MacBook Pro 2020 (M1) shows purple screen and restarts

Blash1 wrote:

I already have all my documents and files backed up in the cloud, but having a second backup never hurts.

After a factory reset, is it safe to restore a full Time Machine backup, or would that also restore the underlying cause of the kernel panics?

"On the cloud" is great for sharing photos, but is not a viable backup solution for everything you have. The stuff is not under your control, and is subject to sloppy handling, arbitrary changes in policy, theft, accidental deletion, data loss [are they making frequent backups using best practices?], and discontinuation or throttling of the service. It can easily take three days to restore it at ordinary Internet speeds.

You do not need a factory reset, and it will not help your situation. If you do a factory reset, then restore everything from your backup, your Mac will be back where it started, you will have just wasted a day of your time.

I recommend you Not do a factory reset, until AFTER you have contacted support and allowed them to capture the FULL kernel-panic report History. Factory reset will erase all kernel panic history. That kernel panic history is your best hope at getting this resolved, so erasing it will set you back.

[in my opinion] You have a serious Hardware error, and a factory reset will do nothing to fix that.

Actually what you could do to make Apple take more serious notice of the Kernel Panics is to install macOS into a new APFS volume since you have 200+GB of Free storage space. Really all you need is about 80GB to install the second OS.

After installing the second OS beside the original, just make sure not to do any of the following when configuring the new 2nd OS:

• • Do Not sign into your AppleID or iCloud
  • Do Not restore from a backup
  • Do Not install any third party software

If you believe Sleeping & Waking the computer triggers the Kernel Panics, then try doing this while booted into the 2nd OS. I find a lot of hardware failures can be triggered by sleeping & waking the computer. Sometimes you may need to let the computer sleep a little while so try different lengths of sleep before waking the system until you find the correct combination so you may have a chance of showing the Apple tech the Kernel Panic on demand.

Showing a Kernel Panic on a clean installation of macOS without any AppleID/iCloud, no third party apps, and no restoration from a backup will have a huge impact on the Apple tech's assessment & likely will give you a repair estimate.

Doing this dual boot scenario allows you to continue to use your computer on the current 1st OS installation while trying to show case the Kernel Panics occur on a fresh install of macOS. Plus if you can reproduce the issue on demand, then if Apple performs their own clean install or DFU Firmware Restore, then hopefully you will still be able to recreate the problem on demand in front of them.

While the EtreCheck report shows you have a clean system with none of the known software culprits (at least by forum contributors)....Apple never sees it that way.

Please keep us updated on how things go with Apple.

Debugging steps:

General debugging tips:

Make certain you have applied all available software updates, because no one wants to debug a problem that might have been seen and solved already.

Then you need to go through the “regular" steps to eliminate added software as the cause of the problem:

• Run In Safe Mode, where no third-party add-ons are loaded

• create a new "clean" User account, and run with that to eliminate contamination in your regular User account

• run the diagnostic to check for GROSS issues. "no fault found" is not the same as "all is well".

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102550

If you are seeing kernel panics, post a panic report. Some panic-reasons suggest a Hardware issue. There is a procedure that can allow you to find those reports to post one. Ask for assistance if you need it.

Genius Bar:

if you take it to an Apple service provider first, they CAN run their diagnostics, which are a bit more comprehensive than the User diagnostics. In the very small amount of time they are run, “No faults detected” still does not mean “All is Well” but at least there are no detected GROSS problems. Unless they can find a fault, they will return your computer unchanged. Genius Bar technicians are NOT trained to read panic reports and computer logs.

When you present your computer at the Genius Bar with the expectation of a quote to repair it, you must generally meet these criteria:

• your Mac won't do anything

• your Mac fails diagnostics

• your Mac has a problem you can repeatably demonstrate on demand

one other oddball case:

• Apple online support has DIRECTED a Service Provider to replace specific components inside your Mac, such as the mainboard or display. Bring proof, such as case number.

Telephone Support:

The telephone support people are more likely to work with you. They will insist that you go through the motions to eliminate software issues. But when they get to the end of their list, Do NOT allow them to tell your it’s fine or there is nothing more they can do for you!

You should insist on having your problem escalated to a specialist. Specialists are more likely to actually read your panic or other reports. If still no resolution, ask them to start a formal, tracked Bug Report on your behalf. If they think this might be a Hardware problem they can DIRECT an Apple service provider to swap things (likely mainboard) for a new one.

Apple support does appreciate what we do as Volunteers here on the forums. They can and should read what has already been posted. Be sure to tell them where they can read it. But they do NOT take our conclusions at face value -- they have their own more rigorous procedures they follow.

You MUST have a Trusted backup before submitting your Mac for service. if the mainboard is swapped out, the boot drive will be swapped out as well, and you will not get your files back.

AFTER you have a Trusted backup, you should consider running the diagnostic.

[In my opinion] your Mac has a serious hardware issue.

Genius Bar technicians are NOT trained to read kernel panic reports, so you will need to get more evidence, or work through standard debugging procedures.

Readers can discuss this in more detail when you have a Trusted Backup on hand.

the most serious kernel panic is this summary:

Diagnostics Information (past 60 days):

2026-02-16 23:14:52 Kernel Panic

Details:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffe00182c2764): "AMCC PLANE2 Inconsistent AF c

ommand and DT state error: INTSTS 0x0000000000080000 INFO CA\/AF0\/AF1

0x1\/0x3000013\/0x7f ADDR 0x8c66f28a CMD\/AID\/TID 0x13(CifRdStCond)\

/0x14\/0x7 WAY\/SIZE 0x3\/0x7f"@AppleT8101PlatformErrorHandler.cpp:109

1

Panicked task 0xfffffe240c0b4128: 0 pages, 572 threads: pid 0: kernel_

AMCC is the chip carrier that holds processor die and RAM chips. A serious error was detected in a command sent through it. This error is an extremely low-level Hardware error, and may indicate RAM or cache hardware issues.

Then there is this one:

2026-02-16 20:13:30 Kernel Panic

Details:

panic(cpu 7 caller 0xfffffe0018a87840): Kernel data abort. at pc 0xfff

ffe00181f22fc, lr 0x62ce7e00181f22ac (saved state: 0xfffffe59f59b37b0)

Panicked task 0xfffffe30bad98f40: 35957 pages, 49 threads: pid 1073: G

oogle Chrome

My understanding is that a data abort occurs when you simply can not access the required data for some reason. in this case, the request came from an ordinary App, Google Chrome. But this was extraordinary enough to stop the entire system cold, not just stop Chrome.

then another one here:

2026-02-16 17:29:57 Kernel Panic

Details:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffe00126ea764): "AMCC PLANE2 Inconsistent AF c

ommand and DT state error: INTSTS 0x0000000000080000 INFO CA\/AF0\/AF1

0x1\/0xb000011\/0x7f ADDR 0x7535808a CMD\/AID\/TID 0x11(CifMvaOp)\/0x

17\/0x40 WAY\/SIZE 0xb\/0x7f"@AppleT8101PlatformErrorHandler.cpp:1091

Panicked task 0xfffffe230bfb48c8: 2227 pages, 16 threads: pid 452: air

portd

That was another AMCC inconsistent command error.

then this one:

2026-02-16 15:58:11 Kernel Panic

Details:

panic(cpu 3 caller 0xfffffe0015a27840): Kernel data abort. at pc 0xfff

ffe001514da8c, lr 0xb3bcfe001514cff4 (saved state: 0xfffffe92a40c71a0)

Panicked task 0xfffffe2670040f40: 0 pages, 583 threads: pid 0: kernel_

task

a memory data access geared by kernel_task was aborted by hardware and stopped the system.

Your have a few unusual intrusive items such as HomeBrew and Docker, that install deep inside the system, but [in my opinion], these do not appear to be able to cause the serious hardware issues you are showing.

Now the even more bad news:

Geniss bar technicians are not trained to read kernel panic reports. Unless you can demonstrate the issue on demand, or fail a diagnostic, they will return your computer to you, unchanged.

(continue to long form of conventional debugging steps)

I think you have done many of the things the "first responders" at apple support will ask of you. But stop short of a brute-force re-install -- you do not want to "Paper Over" the evidence by doing a re-install, unless they can ASSURE you that will completely fix the issue -- not a just a hunch. Otherwise, the problem will just come back again later and be harder to diagnose.

I suggest your next step is to contact Support, work with them, but be assertive enough to tell them to read through this discussion, and ask for a specialist to read your very unusual and likely serious kernel panic reports.

Support

If you do not have a recent local, disk-based backup, your computer is like a ticking Time bomb. You are only one disk failure, one mainboard failure, one crazy software, or one "oops" away from losing EVERYTHING! Drives do not last forever. It is not a question of IF it will fail, only WHEN it will fail. In addition, you never know when crazy software or Pilot Error throws away far more than you intended.

If you are using another direct-to-disk backup method that you prefer, and you currently have a recent disk-based backup, that is great. If not, you should consider using Built-in Time Machine. Take steps to acquire an external drive as soon as possible. If you buy one, a drive 2 to 3 times or larger than your the amount of data to be backed up is preferable for long term trouble-free operation. Do not pay extra for a drive that is fast.  (You can get by for a while with a "found" smaller drive if necessary, but it will eventually become annoying).

Attach your external drive and use

Settings > General > Time machine ...

... to turn on Time Machine and specify what drive to store your Backups on.  It may ask to initialize the new drive, and that is as expected. APFS format is default format if running MacOS 11 Big Sur or later.

I completely agree with @Grant's assessment.

The one Kernel Panic log I've never seen before and have no idea what it may mean, while the other one has no real information, but one user told us Apple replaced their Logic Board for it. I don't see any of the usual software culprits which are known to cause Kernel Panics, but I'm not a macOS software expert & you do have a couple of items installed that I am unfamiliar.

You do not need a factory reset. You do not need a re-install of macOS, which is now on a crypto-locked snapshot drive that can detect ANY unexpected changes fairly quickly, and notify you that your macOS needs to be re-installed.

the reason you must have a trusts backup on hand is that, if your Mac needs service, your mainboard (which contains your files) will likely need to be replaced, and your files will not be returned to you.

Before you had a backup, you were Stuck. Now you have some options.

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