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Random Shutdown on Macbook Pro (15" mid 2014)

i have a Macbook Pro (Retina, 15', Mitte 2014) with El Capitan installed (10.11.6 (15G1004)).


It keeps randomly shutting down. This happens like this:

1. Screen turns black (does not turn off, logo-light is still on)

2. Fans accelerate,

3. After 5-10 secods, it turns off (screen & apple-logo turns off)

4. i can boot normally. no crash report.


I was not yet able to reproduce the problem. ive tried a lot:

- happens with or without power cord plugged in

- resetting the smc does not change anything

- reinstalling OSX does not change anything

- it feels like it happens mostly when having high CPU Usage, but running a benchmark (cinebench) to put pressure on the CPU does not automatically shut it down

- also happens with no CPU Usage at all (but fewer times)


What diagnostics can i provide to give you more detail?

What monitor tools are available to get more information about what happens?

Anybody encountered this... ever?


I'd appreciate your help!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Oct 5, 2016 2:16 PM

Reply
123 replies

Feb 26, 2018 12:49 PM in response to vier-zwo

I have the same problem on my MacBook Pro late 2013 2,6 GHz.

Problem started about one month ago.

Deactivating AppleThunderboltNHI.kext worked, but now thunderbolt drivers are disabled.

Anyway I am still able to attach a display using apple mini display to vga adapter plugged in the thunderbolt port.

Problems started after upgrading to High Sierra, I than downgraded to Sierra but nothig changed.

This is my third (and last) MacBook pro with harware problems, first two were GPU related (NVIDIA).

I'm really disappointed, Im a web developer, seems that these machines are not suited to work hard...

Really, really disappointed...

User uploaded file

Aug 29, 2017 11:16 AM in response to ARCHIBALDVDT

Hi Archibald, it seems your model might be able to be covered under the extension time. It disgusts me how the Genius Bar technicians will hide this information and not tell you, hoping that you will just pay the $500 to get it fixed. Check out this link and tell them to replace your logic board.


MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues - Apple Support

Jan 30, 2018 3:15 PM in response to JonathanLiang

Hi Guys


It looks like there are ways to report a bug to Apple:

https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/

Feedback - macOS - Apple


But to do this, we need a step by step procedure to reproduce the issue, and so far, at least for me, it was random.


Does anybody found a step by step procedure to reproduce the issue ?


Question to JonathanLiang: how did you get to find out about the driver "AppleThunderboltNHI.kext", and to remove it ? Is there some logs or infos we could give to Apple, to help them to solve the issue ?

Thanks Guys


Feb 9, 2018 6:07 PM in response to vier-zwo

Recently my MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2014) started an unprecedented condition: random false "low-battery" deep-sleep when it is on battery, then I press the power button, and the false low-battery sign shows up (even when there are plenty of battery charges remaining), I have to connect the power-adapter to MBP to boot it up. This problem does not happen when MBP is connected to the power adapter. The battery condition is normal and healthy (battery cycle # is ~200), Apple Diagnostics of OS X reports no problem. My MBP never had any problem before, until this recent issue.

There could be certain correlation between this issue and the recent OS X updates.

I tried the following, none of them solve this problem:

(1) Reset SMC

(2) Reset PRAM

(3) The workaround suggested in: https://outluch.wixsite.com/rmbp-crash

(4) Plug in the ethernet thunderbolt adapter, as suggested in this webpage (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7697352)

Please kindly help, thank you very much.

MBP spec:

15", mid 2014, OS X High Sierra 10.13.3, 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache, 1T SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M

Feb 26, 2018 1:12 PM in response to giomadaro

best way to fix this laptop is to run windows 10 on it and not use macos who would of thought that you buy a macbook and windows runs better on it than there own operating system this will be the last apple product i ever buy already looking else where, ive been looking around and it seems this issue has been around since 2011 wait ago apple on fixing your stuff ups, bet they do this like there iphone/ipad slow down because they want you to upgrade well ill be upgrading just not to an apple product. Heres the page i found https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ and theres so many people on the net complaining about the mid 2014 so i think apple need to acknowledge and add it to this page

Jan 11, 2017 6:30 AM in response to vier-zwo

Having this exact same issue with a 15" mid 2014 Macbook Pro (2.2GHz I7, Intel Iris Pro) also. Tried all the usual diagnostics including a clean reinstall. I'm on MacOS Sierra.


I'll try to keep it plugged into an external monitor now to see if that makes a difference. If that fixes it then it would possibly point towards an issue with the onboard graphics card.


@view-zwo, @Linus001 and @Jbc30 are you still experiencing these issues? Are you all on mid-2014 Macbook Pro with Iris Pro graphics?

Jan 11, 2017 1:42 PM in response to Mary Jeffery

Yes I am still having this issue, although mine is a Late 2013 model running Iris Pro graphics, but I think those are still essentially the same machine. After extensive tests from the folks at my local Apple authorized service provider (and some lovely diagnostic fees) they concluded that it must be a logic board issue. They seemed to be fairly unsure about what the actual issue is though, and when I pressed them on it they just said "sometimes these things just go out" which is barely an answer at all. I can't really shell out the cash to get the logic board replaced right now, and I'm also afraid that the 'diagnosis' may be incorrect anyway.


They did thing there was a possible connection between this issue and the graphics issue with early 2013 MacBook pros that forced a recall, but that it wasn't widespread enough in this model to cause Apple to recall anything.


Interestingly, I have found that when I never put the computer to sleep but instead shut down the machine completely every time I close it, that the issue has not appeared. I don't know why this is the case or if this temporary fix will last, but I've been able to use my computer for the last several weeks doing this and have not had the issue recur while holding to this pattern.


Obviously this isn't an effective permanent fix because its a bit of a pain, but to me its less of a pain than always using it plugged into an external monitor.

Jan 13, 2017 3:44 AM in response to Jbc30

I've been running my MBP connected to an external monitor for the last couple of days and it doesn't shut down so that seems to cure the issue. Obviously having it connected to an external monitor all the time negates the benefit of having a portable computer. I'll take it to Apple next week, usually they will fix hardware issues for free if your MacBook was bought in the EU, so fingers crossed.

Jul 16, 2017 12:52 PM in response to vier-zwo

Hi everyone, I am copying my comment on posts with the same exact issue. After 6 visits to the Apple Store due to the same issue and running every software and hardware diagnostics possible, I am now asked to pay $475 to have my MacBook Pro shipped off-site for hardware inspection. They do not know what is wrong with it but some technicians were guessing it was the logic board (that will be around $600 of a fix now). Anyhow, I am not going to be paying that much for a device I initially paid over 2 grand for. I brought up that fact that a lot of people in the community have been facing the same problem and asked what are the next steps that could be done to initiated some sort of program for these specific MacBook Pro Retina 2013-2015 models. I was told nothing will be done until Apple deems it is a big enough problem. It is not a user-related issue but rather a faulty manufacturing issue that users now have to pay the price for.

Aug 28, 2017 5:19 AM in response to vier-zwo

Hi everyone Same probleme with same computer Macbook Pro 15 mid 2014, my mac has been shut down randomly for few month now, I've just replaced the retina screen (antireflect issue) I thought my mac would be fixed after that, but no, it keeps going to shut down it makes me crazy ! i've been at the apple store for a diagnostic and they didn't find anything wrong !

Sep 8, 2017 4:44 PM in response to vier-zwo

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.

Sep 14, 2017 8:33 PM in response to vier-zwo

I have exactly the same problem and could not permanently solve that. Currently, I connect my MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt Ethernet cable (no matter whether I connect to the ethernet), and it can solve the problem. But this will cost more battery power.


I think this is a logic board issue and it is due to the design of this model. Apple did not pay attention to that until there are lots of people encounter this and report to them.

Random Shutdown on Macbook Pro (15" mid 2014)

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