Macbook pro 16 2019 freezes randomly and restarts

See my comment below: this is a coding bug in Catalina. Someone replaced the Mavericks GPU switching code and forgot to catch a return value. The annoying thing is it's now 5 months after Catalina came out, and they still haven't fixed what should be a relatively simple bug (considering I found it without having access to a test rig or source code) that is causing kernel panics on many Macs.

I also want to note that these errors during the Geekbench 5 test are not related to the problem.

I have at my disposal a silver MacBook Pro 16, which has no graphics hangs. So there I have the same console fault logs.

The same fault logs occur on the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2017:

signalHardwareError

hardwareErrorEvent

restart_channel

blockFenceInterrupt

This is the problem of NOT switching graphics. These are just random freezes for 0.5-2s. Sometimes up to 10s.

And this problem does not happen on AMD.

So far, according to my subjective feelings, the problem occurs less frequently, but I have not used my MacBook after repair for so long.

Apple, come on!

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.

Reloaded OS, reset NVRAM and SMC... None of which helped.

The tech provided some suggestions to work around the problem until a resolution is found:

1. Disable "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off".
2. Prevent power naps on both hardware/battery.
3. Unplug power prior to closing the lid and putting the computer to sleep.
4. Shut down the computer prior to sleeping for the night.

It seems the issue surrounds sleeping/standby, so I'm not sure that #1 would help. #4 is simply avoiding the problem altogether...

I mentioned the date aspect of this, as well, and I believe that is when I was put on hold and the tech consulted w/ a senior level advisor.

I'm not sure how to proceed with this. It really seems to depend on who you get when you call in... Did you use a special number or anything when you called in? Or were you just lucky and got someone "more receptive" to the situation?

Yes. But I am not allowed to say on Apple’s forums as they remove my posts and I got a warning. There is a thread on MacRumors explaining how to do it. The link is in this discussion. I wish I could say here, but that would probably get me banned.

So you didn’t read the entire 24 pages. :-). Because if you did, you would note that this discussion has nothing to do with Bad Magic panics as the hardware problem.

Let me clarify for the n-teenth time. “power play failed to resume” and “powerplay failed to initialize” are the hardware panics. Anything else has not been established.

You can disagree all that you want. But we have been through the entire process on this. Have you?

m0unt41nman wrote:

3 - Those who have had the aforementioned panic and a hardware repair may not get it fixed because they dont get updated manufactured LBs. They get old ones. <--- Read that... thats really really important.

5 - We have yet to see > March LBs with the aforementioned GPU panics. Even if we did, its still a minority of users.

6 - People seem to be getting the panics here confused. The hardware panic text have been clearly stated in this thread as known hardware problems. All others are not known to be hardware or software for sure.

I really wish people would read this thread entirely. All the data is here and at MacRumors for the problem, the cause, and the fix. Unfortunately the fix for that particular panic (Powerplay failed to xxxxxxxxx) is not software.

I think these are the main concerns I have about this whole thing.

#3 - How do I know I'm going to send my MacBook Pro in and get a LB that was manufactured in March or later?

#5 - The support person I talked to eluded to this happening and is the reason why mine isn't in a box heading for a service depot right now. But...I'm not 100% certain that the advisor I spoke with completely understood that the panic I was referring to was the "PowerPlay Failed Resume" panic. I mentioned this, but was it fully absorbed? I don't know.

#6 - This builds on my concern brought up in #5. There have been many panics that people are seeing, so how do I know this stayed straight between the advisor and senior advisor?

I have an open case with Apple. I'll update accordingly as to how things end up.

> Today I talked to apple support, resintalled macos, wiped the ssd then did a fresh install of catalina. And now the laptop doesn't load completely, reaches about 70% on boot, fan surge for 1 second and the shutdown-restart cycle loops again. Only way to get in macos is through safe boot which is unusable due to unbelievable choppiness and lag.

This is exactly what was happening to mine.

Exactly the same issues here it only started since 10.15.4 , 10.15.3 was fine I am on the latest beta and it’s still the same it reboots several times on power up , with the fan issue, it eventually gets to the login screen :( . They need to fix ASAP

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 purchased a MacBook Pro 16" on May 2nd, and it was crashing every 5 minutes. I tried everything with Apple Support and then just returned to Best Buy and got a brand new one. 5th day of use, guess what: same issues. I'm wondering if this is a huge problem but people are not noticing and Apple hasn't suggested a recall or something. It doesn't make sense, this machine is almost US$3k!

This time the error message is this one attached.

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