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Level 1

9 points

Catalina 10.15.6 Still Crashing Kernel Panic

I bought the new Macbook Pro 16 inch in February and I think it came with Catalina 10.15.3. However on updating to 10.15.4 and beyond started getting the kernel panic crashes which continue even after the 10.15.6 upgrade. I know this is a problem for many and confusingly, some people are reporting it is fixed with updated whilst others reporting that updates don't or even introduce the problem.

I've also seen a variety of solutions, some of which people say work and other say don't.

Any help, advice, insight on fixes that have worked would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 20, 2020 8:08 PM

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Posted on Jul 20, 2020 8:45 PM

You installed an update over a malfunctioning system. You should always fix problems before updating or upgrading.

A Troubleshooting Procedure that may Fix Problems with macOS El Capitan or Later

You should try each, one at a time, then test to see if the problem is fixed before going on to the next.

If possible, backup your files before proceeding.

Shutdown the computer and disconnect all third-party peripherals.
Wait 30 seconds before you restart the computer.
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
Reset your Startup Disk and Sound preferences, if needed, after resetting the PRAM.
Test in safe mode to see if the problem persists, then restart normally. Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac and Playing Safe - what does Safe mode do?
Repair the disk by booting from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
Reinstall a Combo Updater: macOS Catalina 10.15.6 Combo Update, macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Combo Update, macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Combo Update, macOOS 10.12.6 Combo Update, OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update.
Create a New User Account Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and enter your Admin password when prompted. On the left under Current User click on the Add [+] button under Login Options. Setup a new Admin user account. Upon completion log out of your current account then log into the new account. If your problems cease, then consider switching to the new account and transferring your files to it - Transferring files from one User Account to another.
Reinstall OS X by booting from the Recovery HD using the Command and R keys. When the Utility Menu appears select Install OS X then click on the Continue button.
Erase and Install OS X Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:

1. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.

2. When Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.

3. Click on the Erase button in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.

4. Set the Format type to APFS (for SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)

5. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.

6. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.

7. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.

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32 replies

frtzn

Level 1

8 points

Sep 5, 2020 10:12 AM in response to frtzn

joxesCA wrote:

We are not running virtual machines on our laptops, just Apple with the office 365 and some adobe apps

frtzn wrote:

over the weekend, I reinstalled more apps to my Mac except Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud. The system runs perfectly stable so far. Could it really be one of these two highly popular software packages that is causing the kernel panics?

For nine days, my MacBook Air worked like a charm.

On August 29, I installed Adobe Creative Cloud. My Mac immediately started to behave oddly again. For example, the screen would freeze for about a minute each time I reactivated the computer from sleep. Just four days later, I had another kernel panic. The last two log files, written just seconds before the panic, were related to Adobe apps.

I uninstalled Adobe Creative Cloud, and the freeze-on-wakeup issues are gone again.

I will use the Mac now for the next days without installing anything, checking if it crashes again. At the moment however, it seems to me that Adobe Creative Cloud may be the cause for those kernel panics.

pjm2400 Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 5, 2020 12:29 PM in response to frtzn

I’m not sure that’s the case for all. I too am installing apps one at a time and have been running Adobe CC for over a week now with no issues.

In fact I still think it’s a hardware issue, since my logic board and Touch Bar were replaced, the issue has resolved. My best guess then is that there are a bunch of faulty logic boards that only present the fault with certain apps. Possibly processor intensive apps like Adobe and Parallels that overload the logic board.

My MBP is running much cooler and much quieter since the repair and kernel crashes have disappeared even with Adobe CC.

The next test for me is Mac. version of Microsoft Office which I’m sure will be fine. The real test will be running Parallels and and the PC version of Office on Windows 10.

im currently at 16 days without a reboot.

Alko2019

Level 1

12 points

Sep 17, 2020 7:22 AM in response to pjm2400

Hi, I updated my Macbook to version 10.15.6 three days ago and since then I have been experiencing the kernel panic issue. In some cases, the laptop will crash with no apps running at all. Even if the Mac is in sleep mode and nothing is running, when I return to it, I see that the system restarted as it was having the kernel panic issue. I only updated it 3 days ago to V10.15.6.

Not joking, this makes me want to sell it and move on.

I have reinstalled the OS and still have the issue on a clean install! So for sure it is that ridiculous update that is killing the Macbook and I don't see any update on this from Apple.

I have mac pro 16"

joxesCA

Level 1

93 points

Sep 17, 2020 9:27 AM in response to Alko2019

Welcome to the club!

I have tested all the suggestions provided in the forum. Spent hours reinstalling MacOS on my 2020 MBA. I still face the same issue as soon as I plug the Apple OEM micro USB to HDMI adapter. As soon as I try to shutdown the MBA it resets in a loop.

And always the same kernel panic.

Some people say they are not experiencing any more issues. For me it is still the same.

After of all this I came to the same conclusion. Still keeping one MBA 2020 to see if this issue will be fixed on day. So far it is not.

pjm2400 Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 17, 2020 12:33 PM in response to Alko2019

Are you using virtualisation software e.g. Parallels?

Since getting a repair (logic board and Touch bar) my problems seem to be fixed. It was shpped back to me with Catalina 10.15.1 but I've since updated to 10.15.6 and used the 10.15.6 supplemental update. I've reinstalled Adobe CC and Microsoft Office and it's still running fine.

27 days now without a reboot.

I am hesitant to reinstall Parallels running Windows 10 since there seems to be a number of reports that virtualisation software could have been at least part of the cause.

I might just wait for Big Sur before I reinstall Parallels. However, Parallels have themselves released a couple of updates in the meantime. But... just to be on the safe side I'll wait and see what Big Sur does for a few weeks before I update to that. Not going to be an early adopter anymore.

Alko2019

Level 1

12 points

Sep 17, 2020 12:52 PM in response to pjm2400

I don't have any virtualisation software e.g. Parallels. Never had. I just updated to 10.15.6 and **** broke loose.

Before that all was fine. More than fine. I just installed the combo update and will check if this will fix it. If not, I will reinstall all over again and the install the supplemental update as you did.

I'm sure that if the panic issue can kill the logic board in some point.

Thank you.

BradSP

Level 1

75 points

Sep 26, 2020 2:04 PM in response to Alko2019

This issue has plagued 16 inch users for coming up to a year. There is nothing you can do with the machine to make it stable. Have a look on Macrumors and you will find a thread running close to 10 months on this issue. People have this issue with MACs straight out of the box with nothing other than the OS installed. There are others that Apple has stated the logic board is at fault and replaced that continue to kernel panic on their return with nothing installed. Simply about all you can do is try turning off all OS feature and keep the machine turned on continuously seems to be the only remedy. Its unlikely to be fixed in the near term and the problem is persisting in BigSur so no relief on the horizon for the next few months. 10.15.7 did not fix it either.

Alko2019

Level 1

12 points

Sep 27, 2020 6:03 AM in response to BradSP

As I have said above, the update kill the MBP and it was sent to Apple labs.

I must say, this experience maid me appreciate Windows so much. This will be the last time that I will buy any of Apple products. They are not taking any responsibility to address very bad issues.

The funny thing is that I have a replacement MBP and this one is not Crashing with Kernel Panic, but the wifi is not connecting after sleep. Even after 10.15.7. Tried every suggestion online, but still the issue is not going away (like any other issue that Apple give us).

So, lets hope that this will be good on return and then I will sell it :) and buy me a non issue PC with Windows on it!

[Edited by Moderator]

ABC735H6

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2020 9:11 AM in response to joxesCA

I have the same issue, I found out that whatever external device you add, the MacBook Pro will crash again sooner or later. As JAB_66 said, it happens when you start loading data, or when you run a Teams call and use MS Office in parallel.

I did reinstall 4 times from scratch, including installing from a USB drive. As soon as I run my external monitor, Teams and/or OneDrive it crashes. I called Apple help desk too, guess what, they didn't found anything.

I replaced the external USB-C hub to a new Satechi, no luck.

I think it's a 10.15.7 issue, as I didn't had it on the versions before...

Alko2019

Level 1

12 points

Oct 2, 2020 10:15 AM in response to ABC735H6

I have a replacement MBP as mine was killed by 10.15.06 and the replacement has an issue with the wifi.

It seams to me that Apple are not doing any QA and I feel that I wish I have never bought this MBP...

Oct 17, 2020 5:50 AM in response to pjm2400

I started having what I believe to be called kernel panic issues with my mac mini 2018.

I'm not sure if it's related but it started after I updated to safari 14 on OSX 10.15.7.

The problem is that the mac reboots by itself and it gives me a black screen with a message in multiple languages that says that a problem occured.

It would reboot more and more until I couldn't even boot completely before it rebooted again.

Then it started giving me a "blocked" sign on boot up, that apparently means no compatible OS found.

So I did a clean reinstall of OSX, started installing my softwares on it, problem reappeared.

Decided to do another clean reinstall, this time the mac would crash during the install, I had to retry about 3 times before I could finish the OS installation via internet recovery, standard recovery didn't want to work.

This time I didn't install anything on it and didn't update to safari 14, seems to be ok but I haven't used it much.

Luckily I don't have any work to do on it for now but I will eventually so I'm starting to wonder what I'm gonna do, I don't really feel like wasting hours again reinstalling everything...