Macbook pro 16 2019 freezes randomly and restarts

These issues have to be the result of bad interaction between software and hardware.

I'm using my mid2012 mbp 15 (thank God for it) with an external monitor and same software suites as the 16", with an external ssd and no crash at all. It runs slightly hot with windows running in vm but other than that no issue at all.

I miss the 16" everyday, but hopefully my Air does not run into the issues.

I had the same problem with my 16” MBP purchased on 25 March 2020. “PowerPlay Failed Resume” and “PowerPlay Failed to Initialize” crashes, increasing in frequency until it would only start in Safe Mode. I returned it to Apple the moment their stores reopened on 8 May.

What kills me here is that I’ve used Macs for two decades and can’t stand Windows. I’ve had so many PowerBooks and MacBook Pros and Airs that I’ve lost count, but between this and the keyboard issue in my previous MacBook Pro, I’m about ready to jump ship.

It’s not even that these things are issues that bothers me nearly so much as Apple’s handling (or lack thereof). It’s the iPhone antenna issue but far worse and a new one every couple of years

Me too. I was hoping it would hold me over until Apple released a fix. At least I have 2 to work with so I can wipe one of them clean (since they force you to go through all of their steps before they escalate, which includes wiping it clean and reinstalling everything) and send it in for repair without losing productivity. If I didn't have the second one, I would just be dealing with the restarts since I need to keep working. My guess is 98% of 16MBP users can't afford to be without their machine for 2-3 weeks so they will quietly wait and see if Apple ever fixes this.

For what it is worth, I also have one of the first 16" units shipped and after the 10.15.4 supplemental OS update, (4/24) it was crashing every 5-10 minutes. I did not wipe my data or programs but I did perform a SMC reset and reinstall of the OS from the WEB and it has been stable since then.... the longest span of uptime since November. I always use an external 5K display and I have graphics switching disabled. I had performed the same steps with earlier releases including 10.15.4 (prior to the supplement) without the same success. Your results may vary but it was an hour well spent for me.

Thanks! I've done the SMC and PRAM/NVRAM reset as well as a reinstall of the OS too. It helped for a few days but then the problem reappeared for me. That's when Apple support said the next step is to remove programs one-by-one and see how that impacts performance -OR- wipe the whole thing and start over to see how that works. The one-by-one approach is for people that refuse to wipe their SSD.

I also have a 5K monitor (which I didn't use for 3 days to see if that was the issue per the Apple support person) and I've disabled graphics switching. With all of these steps, I can make it a couple of days at a time between crashes.

I haven't done anything on my new 16MBP to address the issue except what I mentioned above (stop using Chrome, disable Power Nap, disable Graphics Switching, and disable Turbo Boost when under heavy load). I don't want to send both of these in at the same time if we get to that point. I honestly just want someone from Apple to acknowledge that they are aware of this issue and that they are working on a fix. Right now, being told that it must be a software issue on my laptop and being asked to stop plugging peripherals into my machine is ridiculous.

Not to drag this thread out but I was very concerned that it was under the radar at Apple back when there were no logs generated, just a panic message. Once I saw the panic messages had changed, I assumed they were probably addressing it. And just for clarity, my 16" never made it more than a week after performing the SMC reset and reinstall which I did after every previous release, but it has been stable since and I have also noticed a difference in the fan speed characteristics. Good luck.

So guys, it has been a few months since I bought my first MacBook in my life. It's really cool, however, I am really tired of getting my screen hanged sometimes.

So how does it look for me? I don't have an issue that fans go 100% and Mac shutdowns but it screen simply freezes and I can't do anything until I wait a minute or two(sometimes 5-10 seconds) OR I can just close and open my MacBook screen and then it magically starts working again.

So I see I am not the only one "lucky" MacBook Pro 16" buyer and as I am new I would just like to ask where to check the logs in console app? In what exactly category?

Thanks!

I had a similar problem. Just random hangs for 2-10 seconds, sometimes up to a minute. In rare cases, this could result in a reboot if the video system does not start responding. If you disable Automatic graphics switching, the problem does not occur.

3 replacements of the logic board did not fix the problem and Apple issued a refund a few days ago.

P.S. You will not find any logs related to this problem, the diagnosis also does not find the problem.

You can record a video of your problem. Also open “About this mac” while recording so that they see the system version and your serial number.

Do not delay the solution of the problem, otherwise you risk subsequently solving it at your own expense.

My result:

Timestamp                       Thread     Type        Activity             PID    TTL  

2020-05-18 09:10:34.264222+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log      - Default:          1, Info:                0, Debug:             0, Error:          0, Fault:          0

Activity - Create:           0, Transition:          0, Actions:           0

Update... My result for the last 10 days (last 240 h):

cause 5...Correct shutdown

cause 3...Hard shutdown (after frozen screen)

cause -11...I have manually reset my SMC

cause 1...Couldn't find any explanation for this code in the www. Any ideas???

Timestamp                       Thread     Type        Activity             PID    TTL  

2020-05-15 09:06:35.856945+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-15 09:45:51.588578+1000 0xd1       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-15 09:47:28.516679+1000 0x1cdc     Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-15 13:33:19.349935+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-15 15:06:43.292733+1000 0xd1       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-15 16:22:33.063739+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-15 16:35:17.323802+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 3

2020-05-16 10:18:15.717327+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-16 12:36:47.042400+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 3

2020-05-16 16:09:13.590019+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-16 17:51:29.155964+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 3

2020-05-16 19:00:05.834990+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 1

2020-05-17 09:49:30.440849+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-18 09:10:34.264222+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-18 11:46:42.755307+1000 0xd2       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log      - Default:         15, Info:                0, Debug:             0, Error:          0, Fault:          0

Activity - Create:           0, Transition:          0, Actions:           0

The same crash with PowerPlay Failed Resume happened with me just a few minutes ago. In the logs I have -20. What does it mean?

Timestamp            Thread   Type    Activity       PID  TTL  

2020-05-18 08:36:42.735818+0300 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-19 08:22:24.557959+0300 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

my issues today:

Timestamp            Thread   Type    Activity       PID  TTL  

2020-05-19 06:08:35.022927+0200 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 5

2020-05-19 07:11:31.461580+0200 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

2020-05-19 07:21:16.446167+0200 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

2020-05-19 07:36:24.791700+0200 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

2020-05-19 09:34:02.839889+0200 0xd5    Default   0x0         0   0  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: 3

Hi thanks for that !! thats my issue, i get multiple reboot loops before i get to the login screen with powerplay failed resume or initialise.

My plan was to wait for the official 10.15.5, i am on 10.15.5 beta 4 at the moment and getting the same issue.

Cheers

Mark

My 16" started consistently restarting when I reach the login screen after reboot (i.e. it's not usable) 3 days after I got it. It also restarts on sleep and keeps going in a restart cycle with the lid closed until the battery drains. It gets super hot when doing this.

1.5 hours over two calls with Apple Support. SMC reset, PRAM reset, and a clean Catalina install (erasing the hard drive first) didn't help.

Unfortunately I didn't buy directly from Apple so I couldn't return for refund.

The only way I can boot my laptop is by connecting the power cord on the right and a random USB-c dongle or display on the left (???).

I can't even boot into recovery or safe mode without the two thunderbolt ports occupied.

log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "Previous shutdown cause"' --last 24h

Filtering the log data using "composedMessage CONTAINS "Previous shutdown cause""

Skipping info and debug messages, pass --info and/or --debug to include.

Timestamp Thread Type Activity PID TTL

2020-05-19 20:49:00.156418-0700 0xc9 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

2020-05-20 17:51:59.157815-0700 0xc9 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -11

2020-05-20 17:55:28.782318-0700 0xc8 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

2020-05-20 17:58:58.321862-0700 0xc9 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -20

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log - Default: 4, Info: 0, Debug: 0, Error: 0, Fault: 0

Activity - Create: 0, Transition: 0, Actions: 0