MacBook Pro 16 2019 10.15.4 Kernel Panic / Reboot When Plugged In -- Help!

What everyone who is experiencing this issue should be doing is contacting Apple Support to have a ticket created. Make sure that you also reference this post when you contact support. I know that Apple is aware of this issue, but it seems like it's taking a bit too long to address such a serious issue.

I still have a ticket open with apple support, and I tried to point the support person to this thread, but he wasn't interested and didn't feel inclined to forward the problem to the engineering department. See my first post in this thread. The engineers should be aware as they continue to receive the kernel panic reports.

This is a bit offtopic, but still:

Apple support in Germany seems to be completely overloaded. A friend of mine bought a MacBook Pro 16, i7, three weeks ago. When trying to move his user data with the migration assistant it always failed. He spent initially more than an hours with Apple support and they couldn't help. He also tried to buy apple care for his new machine online. It failed with an error message that his machine (2 weeks old) isn't qualified. He called Apple support about it, gave them his telephone number and they promised to call him back within two minutes. That has been a couple of days ago and they never called back. Lately he hasn't been able to reach anyone on the phone, queues are too long.

I'll help him to move his data using desktop sharing. But this isn't how it should be. For a long time my experience with Apple support and service was a decent one. At least for the moment that has changed.

I've had a brand new MacBook Pro 16 inch for 36 hours... I'm having the exact same problem... I've been an Apple guy since Apple II+ (1983) --- This is the first epic fail I've experienced with Apple... I have to do all my work virtually now... And I shelled out big $$$ for a more powerful Mac, and it keeps doing this.... Pretty disheartening that this issue has been happening awhile and they have not fixed it.

ClassicII wrote:

Also I am looking for anyone who reverted back to 10.15.1, 10.15.2 or 10.15.3 did that fix the issue for you?

I bought MBP 16 and received it at Apr 9, and first what I did - installed all updates, and I'm very disappointed with this new MBP when open it's lid and got this crash :(

I discovered this discussion few days later, and disabling power nap solves crashes for me.

But as mentioned in other possible sources of such crash - hw problems, so I can't stop thinking that my new MBP is defective...

That is why I decided to revert to 10.15.3.

After switching back to 10.15.3 I have no more crashes! Now I'm pretty sure that MBP is not defective :)

I found I had this issue when I put in a 480gb OWC aura hard drive and updated to 15.4. On my MacBook Pro 11,1 2014 retina.

I reverted back to my old apple Samsung 128gb drive which has 15.3 installed and it stopped.

I exactly experienced the same situation as yours, with Macbook Pro 16, i7, 32GB. And I totally agree your assumption that it is power nap, because the same bug doesn't appears for plug-off in my case.

I have the same problem. My MacBook pro retina is from late 2015. It has now crashed 8 times since updating to 10.15.4. The machine seems to crash (not always) when i close the lid. It runs the fan 100% when i open it up. I have tries to reset SMC (did not help).

Is Google Drive File Stream the culprit?

Sorry if someone has already reported this in the many replies here. I just learned the following and it seems mildly promising in terms of providing a clue?

I looked at the diagnostic report (you can find them here: /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports) and, at least on my machine, it appears that Google Drive File Stream is causing the problem. I found a number of others reporting the same problem (Mac OS 10.15.4 with Google Drive File Stream) on a Google forum.

I only deleted Google Drive File Stream a few minutes ago and, given that my machine only crashes at night for some reason, I can't say if it will help but wanted to share this in case it helps anyone at all. Unfortunately, we use GDFS extensively at work so I'll have to reinstall it tomorrow and try to find a work around (maybe the power nap work around someone else posted).

My specifics:

- Mac OS 10.15.4

- MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

From my diagnostic report:

Process:        mount_dfsfuse [1429]

Path:         /Applications/Google Drive File Stream.app/Contents/MacOS/mount_dfsfuse

Identifier:      mount_dfsfuse

Version:        0

Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)

Parent Process:    mount_dfsfuse [1427]

Responsible:      Google Drive File Stream [1395]

Good luck all !! Thanks for all of the great info shared on this.

@GreenBadger... I agree with @TheRealCasper. I called Apple Support earlier and the person I spoke to tried to take me down the path of this being a hardware problem. I had to stop her and ask her to listen for a while as I researched this more with her on the phone. That's when I found the info that I just posted below.

This is not a hardware problem. It will be fixed soon, I'm sure. In the meantime, I'd suggest you try the work arounds and look at the diagnostic file (see my post). It doesn't seem like you should need to return your machine.

Good luck!

Hello @riley0502 .... I have an iMac, not a MacBook Pro ... yes I tried to reset the SMC and NVRAM without resolution ... being an iMac, probably still a software issue? The reason is I can return it and get my money back still ... rather than them trying to 'fix it.' I can get a new one later once all the issues are figured out.

Jeff

Got a new MBP 16" earlier this month from apple.com, it was delivered running 10.15.3 so I updated it to 10.15.4 immediately. Crashes during Sleep galore.

After a week I decided to ring Apple for support - they didn't know about the issue - and decided my MBP would have to be defective and arranged an exchange for a new one. What's interesting is that they didn't want to know about the issue and had their sales department deal with the issue, as it was under 14 days old.

Got the new MBP 16", which I left on 10.15.3. And it's is fine. I am 100% that if I were to update back to 10.15.4 it would be Crashes again. For those of you that think it's hardware, I am positive it is not.

@ClassicII Even after working in technology for the last 30 years, I made an embarrassing mistake in terms of helping to diagnose the situation here - I changed multiple variables at once. Specifically, I deleted but then reinstalled Google Drive File Stream, I disabled Powernap, and I also (accidentally) closed the lid to the machine before going to bed (I normally leave it open and connect to several third party devices and this results in a nightly crash). I’ll do better tonight! See below.... however....

I can report one finding from what I did last night:

With Google Drive file stream re-installed and running, powernap disabled, the lid closed, and not taking any other actions, my machine still crashed this morning. My diagnostic report pointed to PowerPoint as the cause of the crash in this case. In order to connect this back to my original post, Google Drive file stream was still installed (reinstalled), I changed my power nap nap setting to disabled, and I closed my lid as opposed to leaving it open. All of my previous diagnostic reports pointed to Google Drive file stream as the culprit. With a lid closed and power nap disabled, the machine crashed first thing this morning but with PowerPoint listed as the cause instead of Google Drive file stream. Google Drive file stream and PowerPoint were both open at the time of the crash.

I will delete Google Drive file stream from my machine tonight before I go to bed (disconnecting all third party devices, and leaving powernap disabled) to see if I get another crash in the morning.

I’ll report back.

@riley0502 Interesting report. I can certainly say that solely the 10.15.4 update causes the kernel panic on my device (and certainly many others). I have tried it without having installed any application. 10.15.3: No crash. 10.15.4: Kernel panic every night. Power Nap disabled: No crash.

It's ridiculous that Apple Support isn't aware of the problem...

I can confirm that too. Same situation here. Brand-new MBP 16 about one month old started crashing form the beginning without any software installed than the one that comes by standard. I re-installed MacOs 10.15.4 and the crashing did not stop.

Since I did the steps mentioned by my post above I did not experience any crashes for several days now!

I will keep you updated, if this is permanent.

Maybe a good clue?

@ClassicII , last night I deleted Google Drive File Stream (GDFS), left all of my 3rd party peripherals attached, left power nap disabled (battery and when plugged in) and......

My machine did NOT crash for first time in a about 10 days.

Now, you might say "you changed two variables so you can't say which one was the fix." However, I had power nap disabled the previous night with GDFS installed and it crashed. The diagnostic report attributed the crash to PowerPoint, but all I can say is that with power nap disabled in both cases and taking no other steps, my machine crashed with GDFS installed and it did NOT crash when it was deleted from my machine.

Not sure if this helps at all. Just wanted to share this. I'll try again tonight with GFDS not installed and power nap enabled just to get one more data point.

Good luck everyone!