Macbook pro 16 2019 freezes randomly and restarts

m0unt41nman wrote:

Unfortunately you have it backwards. If it’s software, then everyone will have the problem. If it’s hardware, then only a subset will have it.

People who have gotten faulty hardware who have gotten full replacements no longer have the problem. I am one of these people. I have have no panics (Powerplay failed xxx) and I have the same software as you.

Thank you, and I hear what you're saying. It's very interesting/promising that you're not seeing any further problems...

I've experienced many issues throughout my career, though, where software bugs only surface when "the planets align". That's more what I'm referring to here... Not so much that many of us have macOS 10.15.4, but more that something is common among those that are having serious issues, and something is common among those of us that only see the issue occasionally.

Obviously, the hardware is the same among all of us having issues. So, could the reason be that many are showing different symptoms is because of a configuration issue in their home directories, or the way they have their Macs configured (pmset), or the way they use them (a specific combination of software executing), etc.? Determining that is well above my capabilities, unfortunately.

I did take your advice (from a while back) and escalated my issue to the point where I spoke with a product specialist. He told me that the issue is software driven, and even those that have more recent hardware are seeing issues (as some in this thread have mentioned, as well). He advised me to hold off until the next patch release and to reach back out to them if the issue persists beyond that. So, for better or worse, that's what I'll be doing.

Mine stable when logged in ! So if it was hardware I would think it would play up while running . It’s just getting to the running bit that’s hard , from other posts I’ve read Apple are aware and releasing a fix ! I am going to wait for 10.15.5 full release and see what happens if it’s still broke then I’ll get it fixed / replaced ! I would love to be able to take it to a Genius Bar !! Perhaps they will be open by then !!

Yes... in a succinct answer to your question, those who are experiencing the issue indeed have the same hardware that causes the problem. No, I don’t think it’s a PRAM or configuration setting as I migrated the software and settings directly from my bad machine. Unless there is a difference, that doesn’t apply.

yes... I would wait to see if they have a work around the anomaly in 10.15.5. But if they do not, I would suggest getting a fixed machine or logic board.

i have a feeling this is a bigger issue than Apple cares to admit. A software work around is clearly the best way to not have to do a recall. A recall will be enormously expensive and I am guessing they are trying to avoid that at all costs. 33 page thread here... this is a big problem.

Found your other thread. Posted there, awaiting approval since I have a new account.

Interesting that your issue was fixed with a laptop manufactured in early 2020. Mine is manufactured in April 2020 at Quanta Computer. As a result I'm not sure if a "newer" logic board would fix my issue.

I also get what looks like GPU-related panics (e.g. starting to watch a youtube video on an external display causes my macbook to crash and restart), but my main problem is not being able to boot (even in safe mode) without USB-C/power adapter plugged in. Also crash on sleep.

This is all so crazy! So happy I found this thread and that I'm not alone. I just received my new 16" MBP 2 days ago and it's been.. depressing to say the least. Constant crashes when using Photoshop, random restarts, complete lockups when using Safari and TouchID login. The fan will just rev up 10000x out of nowhere and then the whole thing shuts down. What a fun way to enjoy a new $4,000 computer. The worst part is I already sold my 2015 MacBook Pro which had none of these issues. Have so many deadlines in the coming weeks and am unable to be without a computer and the stores are closed, yikes. Why would Apple release/sell a machine that's broken from the start?

As someone who has used everything Apple since college and had the best and most reliable experiences, this is a bummer. This is so urgent a fix/ statement needs to happen asap.

BretFromApple wrote:

Quick question for you all that are experiencing this. Do you have a case or a skin that you use to protect your MacBook?

No (if anything I've been thinking of getting a massive heat sink / external fan because while it's unclear if the heat and fan noise have anything to do with my issues, they're both bad enough that I think that wouldn't hurt)

Well, just another update. You can follow my posts since I've replied to myself each time. Feel free to click through my replies to read my experience as I've posted a lot.

I received my full brand new replacement 2019 MacBook 16" on 4/13/2020. Prior to getting my replacement, their service team reinstalled MacOS, updated my T2 drivers, replaced my Logic Board, and replaced my Touch ID board. These were all done within two service repairs but didn't fix the issue. After the two service repairs, they finally issued a brand new replacement.

Well, on Friday, 05/22/2020, I experienced the same exact issue with my brand new replacement MacBook. The whole system froze. The mouse cursor wouldn't even move. The system freeze lasted around 10 seconds. Then the fans started running at 100%. The MacBook then shut off unexpectedly. I have to press the power button to turn it back on. These are identical symptoms that I experienced with my past MacBook they repaired multiple times.

When receiving my new MacBook, I didn't restore from a TimeMachine backup and I set everything up from scratch. I called Apple on Friday and they took a copy of my system logs, including a video of the issue happening that I recorded (which is horrible quality due to me rushing to hit the record button on my phone), and my kernel panic log file that was created at the time of the unexpected shut down.

Apple sent all of the data that I provided them to their engineers. They are going to review the data and call me back Wednesday. I'll give you all an update on their answer around then. I can't believe this is happening on my replacement MacBook. We'll see what happens this time.

I believe it. Same here, never restored anything from a backup, SMC reset and full OS reinstall with every release. Many have had the same experience, some of us with multiple replacements. Hope you are the one to get a resolution. Please keep us in the loop!

Interestingly, my unit had been fine for 5 weeks and on 5/22 the problem resurfaced and it happened again on 5/23 but not since.

Just a Quick update this morning, i a have left mine on , and its been ok, i disabled all the sleep modes.

it's just this powering up issue that affects mine at the moment, once i can log in its fine.

i have power nap disabled

Graphics switching is auto.

put hard drives to sleep is unticked.

and turn display off is never.

as soon as i get any updates from apple ill let you know.

on another note i imagine the apple stores will be opening up in the UK in Late June, ill see if a genus bar appointment is possible given the distancing rules. i would be interested to see what they say in store.

Cheers

Mark

Just a quick update. Mine has been working fine for 4 days after replacing the logic board, on the same time, MacOS version rollback to 10.15.1. I don't know which one resolved this issue.

My issue:

PowerPlay failed to resume.

Shutdown casue: -20

I went through multiple logicboard repairs experiencing the above, I finally got a full replacement in March that didn't exhibit any of the issues I had previously. I ran it for 3 weeks just closing the lid & recharging but not shutting down, then restarted it myself. 3 weeks. Since then I've gone days at a time without shutdown and it's me that's shut the machine down myself.

I noticed on the prior faulty units, even in the brief moments it did stay powered on without a freeze & restart, they were very noisey. Fans always full speed, macbook always hot. This latest replacement has been running like a dream. Quiet as, cool as, fan mainly unheard of, no freezing and no restarts.

Unfortunately there is another OS bug floating around that causes a lot of macOS devices with T2 chip to restart when woken from sleep, or for the screen to remain black and user has to force restart to escape. This bug is also a huge offender on the faulty mbp 16" 2019's. I've experienced it once on this machine just last week. Upon waking the machine the screen remained black, and my touchbar had 'Mirror Display' and 'Extend Display' options as though I had a screen plugged in to the machine, when I had nothing plugged in at all.

Under Energy Saver preferences, I have power nap enabled, graphics switching on auto, put hard drives to sleep is enabled, display set to turn off after 10mins. No issues at all.

Compared to my first faulty unit and subsequent faulty units, out the box, with no software installed they would restart every half hour in the middle of use, IE freeze opening an app, freeze loading a web page. Then either restart or me have to force restart to escape. Unable to wake from sleep with a restart or constant black screen, every time when waking from sleep. Fans full speed and system hot the whole time. Basically an unusable system.

If you'd like the same smooth experience as me, I suggest getting a full replacement, and not a logicboard repair.

in reply to jackhans :- difficult !! as mine was totally fine before 10.15.4 too. i am just going to hang in there for a few more weeks, i have a case open with apple just in case.

in Reply to philux :-

I don't get any restarts at all , its really warm today the MBP is nice and quiet !! Fans only go mad if i am rendering out some video etc. its been up for over 48 hours no crashes or reboots.

if i decide to power it down it will be reboot loops again until it gets to the login screen (safe mode always works).

'power play failed to initialise'. How did you go about getting a full replacement ? did you have to have 3 failed repairs first.

I was told by an apple executive team Ireland, that the engineers are aware and to watch out for fix,, i just read so many conflicting stories online. I am going to stick to my plan for 10.15.5 RC, and hope its resolved. i have so much work todo from home i cannot afford to be without it for weeks on end. I got mine in February this year, so have plenty of time for free repairs if needed. :(

Cheers

Mark

Yeah the situation sucks big time. In my case I'd broken my knee so couldn't sit at my workstation properly, so opted for the 16". Had to drive my manual car across town on apple's request to get logicboard repairs, even though I'd ordered it online and had it delivered by mail. For the replacement, they sent a courier out to pick it up. So how rude of apple. I guess yes, I had to get the repairs first due to their crazy if this -> then that support structure. :/

My process is always to do PRAM/SMC reset and a full wipe of nvme drive. Like selecting 'delete volume' and then erasing the disk, then doing an Internet Recovery instead of recovering from partition on drive. It's important to upgrade your system from System Preferences before the Internet Recovery to get your partition updated also, as Internet Recovery matches the partition version. If your system is too buggy to do the upgrade, then Internet Recovery -> upgrade -> Internet Recovery to get a fresh install of the latest macOS, instead of installing versions over the top of each other.

My first machine was trash. Freeze and restart every half hour in the middle of use. Freeze every time waking from sleep. 10.14.1 -> 10.14.2 with that one. Ran very hot. I followed the above setup steps numerous times.

My next machine was 10.14.2 - 10.14.3 and froze 'here and there', I'd get about 3-4 hours use average then get one, opening an app, or playing a youtube video for example. Video editing triggered it almost every time. Every other wake from sleep the system would restart, but not all. Ran very hot. I followed the above steps in bold for setup.

The machine after that was the same as above, 10.14.3. I followed the above steps in bold for setup.

Now my replacement, 10.14.3 -> 10.14.4 has been completely fine. Quiet and cool. Hasn't frozen once. Have had one bad magic restart but all T2 machines are getting that on occasion (software bug).

As much as a pain as it is, I highly suggest upgrading your system to 10.14.4 (Internet Recovery downloads the same macOS version on your partition, so upgrade is important), then follow the above bolded steps to a T. Your issue sounds different and could well be a software bug on an iteration of macOS that is full of bugs, but the right OS install steps fix it.

People who already have issues and are simply upgrading over the top of earlier macOS versions are not going to stop having issues. The disk needs to be fully wiped, and Internet Recovery installing the latest macOS fresh.

«Fans always full speed, macbook always hot.»

That /\ sounds like precisely what I’m experiencing and that you had to go through three logic board replacements and then get a new MacBook Pro doesn’t bode well :-/ but having a working MacBook Pro that only gets hot when it should would be fantastic

Mines still duff too, installed > shutdown, reboot loops powerplay failed to initialise !!! looks like its back to apple then.

I might try a fully clean install first just for the fun of it .!!

I presume you have to wipe it anyway before returning ??

its crazy its totally stable when logged in a running. perhaps a fresh full install will resolve it , instead of these incremental updates.

Cheers

Mark