Macbook pro 16 2019 freezes randomly and restarts

This is my 3rd 2019 MacBook Pro 16" in 3 months! They ALL randomly shut down. I've tried all different methods of reinstalling Catalina. I started out restoring from Time Capsule, since I was moving from a previous MacBook Pro (mid 2014 with no problems except dying battery). The latest was a fresh out-of-the-box boot, update and MS Office apps reinstall. NO data transfer from my backup, just in case there was a corrupted file there. STILL RANDO SHUT DOWN! Twice this morning. Am I wrong to think this HAS to be a hardware failure?

For me, the shutdown ONLY occurs in sleep mode. It happens every night for sure. The laptop never shuts down in the middle of use.

With your experience with 3 brand new 16" and my experience with 2 brand new 16" this is a serious and consistent problem, that is RANDOM! So who knows, bad chips, bad hardware? My new MacBook Air is fine, so this is something specific to 16" MBP. I am voting hardware. Maybe when China starts sending new hardware, things will improve? But it is clearly NOT about monitors (I never had one), sleep (mine happens during sleep and while I am working). it is RANDOM which is why it can't be pinpointed or recreated. It is RANDOM! And annoying. I lose the work that was not saved when it freezes. Huge time suck for those of us needing this for work or teaching.

Tim, it is time to get this resolved!

I have a custom build MacBook Pro 16” fully loaded

Has anyone on here taken a laptop to an Apple store (before the close down) and had them run a diagnostic? My first laptop the memory went out....the second one which is doing the same thing everyone else is complaining about has not been tested because the stores are closed.

Yes

February my first brand new custom fully loaded “16 MBP $4700 had random freeze. Brought it in. They did diagnostics. Said it was hardware. Took it back. Ordered a new fully loaded 16” MBP and with 24 hours same problem. No luck with in person diagnostics or multiple sessions with level 2 engineering, sending files, changes made to library etc. etc. no luck, problem persists worse than ever. Will return the second one when the stores reopen.

I really wish folks would read this entire thread. All of these answers are here. This thread keeps getting the same questions/answers over and over and its all in here.

1 - Saying it freezes and restarts helps nothing. You need the text of the panic. There are multiple panics that have different issues.

2 - The panic with the text "Powerplay failed to resume" or "Powerplay failed to initialize" are hardware issues and you WILL need to return it to Apple. There is absolutely no software fix for this whatsoever. Apple is aware of the issue and they have stated this is caused by a hardware anomaly.

3 - The above panic is able to be attained by using Geekbench 5 and running the Intel Metal API test. It will panic almost every time. You can also get this from running any graphic intensive application. These are NOT random. If the graphics switches the GPU for ANY reason whatsoever, if you have the problem it will panic.

4 - Hardware from November-February seems to have the issue. Hardware from March forward seems to not have the problems. This does NOT mean when you bought it. Its the hardware manufacture date. Dig into this thread and there is a link to a website that will tell you your hardware build dates. If you had a LB replaced, then this won't work and you will need to use Coconut Battery (I believe its free). Look at Philux's posts for more info on that. Check that your LB is March or greater. Your second LB may have been an older one with the anomaly.

I had this problem and Apple replaced my machine with a 2020 March build (It all custom top-of-the-line). I have had only 1 bad magic panic on 10.15.3 and have not had one since 10.15.4. The machine appears to be very stable. I get no freezes or reboots.

If you are having freezes, GPU panics etc, DO NOT wait for Apple to open its stores. Call Apple and have them ship you a box. It goes right to their repair facility. They are happy to support you over the phone and do it this way. In fact they encourage it during the quarantine. If they are not fixing it, then there are other ways to get it fixed by Apple. There is a thread over at MacRumors on the 16" GPU panic that explains that process. It is not something I am allowed to post here due to rules for these forums...I wish that I could...sorry.

Don't wait and hope. This problem gets worse. You need a hardware replacement.

Luckily have not had the freezing while using issue, but having a panic GPU situation every time my MacBook tries to leave sleep mode when opening my computer. Keyboard glows, screen does not come on, fan blasts for about a second, then MacBook goes through restart.

Once booted up, a "computer was restarted because of a problem message" with the same report every. single. time. Seems as though if you turn off automatically enter sleep, but this should NOT be a problem that they ignore for four months now. Paying $2500 for a laptop was supposed to come with a flawless experience, and not being able to use it what you bought it for is annoying to say the least.

Spent 2+ hours on the phone with the sweetest and most committed advisor today, only to find out that a hard reset was the best option and then have the problem remain the EXACT same. So irritating. Apple needs to acknowledge this and release a targeted patch or admit this is a fault on their part and send me a new machine.

Don't think so... It works like a charm now. Installed all my favorite software now (and that is a lot :-). Done videorendering, software development, google drive, zoom, hangouts, Office365 and all other kind of things. No problems. Goes to sleep now with standard sleep-settings. Not one single problem.

Love my Macbook 16" - is is so fast and the Keyboard... such much better than my old macbook pro.

The Real Casper...can you clarify your setup for me?

I had been having the same horrible issues as others, until I went to the 10.15.5 beta 1 (public) and turned off Power Nap. I have a box coming to ship my 2019 MacBook 16" off for a 3rd attempt at repair by Apple tomorrow, and I am hoping it may not be necessary now.

Like you, I was loving the speed, graphics, keyboard, and all else about this computer more than any other I had previously owned - until all **** came down in 10.15.4 - and I could not get it to stay on for more than 20 minutes without freezing!

Thanks!

Yep I'm seeing similar issues on mine as well! I have the fully spec'd out model (minus the Hard Drive, 1TB) and I'm getting the exact same symptoms.

I have been continuly updating the mac firmware, and I've been getting the issue crop up about once per day at this point. It's very frustrating! It happens a lot if I close the macbook, move to a different part of the house, and then re-open it. Unsure if that vibes with anyone else's experience here.

Hope Apple can address this and fix it soon with a software update!

Cheers

I can try :-).

Macbook Pro 16, i9, 2TB SSD, 4GB GPU.

I got it 14. April. Shipped from China 2. April.

I opened it. Started on fresh with no restore. Updated to 10.15.4. Pluged external screen on and ethernet. Did’t not install any software. Went for lunch. Came back and it had “restartet” (bad magic GPU Panic). Hmmmm... Left it for 30 minutes... went back... restart again GPU Panic... and left it again... GPU Panic... and again... started to cry.. did’nt help much... Did’nt have more time... next morning... restart again.. GPU panic... hmmmm.... started to Google the problem... many people wrote about simular problems... most people recommended to return it to Apple... started to cry again... Still not helpfull... Removed external screen and ethernet... didn’t help... new crashes when sleeping.. some times GPU Panic.. sometimes other processes...

Did my 5 steps-solution as described earlier... Problem solved... Have not crashed since... with external screen and Ethernet.

installed all my software... used it for video rendering... development... Zoom... YouTube... Teams... Docker... not one single crash in 6 days and with heavy use AND Power Nap enabled!

So no more crying for me and I love my MacBook Pro 16” :-).

Bad Magic != the GPU issues discussed in this thread.

Powerplay failed to resume/initialize is the hardware problem and will not be fixed by software. If you got those, expect those panics to return. Other GPU style panics, YMMV for whether its software or not.

I wouldn't make a blanket statement telling people there is a fix for this without explaining the actual panic. That gives a false hope. The Powerplay failed to resume/initialize was confirmed by Apple as a hardware problem and will require a recent logic board manufactured March or later.

Lets agree to disagree on that. Its been very clear on which panics mean what in this thread. Stating you have the solution without describing the actual panic gives people false hopes that this is a software issue.

There is no need to be defensive. However, please don't state that you have a solution to something unless you state the data of what you are fixing.

I have a new laptop from Apple which was provided due to the Powerplay failed to resume/initialize panic which was confirmed hardware, and was even told that affected a certain set of hardware manufactured before March. That panic is 100% gone after the new hardware replacement. I have received 2 Bad Magic panics since, but the 10.15.4 updates have resolved those 100% with zero panics since. It is very important to see what panics you get and in detail before explaining that your fix resolved everything.

Your resolution that which is advocated is the standard Apple steps to do to a machine that encounters problems. Most folks in this thread have tried all of them multiple times with the aforementioned GPU panic. We still have not many (or any?) with the Powerplay panics that have resolved this issue without updated hardware. In fact the user Philux kept getting older

Hence this is my advocation to please state the exact panics that your solution resolved. There are a lot of people with the Powerplay panic hoping for a software update to magically fix the problem where this is likely not to be fixed via a software update as it's a hardware anomaly. Its my hope that people who get those frequent GPUs get their hardware replaced with March or greater manufacturing dates. Waiting just eats up precious warranty time/dates because there is only a single fix at this juncture (as per Apple).

I pushed submit too fast... I needed to end a sentence in the second to last paragraph:

" In fact the user Philux kept getting older logicboards (pre-March) in which he continued to have the problems. Only until he got March hardware did the problem go away."

So, just to be sure...The Real Casper, you are still running 10.15.4?

Because, while I used your steps to solve my problem, it was not helping with 10.15.4, only after Installing 10.15.5 beta 1 did it work for me (Power Nap off; don’t allow hard disk to sleep).

To be clear, my “panic” was the kernel kind. I don’t recall any Bad Magic! Sorry, but those terms are beyond my pay grade?

Apple did install different logic board for me as their initial fix, but it still led to the freeze/reboot issue with 10.15.4. I couldn’t tell if it was a pre-March logic board using the free version of Coconut Battery (as suggested by mountain41man), or if it would even matter for the type of kernel panic I was experiencing.

in any case, still working for 5 days now with 15.5 beta 1, just no Power Nap!

I'm curious if anyone having this issue has google drive or google file stream on their computer. Apple support had their engineer team check some logs I uploaded to them from my laptop and that’s what they told me my issue was. Kind of hard for me to work now and open files that are on my file stream.