2014 Macbook Pro Retina turns off randomly

I had the same Issue with the same machine.

In the end (I tried almost everything you can think of) I solved the problem by reapplying new thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5).

The shutdowns are caused by too much heat (emergency shut down) because of a bad thermal paste. Mine covered only about 50% of the CPU´s surface.

In fact, the temperatures showing in the temperature tools were not higher than normal, but reapplying thermal paste helped completely.

It´s easy in this model.

There are some youtube videos showing, how to to.

Ifixit is good for it too.

The random shutdowns started happening on my mid-2014 macbook Pro Retina in Dec 2017. If I restarted the machine, it would last about 5 minutes before shutting down. I found I could prevent a shutdown by having an external monitor plugged into my MacBook. Not practical long term of course...

I think there is a CPU low voltage condition that might be resulting in the processor and the machine shutting down. This app worked for me to correct the problem: NoCrashMBP from RealMacMods.com

https://realmacmods.com/product/macbook-pro-nocrash-utility/

It was $10 at the time I purchased it. No shutdowns since I loaded the app. I have made it a login item so that it runs every time I start up the macbook.

Cheers,

B B

Jarrad,

I don´t know, what Apple would do. The thermal paste only covering half of the cpu can't be seen unless the heatsink will be put off. The whole procedure with removing the old paste und reapplying new will last about 1 hour or less. What will Apple calculate for one hour? Maybe 200$? Perhaps you can find a repair shop doing it for 100$ or less. I don't think, a repair shop does it worse than an apple technician.

My MacBook Pro 15 mid 2014 runs still fine after reapplying thermal paste.

I don't think it's your battery. I think there is a CPU low voltage condition that might be resulting in the processor and the machine shutting down. This app worked for me to correct the problem: NoCrashMBP from RealMacMods.com

https://realmacmods.com/product/macbook-pro-nocrash-utility/

It was $10 at the time I purchased it. No shutdowns since I loaded the app. I have made it a login item so that it runs every time I start up the macbook.

Thanks bbftx. Macbook pro nocrash utility is the solution

https://realmacmods.com/product/macbook-pro-nocrash-utility/

Hi Jarrad Beard,

It sounds like your computer is turning off with no rhyme or reason behind it. I would start with using this article to reset your SMC since that is one of the symptoms that the article mentions:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support

Resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own

Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
   Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

If the issue persists, then I would use the troubleshooting information in this article next for additional assistance.

OS X: When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem."

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care,

Sterling

Having same problem with MacBook Pro retina Late 2013. Randomly shuts off with increasing frequency. Reapplying new thermal paste makes some sense to me because, if I am understanding correctly, the problem can be visibly observed when opening the computer. Would Apple agree to doing the paste procedure even if they disagreed with the diagnosis/solution? Any idea what it would cost, since the repair is beyond my skill level.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
Computer turns off when it's not charging. Happens with any level of battery, coconutBattery says my battery is healthy. Display become black with backlight on, after couple of seconds I hear noise of fans. Have to force reboot by holding power button.

Started couple of month ago. I'm alway on the latest OS X.

If you upgraded to yosemite, then when you go to recovery and reinstall, it should be yosemite. Not maverick. To go back to maverick you would have to completely wipe your drive by erasing it. If when you open to recovery,you are seeing maverick. Installing it over the top of yosemite will mess things up not help.If you were to wipe your drive by erasing it, you would have to use internet recovery to reinstall Then when you did command+r, you would go to a globe and enter in your wifi setting and it would take you to where you had to use your apple id. This is used if you completely lose your operating system and have no other means to reinstall.https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4718

If you have tried some of the suggestions in this post and have not resolved the problem. You can initiate a hardware test to make sure this is not hardware relatehttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257 If your Macbook Pro is 2013 or newer use this. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

Thanks for your helpful reply.

I had the same problem! I paid almost $1.000 to replace my logic board and 6 months later my computer is with the same problem! This is the last time in my life with Mac.

Call the apple store in Vancouver and explain the problem. Including the distance problem and ask for some options. They will probably want to fix it also, but you could tell them it's a problem being without it that long. In the mean time try booting to safe mode Shift key at startup. If it boots up. it will try to repair the boot volume.To get out of safe boot, just press the power button until it turns off. You can use the restore mode ,only this time use utilities to go to disk utilities and run a repair of the drive and permissions. If you can you could try to boot to single users. Command S at startup. http://www.everythingmacintosh.com/tech-notes/repair-your-hard-disk-in-single-us er-mode/ The only thing I will add is if you get the system was modified. Run it again. Also pram reset Command/Option/P/R keys at startup for three chimes. When you do aSMC reset you do not hear any sounds or booting until you press the power button again.