You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Restart instead of shut down.

Recently upgraded macbook to Big Sur and got a new quirk. When using shut down command it restarts when connected to display (and power, type-c) however when disconnected, it shuts down as expected. Any thoughts on this?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Dec 4, 2021 8:45 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 5, 2021 9:30 AM

It's a long shot but give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Similar questions

10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 5, 2021 9:30 AM in response to mrgtjcqz

It's a long shot but give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Dec 4, 2021 9:28 PM in response to mrgtjcqz

Disconnected from what? Your external display, power - or both? Does it shut down normally if you disconnect the display,, but leave it connected to power? I would suggest that it's the display causing the issue, rather than whether it';s on AC or battery. What display is it? What model MBP is it? You state it's 13", but what's the exact year (click the Apple logo on the menu bar and select 'About this Mac', under the version of macOS you'll see the year and model of your computer).


The nature of your issue points to it being a problem with either the display, the cable - or both. Presumably you're connecting the display via an HDMI cable, yes? There are many here more knowledgeable than I am, but the fact it started after you updated to Big Sur is, to my mind, purely coincidental. If you're connecting via HDMI, does your monitor have the option to connect via Thunderbolt?


Think I'm going to have to defer this to someone more knowledgeable - paging @Grant Bennett-Alder.

Dec 5, 2021 5:51 AM in response to Barney-15E

The connection is one usb-c cable power and display. MacBook 2017.

This was not an issue before I upgraded to Big Sur.


No error messages previously (3 tries) before disconnecting, but now I found it had restarted overnight with a "shutdown because of an error" message rest unintelligible to me. I have shut down again and it seems to be holding.



Dec 5, 2021 10:21 AM in response to Barney-15E

err. not finding any log from the time of the error / report sent to apple.

fwiw I have replicated the restart behavior, connected, and shut down, unplugged, since without error. What I suppose I should do is test with two connectors, one for power and one for display, but don't have time to dig out the bits required just now.

Restart instead of shut down.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.