What is SOCD report detected: (AP watchdog expired)?

The auto re-start is built into the OS, which means it is not under my control - so it might as well be remote. If Apple has the right to do this then it must be accountable for the results, but it not because it is exempt from any accountability whatsoever. We have given our rights away.

Actually, if you read through all the comments, you will see there are people who have had this issue without having drives or devices plugged in. Also, while most of the problems seem to be with the Mac Mini, others like me, have had it with other M1 products. I have an M1 Mac Air and have had the issue, and I have seen posts from other MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac users. Search SOCD and you will see there are posts about this in different communities.

I have been using mac's with USB accessories attached since May 2000 & have never had this problem.

Apple has reduced the number of ports forcing people to use accessories creating the problem & should have allowed for this in the design.

The hard drives were all attached to the 2012 i7 Mini replaced by the M1 Mini & never had this issue.

I am using a Lacie Drive which is now on its third Mac Mini since 2011 & never had this issue.

The Mini is the main computer for my business & having it reboot multiple times a week is bad, I loose work which costs me money & time to recreate.

The issue is with the M1 chip as this rebooting did not occur when using Power PC chips from 2000 until 2011 & Intel from 2011 until now.

There is also a problem with Preview on the M1. I create large PDF doc's & the M1 can't merge the files it stalls within 60 seconds, so I force quit, then transfer files to a usb & do the process on a 10 year old i7, also have a core 2 duo mini with 2GB ram which out performs the M1when merging PDF's.

I'm at the stage where I'm considering ditching the M1loosing money & going back to the 2012 i7 Mini.

Well, I had this same problem and spent numerous hours with Apple Support. Finally I took it to an Apple Authorized repair place and they found that my Western Digital external hard drive wasn't compatible with the M1 chip. (recollections of Microsofts disastrous Vista.) But even that didn't fix it. They had to replace my mother board and the problem was solved. Just thought you all would want to know!

Wow. The best solution on this whole page is literally Apple saying update your software and your option of just never have external drives or hubs while using which is not an option for 90% of users. The M1 mini is trash. Worse than the trash can. I video edit and just attempting to do anything on the machine is a joke. I have not gotten through a single editing session without multiple crashes and weird video artifacts and glitches that require replacing entire pieces of work. The bluetooth is trash. The I/O is trash. The worst apple product I have ever bought and I have been using macs since 2008.

For my new Mac, that’s what fixed it. I spent hours on the phone with Apple Support with no resolution. The technician at our Apple Certified repair place was able to talk to the engineers and that’s what ended up fixing it.

Just happened to my M1 iMac with Big Sur 11.6. Only thing attached was my apple watch charging cable (with no watch) connected to the official apple usb-c to usb-a converter. Never happened before in two months

This just happened to me when I clicked on a news story. All of a sudden and at the same time, a noise like cracking came from the speakers and the computer screen went dark and then is shut down. i restarted it and it is OK for the last few minutes. Had this since they came out, i hope I did not make a mistake getting this! Oh well, my old 2011 MacBook is faithfully waiting and still working as a backup. Hope this is something that APPLE can fix with a update.

Mine continued through multiple updates and a reinstall of the operating system. Then wiped the entire hard drive and reinstalled. Still happened. The Apple Certified technician talked to Apple engineers. Had to have the mother board replaced and now is no longer happening. Also, M1 chips apparently don’t like WD external backup hard drives, so got a Seagate. Hope this helps.

I am about 6 months into use of my new m1 MacBook. Now I am wondering if it is the board. After one year, warranty is gone. i hope Apple will do the right thing if this is a board problem. My MacBook M1 just did this last night, made a noise like lightning static on a radio and then shut down with black screen. But, it started up OK when I turned it on. This is NOT good, APPLE! We need to hear from you on this problem.

I have had it happening for 5 months multiple times a week, 2 weeks ago it shut down 6 times..

Try reinstalling your system, after my third reinstall the problem has stopped.

Another problem I encounter every day is the Finder becoming unresponsive then having to force quit.

So every few days I use First Aid in the Disc utility app.

I am annoyed with Apple as the M1 was supposed to be superior to Intel's chips.

On a daily basis I revert back to a 10 year old i7 Mini or a 5 year old 21" iMac to carry out tasks the M1 fails on.

Will never buy a new Apple product again & if any friends or clients ask about the M1 my response is do not buy, keep their Intel until the 3rd generation M1 is released, by then it should be problem free

An M1 rebooting and hanging doesn't sound right, my iMac M1 has been absolutely outstanding and I had this error just once. Have yours exchanged, there's definitely something wrong with yours which is not (only) this SOCD error

Apple support just go through the motions. Yesterday I up dated my M1 mini to Monterey & 4 hours later it rebooted, so they have not fixed the problem.

Monterey has dozens of new features which the Youtube bloggers will rave about but there seems to be no fix to a system flaw creating havoc for many of Apples paying customers.

I am sure the problem is hardware related & Apple dont want to admit there are faults with the M1 as it would be a huge embarrassment.

I'm in Australia & reported the problems to consumer affairs they told me that Apple are difficult & will only replace as a last resort.

Going by the number of online complaints & reports the SOCD fault affects lots of M1 Macs. I cant afford to replace a $2000 computer after a few months. When it fails I go back to a 10 year i7 Intel mac which the M1 replaced. So much for progress.

Good luck

Tried to exchange the M1 with Apple support in Australia but the problem started about 3-4 weeks after the purchase date & here the full refund period is only 2 weeks.

Then filed a complaint with state consumer affairs who told me Apple were very difficult to deal with & that they would drag the process out.

I am self employed & just dont have the time to stop work & go through the motions, when it reboots I go back to a 10 year old i7 mini which runs very hot but still works.

Yesterday I up dated my M1 mini to Monterey & 4 hours later it rebooted, so they have not  fixed the problem. 

I decided to ditch the Mini now and maybe try the MBP 16" now that it is is out with the Max chip. The M1 MBP don't seem to have the same issues as the mini. I decided to check with apple to see what they would give me on trade in for my Mini (1TB 16Memory Late 2020) that I bought new 6 months ago. They offered $700 trade value for a less than 6 month old machine that cost me around $1800. And this was if I was purchasing a 3k+ machine. lmao