MacBook Pro running Sonoma reverting to wrong date & time

I have tried all these fixes and more. It keeps going to July 28, 2020 at around 5pm

Ok this is how I fixed it after hours of trying different Terminal command all of them were not existing, illegal action (I don't know what does that mean) and File not found.

was able to fix it following Luis Sequiera1’s instructions but for those who have brain farts like me, here’s a bit more detail:

1 Turn off "Set time and date automatically"

2 Open Terminal app (go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal) and type the following:

sudo rm -f /private/var/db/timed/com.apple.timed.plist

(NOTICE THERE'S A SPACE BETWEEN -f /private!!!!)

3 Press Return. You will be prompted to enter your password. You will not see the password as it is being typed.

4 Press Return to run the command (you won’t see anything change on the screen, but it’s working its magic)

5 Restart the Mac

6 Go to System Settings > General > Date & Time > Set time and date automatically (I had to click on 24-hour time, which is what I originally had it on - and voi la!)

I had a slightly different path that worked to delete the plist from the Terminal.

sudo rm /private/var/db/timed/com.apple.timed.plist

It had to start from "private". It seems to have worked. No error returned. New plist had new creation date after reboot.

It also required me to go into the directories in the Finder to change some permissions to get in there. (Get Info, and then unlock permissions to change them.) Specifically "db" and "timed" seemed to want me to give permissions for everyone, rather than "no access". Not even sure I got them back to what they were. Crossing fingers.

I'm running Sonoma 14.1.2

Time will tell whether I fixed the problem.

1. System settings-->General-->Date and Time--> Turn off automatically set date and time
2. Goto Mactintosh HD
3. Push Command/Shift/Period
4. Now hidden folders are opened
5. Double click var folder and double click db folder
6. Find timed folder and right click/get info
7. Unlock (bottom right)
8. Click on everyone and select read & write
9. Go back and open timed folder
10. Delete com.apple.timed/plist folder
11. Restart computer
12. Go back to Date and Time settings as described in #1 and make sure set time/date automatically is selected
13. Click on 24-time to turn on and then click to turn off
14. Time is now accurate and you can either leave it on 24-hour time or regular time

I have same problem on Macbook Air late 2020 intel, and on Macbook Pro M1 ... and on old mini ..

I thing is a bug.

I have exactly the same issue mac book 2018, date time reverts to 25 jul 22 6pmish

No, it's a problem with com.apple.timed.plist You can change servers as much as you want and it will still show completely wrong date and time (and wrong I mean by months or even years).

me too. It's the 26th December at 4:35 and if I walk away for a while and come back the computer thinks it's 6th December at 5:15. Weird. Have fixed it for now using this command:

sudo sntp -SS time.apple.com

then turn off automatic update. But as someone said the time will drift eventually but hopefully this goes away by then.

A bit late to this thread but I’m also experiencing this issue and have been since late November. I have tried different time servers, I’ve tried all terminal commands recommended, I’ve been through a reboot process with Apple. All terminal commands are temporary. If I shut the lid to my Mac I must perform the command again upon opening. Just to add to this, I have a MacBook Pro 13" with Touch Bar - 2.3GHz, 512GB - Silver (2018), and I have noticed that on every occasion where the clock has jumped back, upon opening my Mac, it hasn’t locked properly, so I can see my full unlocked screen, rather than the locked user screen, but the Touch Bar is asking me to use Touch ID to unlock before I’m able to do anything, and the dock is often not visible until this is done.

I had the same issue with my 2023 macbook air. 1st time it did it, it went back couple of months. Now it went back all the way to 1976! And when I enter my password to change it the password keeps switching!

Same problem as others

Auto was May 2023. (Today, 24 January 2024).

Manually entered correct date.

Reselected Auto immediately went back to incorrect date of May 2023

However, as mentioned above this fixed it for me.

Deliberately input manual incorrect date of 2nd January 2024

Reselected Auto, defaulted to correct time and date. (24 January 2024)

I tried every solution I could find on the web and other boards to no avail. My MacBook wanted to tell me that today was March 18, 2021.

I followed fangirl3121 steps exactly, and now my MacBook knows the date and time.

I'm just copying this answer, which seems to answer the question. I honestly understand terminal but not how this discussion thread is supposed to read. So, here it is, with the context you need.

Lew

fangirl3121 has posted in the macOS Sonoma community.

Mac keep reverting to wrong date & time

was able to fix it following Luis Sequiera1’s instructions but for those who have brain farts like me, here’s a bit more detail:

1 Open Terminal app (go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal) and type the following:

sudo rm /var/db/timed/com.apple.timed.plist

2 Press Return. You will be prompted to enter your password. You will not see the password as it is being typed.

3 Press Return to run the command (you won’t see anything change on the screen, but it’s working its magic)

4 Restart the Mac

5 Go to System Settings > General > Date & Time > Set time and date automatically (I had to click on 24-hour time, which is what I originally had it on - and voila!)

I used the terminal bug fix. It works to reset the system auto time but then on a restart it goes back to the June 22 date / time