Last week I got the new 16" MacBook Pro and most things are working well. I get to work this morning and plug it into my dock with my 24" 4k screens (2) and it works fine until I close the computer for clamshell mode. It freezes then. I can move the mouse but nothing responds including the MBP when opened back up.
Anyone else having this?
I have run into a similar situation. I don't use clamshell mode, I leave the laptop open. I woke up each morning to a machine shut down.
I spent the day yesterday trying to track it down and for me it appears to be the display port. I can recreate the issue by putting the displays to sleep (using a hot corner) and then coming back after 30 mins (I haven't tried shorter times, but 30 mins reliably reproduces the issue).
If I don't use the display port on the TS3 things seem to go ok and the machine will still be up after 30 mins. If I use the same display through an HDMI cable and HDMI to thunderbolt adapter it also works fine (although is only 30hz instead of 60hz).
The image through the display port looks great, I can get the full 4k@60hz while using it. It only appears to cause problems after it is asleep for a while. I just ordered an individual display port to thunderbolt 3 adapter that should be here tomorrow to see if I bypass the TS3 if things are ok, or if it is a general display port issue. Will report back after I can test that.
I have a similar issue. I have a Samsung 28" UHD monitor connected via a TB3 cable to the CalDigit TS3+ dock to my new MacBook Pro 16". From a fresh boot- everything works great. After the Mac sleeps, it either reboots or the screen looks like something from The Matrix (garbled). Unplug the dock and the Mac's built-in display looks normal again. Plug the dock back in and it's back to a garbled mess. In this state; however, unpluging the display from the dock and plugging it directly into one of the Mac's other TB3 ports yields the same issue. The only thing that seems to fix the issue is a reboot. For grins, I plugged the external display directly into the Mac and completely disconnected the TS3+ and the issue seems to recur. This makes me think that the issue is not with the dock but with the display driver in the MBP16/Catalina.
Regardless, everything works great on a fresh reboot but as soon as the Mac goes to the sleep, I might as well just force a power off/reboot cycle .... every time.
FWIW, I set up my new MBP16 by using a Time Machine backup from my prior MBP15 (circa Mid-2014) that was also running Catalina at the time the last backup was made. Perhaps something came over from the backup and it's not really a hardware issue? Then again, the MBP16 is very new, so I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a driver issue.
Last night, I tested one of the settings in the system preferences energy savings dialog and it worked. My 16" MBP did not crash and lock up. I turned on the "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off" preference. This in not very energy friendly, but it works. I hope it helps.
Did anybody have success with 10.15.3 and the CalDigit TS3+
I have not tested the final release of 10.15.3 yet
I purchased a new CalDigit TS3+ from Apple just to see if it would make any difference and it did not. I did update the firmware on both of mine and it also made no difference.
I bought another screen just so I could have two of the exact same screens to see if it would help. It did not.
I did try more tests and I found that if I only have 1 screen connected, clamshell mode worked fine. It did not matter which port I connected to (USB C or Display port), neither had problems. It's only when two screens were connected that it couldn't figure out what to do and crashed going into clamshell mode.
I brought a DisplayPort to TB3 cable home from work. When I plugged it directly into the mac, it worked ok. When I put it into the CalDigit, it continued to have issues. This leads me to believe that it is the CalDigit so I requested a replacement which will be here tomorrow and the test will continue.
Are you using the Caldigit TS3+ to connect your screens?
The matter we are having is that the computer is completely frozen and must be restarted (or it restarts on its own) when connected to the the TS3+ and in clamshell mode.
The issue you may be having, and I've seen this on the Mac Mini, is the refresh rates between the computer and the screens are not syncing.
If that sounds similar try changing the sync resolutions in the display panel or use an app like Display Menu to adjust resolutions and refresh. It works very well and made the mac mini appear to be very smooth on animation and video.
My call with Apple will be Thursday night.
CalDigit support got back with me and said
According to the logs you have provided, it appears that the crashes were a result of a conflict in Apple’s GPU drivers. Our team has reached out to Apple regarding this issue. At this time, we will continue to test this on our end and keep you apprised with any further developments.
The saga continues!
There is a January update to the Caldigit firmware if you go to the support website. It did not fix my problem but at least now it's up to date.
My two issues are a little different. The first, which I have mentioned is that it just locks the computer up. I can see the mouse moving but does not effect anything on the screen as the computer is froze. This is true even when disconnecting the thunderbolt cable.
The second issue which I didn't mention is that when I do plug in (screen open) from the CalDigit to the 16" MBP about half the time the screen will constantly switch from connected to disconnected to switching resolutions between each time. It will not resolve itself even if I just leave it for a long time. I unplug, reboot, plug in and then it will work, of course, not in clamshell mode.
While it was switching and not froze I was able to get the command in for the sysdiagnose which also gave me a screen report to send.
I recommend anybody who sees this thread to open up feedback and send in reports - as many as you can - to Apple so we can get this fixed sooner rather than later. i would like to see this fixed before 10.15.2 comes out as this is a major BUG with the new 16" MBP. It may be the video drivers or the OS but either way, we NEED a fix.
I also have a similar issue. My use case is slightly different, I have two CalDigit TS3+'s going to 4x4k displays. I plug 2 monitors into each CalDigit and 1 cable into each side of my MBP. The MBP is in clamshell mode. I was using this setup with my last generation MBP and it was ok. When I got the 16", I also upgraded to Catalina on both the old and the new. I experienced these issues then with both laptops, so I believe its related to the Catalina and not the hardware.
In my case, when I plug in the first Cal-digit, I hear a beep and my USB accessories come to life. When I plug in the second I hear nothing. I'm not sure if that's because its already failed or the second one has an impact. As with others, the laptop was sleeping when I connected it. In my case, the screens flash for a while (like they are trying to initialize) and eventually it reboots with mixed results.
In one instance, the computer booted into password recovery. I choose the startup disk but instead of rebooting, I just plugged in the Cal-Digits again. The computer hard locked, right in the recovery OS.
I am running the latest firmware for the TS3+ and I just updated to 10.15.2.
I am also having this issue on new 16" when connecting directly to Dell 27" 4K (P2715Q) using either of 2 USB-C to display port cables. I use external dell in addition to the built in one and it works perfectly after initial boot. However, once laptop sleeps and is awoken again, the both built in and external keep flashing like they are constantly changing resolution. If I unplug the usb-c to display port cable I can use the built in monitor.
Typically I have to reboot, though one time I have had luck plugging it in and out to different ports and it finally worked without reboot. One of the cables this happens with is a brand new QGeeM USB C to Displayport Cable, 4ft 4K@60HZ Thunderbolt 3 to Displayport Cable.
I also tried clamshell once and the computer froze with a glitched screen and rebooted after about 20 seconds.
This monitor worked just fine on my 15" running Mojave using same cables. I did restore this 16" from time machine backup of the 15" FWIW.
Really hope this is a fixable MAC OS issue!
Thanks
I received the new CalDigit TS3+ and the issue continues. I've sent a support request to CalDigit and will see what they say. Since the dock doesn't appear to have firmware to update (don't see any listed anywhere anyway) I don't know what will be able to tell me.
Fair point @brycesteiner that it could even be a Catalina problem but no good way to tell which is the culprit.
I kinda had a feeling that it was in the display drivers as my unit's issue seemed unrelated to the dock and was only reproducible when my external UHD display was connected (to either the dock or directly to the MBP16).
You are running into the same problem we all are. The 16 inch MacBook Pro really is a power user computer. But the problems that it has with docks and other devices make you question whether it is really worth it or not.
The more people we can get to report the problem, the faster I believe it will be fixed.
January 15 update. I installed the latest beta 2 of 10.15.3 (19D62e) and the problem with the CalDigit TS3+ and the 16” MacBook Pro still exists. I reset the NVRAM (PRAM) and the SMC and the problem did not go away with the update.
Maybe you will have better luck if you try!
16" MacBook Pro and CalDigit TS3+ Freeze
