use the camera there I have not crashes. I feel like this was working before a few upgrades ago but I do use my monitor and not the laptop camera much. I'll google how to test me camera and see if anything weird comes up.

Sep 3, 2019 1:08 PM in response to Th_Helga

Thorbjorg Helga--there is nothing to be done with your computer until Apple releases a fix--probably not until Catalina is released. The only work-around that I and others have found is to use a blue tooth external video camera, as per the YouTube advice here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Icp8ljJ_No


I am now using an external camera and have had no crashes since. But it is a super pain that a new MacBook Pro's camera has become unusable! Be that as it may, don't waste your time or money erasing and reinstalling OS. It won't fix the issue. A $20 external camera is much less hassle and eliminates the crashes.

Sep 5, 2019 8:50 AM in response to edgonz305

I am having the same problem since this update........


I have now found a trend that it is crashing any time i am using video conference on Zoom, Slack or Google Hangout.


Google Hangout is on the chrome browser

Slack is the App

Zoom is the App


I had no problems with this till the update and my computer has crashed during ever conference call - already 4 times today

If Zoom is crashing your Mac

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