MacBook pro shuts down randomly several times per day
My MacBook Pro shuts itself down randomly several times per day. About 2 months ago, my MacBook Pro laptop suddenly shut itself down as I was surfing the web. This was very strange and not something that had happened previously. From this moment on, the computer would only stay on for roughly 2.5 minutes before it would shut itself down. This would happen whether I was checking e-mail, using the internet, or literally not touching the computer.
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My MacBook Pro's Specs:
• MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
• Processor = 2,5 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
• Memory = 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
• Graphics = Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB
• Mac OS = Catalina 10.15.7
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Of course, this made my work impossible (I work from home on my MacBook Pro). My MacBook Pro battery is definitely beyond its life and should be replaced (over 1,300 cycles and condition is listed as "service recommend). However, all the problems occurred when my MacBook was plugged in (it's always plugged in).
This is what I tried:
• Resetting SMC
• Ressting PRAM
• Using disc utility to find any faults
• Opened the MacBook Pro, cleaned the inside + fans of any dust/debris
• Replaced the thermal paste (in case over heating was the issue)
I read on one of the forums that some people with the same problem said it was caused because of a Thunderbolt .kext file and that removing this file fixes the problem. I did the proper procedure through the terminal (with the help of a friend who is a programer). However, once we removed the .kext file that everyone was saying is the issue, my MacBook Pro would no longer turn on at all and would just give that black screen of death when you tried.
At this point, I erased the whole hard drive and reinstalled the OS in order to start fresh. I thought this would solve the problem, but the random shut downs began to occur again, however less frequently (I would get 45 minutes to 1 hour before the random shut downs).
I tried some only benchmark/stress tests to see if it my computer was over heating and this was causing the issues. However, my laptop handled them fine. I've run apps that check my GPU temp, etc, and it runs on average around 50C and only goes up to 70-ish when it's under harder work.
Finally, I reset the PRAM (again), and for some reason, the shut down problem went away temporarily. I was able to use my computer for about 2 weeks for no issues.
However, then the random shut downs began to return. I'm now at the point that my MacBook shut downs randomly about 5-10 times per day. Also, about 75 percent of the time I wake my computer up from a sleep (for example opening the lid after it has been closed), my MacBook is unable to wake back up and I must restart the computer.
I have run a terminal command to see the list of shutdown events and the cause. For almost all the random shutdowns, it lists the cause as " -128".
I've run a Mac cleaning program, and it only shows minor issues:
Does anyone out there have any idea what could be going on, what might need to be replaced on my MacBook, etc? I've tried almost everything at this point and I'm not sure what else to do. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!
MacBook Pro Retina
