2018 MBP 15" w/ Touch Bar WindowServer Crash and Subsequent Kernel Panic

Except for having several VPNs installed I don't see any usual culprits in the report. FYI, VPNs don't provide the security you think they provide unless you are connecting to a school or business VPN server where they will usually provide you with an app (sometimes a third party or open source app can be used). Otherwise, VPNs are only useful to get around local/regional network restrictions.

I originally suspected you had a bad Logic Board which is unfortunately quite common with the 2018-2020 Intel Macs. The "ProxiedDevice-Bridge" panic logs pretty much confirm it since this is related to the T2 security chip. Plus if actually reviewed some of those 30 Kernel Panic logs, it would probably also confirm a hardware issue....combined together I think it is safe to say the Logic Board is failing. About the only thing you can attempt is to perform a DFU firmware "Revive" to reset the T2 security chip & system firmware, or better yet a DFU firmware Restore followed by reinstalling macOS through Internet Recovery Mode.

How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support

Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

It can be tricky getting Apple to acknowledge that the Logic Board is bad since most Apple techs don't know how to interpret the Kernel Panic reports or the meaning of the "ProxiedDevice-Bridge" logs. Unfortunately even the Apple Diagnostics don't usually detect hardware issues. If you can reproduce the failures with a clean install of macOS (no migration or restoration from a backup & no third party apps), then it will be much easier to convince the Apple tech to replace the Logic Board.

However, I would question whether it is worth putting any money into repairing...instead investing that money into a new laptop. This model laptop also has known issues with the Butterfly keyboard which has a mix of design & manufacturing flaws.

forcex wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I already reinstalled the OS from recovery (without wiping the disk), does it revive the T2 chip?

It affects the T2 chip, but probably not to the same extent. There is no real information on it. I do know the Revive can make a difference under some circumstances.

I'm now running it in safe boot mode and so far did not encounter any issues. If it is functioning with no problems in safe boot, does it mean it's not a hardware issue?

Not necessarily since Safe Mode can sometimes disable some of Apple's own drivers (sometimes the camera, or Touchbar, plus it will use a more basic GPU driver). Normally if Safe Mode works, it would indicate an issue with third party software. However, I don't really see anything with the third party software here.

At the very least you need to try a DFU firmware Revive since I am fairly sure the issue is with the Logic Board and the T2 chip. Whether the "Revive" will permanently "fix" it is hard to say.

Run the third party app EtreCheck and post the report here so we can examine it for clues.

My laptop similar model was displaying the same behavior. I took my laptop in for an Apple Genius appointment and they took the laptop for a week suspecting logic board problems. I got it back with a report of no hardware issues, but a reinstalled OS stating it was a software issue (no extra detail).

I'm still having the same issues. Machine works fine in safe mode too. Crashes randomly. Sometimes it's in the first 3 minutes of use and others it works fine for 5 hours.

I've restored to Ventura 13.0, Ventura, 13.1, Ventura 13.6, Sonoma 14.0, and now on Sonoma 14.3 all with the same WindowServer crashes. Prior to a Ventura OS update I'd had no issues at all.

There's a MacOS software issue that isn't fixed.

Here's a screenshot of a brand new install. Completely wiped machine with nothing but the base OS installed. No extra extensions, no apps installed, nothing extra and it's still constantly crashing.

I've done DFU revive/restore. Reinstalled many OS versions. Given it to Apple to fix. Problem persists. All started the day after a Ventura upgrade. It isn't anything you've done.

Yes. It isn't just us either:

• https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/constant-kernel-panics-userspace-watchdog-timeout-no-successful-checkins-from-com-apple-windowserver.2222878/page-47?post=32166485#post-32166485
• https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/17222mf/anyone_else_having_windowserver_crash_every_now/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/yczalk/ventura_random_window_server_crash/
• https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/JBR-6451
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254325498?sortBy=best

You can search your way to more cases, but recognize it's a problem across numerous machines and it isn't hardware anything.