Frequent Kernel Panic Late 2016 MacBook Pro 13"

It looks like you have the 2 USB-C port model (non-Touchbar). Both Kernel Panic logs are showing "NVMe: fatal error" where "NVMe" refers to your SSD. You need to make a backup if you need to save your data since the SSD could fail completely at any time. I've seen this error with some of our organization's Macs and sometimes the SSD disappears completely while I'm making my initial diagnosis.

The partial good news is Apple has a free SSD repair program for certain laptops:

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-service

Here is a free battery repair program for this model as well:

https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement

FYI, here is the current list of the publicly acknowledged free repair programs for various Apple products (some products like your laptop have multiple programs available):

https://support.apple.com/service-programs

safemanusa0548 wrote:

I did run Disk Utility offline on all of the disk components and they all checked out.

I also ran the "D" diagnostics. I know there are more diagnostics that Genius Bar can run.

Unfortunately the Apple Diagnostics don't detect most types of drive failures. Disk Utility only checks the file system which doesn't normally drive health.

I have an appointment with Genius Bar techs on Saturday. We'll see what they say. I have 6 kernel panics so far and all are printed out.

Unless they understand how to interpret Kernel Panic logs, they may not find any issues. Typically SSDs are either working or not working. There is usually very little middle ground. However, if the SSD is "functional", then normal Apple techniques for troubleshooting will not identify the SSD as bad until the SSD dies completely.

Should the logic board also be replaced at the same time?

No. So far these types of issues have always been resolved by replacing just the SSD. SSDs are actually very "fragile" and can fail quite easily. I don't trust them at all and always have good backups.

I have done SSD replacements in similar systems. Do you recommend Beetstech to source the SSD or should I stick to Apple?

They should be an Ok company. I keep them on my radar for parts, but I've never purchased anything from them. However, you must be careful because if you get a 128GB or 256GB SSD from them for this laptop it may have a hardware/firmware issue as listed in the SSD repair program I linked earlier and you won't know it and an Apple tech has no way of identifying which SSDs are affected because Apple does not provide their techs with this information (they go by system serial number). You also have to make sure the SSD is not worn out or excessively used since SSDs have a limited number of lifetime writes available (of course I now check the SSDs Apple installs when they repair our laptops since I recently received an SSD that died within 90 days of the Apple repair due to being completely worn out).

safemanusa0548 wrote:

HWTEch Great replies!! I have these comments and questions. I have these comments and questions.

However, you must be careful because if you get a 128GB or 256GB SSD from them for this laptop it may have a hardware/firmware issue as listed in the SSD repair program I linked earlier and you won't know it and an Apple tech has no way of identifying which SSDs are affected because Apple does not provide their techs with this information (they go by system serial number).

I went to the webpage for the SSD repair program and my MacBook Pro doesn't qualify. I am hoping that after they review the Kernel Panics and point out the "NVMe" that they will agree that I am having an SSD issue AND that my MackBook Pro uses the same SSD that the mid 2017 models use.

The problem is you don't know whether the SSD you receive has the issue outlined in the Apple SSD repair program. Because Apple doesn't publish any details about exactly which SSDs are affected so there is no way to identify the problem SSDs except by the serial number of the laptop which is meaningless if the SSD is pulled from another unknown laptop (did that laptop qualify? Did that laptop get repaired?). It would be nice if we knew exactly which specific SSDs have the issue either by manufacturing date or by SSD serial number, etc. It would even be nice to know the exact issue. All I know is the issue can sometimes possibly be prevented by an SSD firmware update if the firmware is applied before the failure begins to occur, but I don't know any other details.

So my point is there appears to be an overlap between the late 2016 and mid 2017 SSD and hopefully I can get a private SSD repair deal!

Yes, the same SSD is used for both the 2016 & 2017 non-Touchbar models.

You also have to make sure the SSD is not worn out or excessively used since SSDs have a limited number of lifetime writes available (of course I now check the SSDs Apple installs when they repair our laptops since I recently received an SSD that died within 90 days of the Apple repair due to being completely worn out).

How do you determine how many read/writes there have been to the SSD? Is there a history you can view with Disk Utility?

You need to use an app like DriveDx to manually examine the SMART health information/attributes. Keep in mind most of these apps don't always properly interpret SSD health information so I only use them to warn me when something may potentially be a problem so I can manually examine the detail of the health report/information.

Did you get a refund from Apple? You should have because aren't they supposed to be selling new parts if they actually do the repair?

Apple replaced the Logic Board which included the integrated SSD for free under the 90 day part/repair warranty (we discovered the issue just over the 90 days so we had to push Apple a bit to get it covered -- the failure happened within the 90 days, but we didn't examine the laptop until after the 90 days due to being extremely busy).

Beetstech tells you up front that their parts are used so I wonder if after purchasing I find out that the SSD is nearly worn out if I'm screwed. How many read/writes cycles are the Generation 5A SSDs good for? I should find out what state my current SSD is in!

I'm not sure Apple even publishes that information. Typical numbers in general for TBW (Total Bytes Written) are 150TB or 300TB, but it depends on the size of the SSD and the NAND used and it can vary with different values than these two common values. It doesn't help that Apple SSDs only provide the most basic health information via the SMART health information on the SSD (a very unfortunate trend also being followed by most other SSD manufacturers for the NVMe based SSDs).

Hi HWTech,

I went to the Genius Bar. They submitted the unit to the Apple Technician and he ran full diagnostics and installed new Firmware and wiped the SSD and reinstalled Big Sur. I’m going to run it for a while without installing the content from the Time Machine. I’ll see if any kernel panics develop.

Thanks again for your help!