MacBook Pro 15" (2016) Crashing while connecting/disconnecting the LG 5K Monitor

Update to my previous comment:
I went to the Apple store to test an identical LG 5k display with my own MacBook and it worked without any issues. Likewise, I asked one of my friends to come around to test my monitor with his MacBook and the outcome was the same. My monitor didn’t switch on and it also crashed my friend’s MacBook. I can safely conclude that in my case the fault is in the monitor. I contacted LG and they refused to take the monitor in for a fix. Also, since the problem doesn't seem to be with the laptop, Apple won't be able to fix it either. I contacted an LG partner that deals with fixes and they told me that the problem is most likely in the monitor's mainboard. They suggested to replace it and charged me £360 including pickup and delivery. It's expensive. Should I go for it?

I had same problem, MacBook frozen every morning requiring a hard reboot. I solved this by replacing LG’s included black thunderbolt cable with this cable that Apple just released: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD861LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-20-m

The issue has been resolved. Either by Apple directly with a software update (running OS X 10.13.2) or by myself as I'm now using Startech and A-logic USB-C cables as opposed to the cables that came with the 4K monitors that I use from Dell and Acer. It has not crashed - unless I accidentally make a mistake in the sequence of connecting / disconnecting it with the external monitors.

I think (hypothesis) that the issue with the laptop crashing is due to how the OS handles the power / signalling with the external monitors that it gets confused and crashes unless you follow sequence when connecting / disconnecting.

When the laptop is connected to an external monitor and the user wants to disconnect it from the external monitors, either to transport it (go to work) or to use it independently then they'd need to do the following.

1) If going to work, and the laptop is to remain in clamshell, - then put the machine to sleep BEFORE turning off the external monitor or disconnecting the cable.

2) if you plan on working with the laptop directly after disconnecting it from the external monitor. Then, open the laptop screen from clamshell, - make sure that it is working fine, - then disconnect the external monitor.

If you've returned from work and want to connect it to the external monitor. Either keep the laptop in clamshell, connect the cables, then turn on the monitor and bluetooth / wireless keyboard mouse and wait for it to send a graphics signal the monitor. If nothing happens, - then try opening the laptop screen to see if the laptop screen has your login details, etc.

I think (hypothesis) that the crashes were an issue with the OS - Graphics card - power management. If the laptop had been in clamshell - connected to external monitor. And you just disconnect the monitor, - the OS would believe it needs to go to sleep - it had just lost power, and if you then open the laptop screen directly. It would crash. Similarly when connecting the laptop to the external screen - it suddenly starts to receive a signal and it is trying to identify the accessory now connected to it.

Acer / Dell, and non-Apple hardware monitors have pretty basic accessories that do not have power management / communication chips in them to communicate with the computer. When a windows laptop connects to these monitors - they would work fine - as the OS is built to handle them. However, when it comes to an Apple laptop, - they require / expect the accessories (monitors) to have some sort of advanced - power management / signalling in them.

Also, its worth noting that the Dell / Acer etc monitors, are not Thunderbolt 3 monitors, - that they are a DP monitor with USB-C input interface labelled as ALT-DP. A thunderbolt 3 monitor would have the power management chip that I mentioned.

My laptop now does not crash - as long as I'm following the right sequence, and it automatically crashes if I don't follow the sequence. Feeling a lot better that I understand how to avoid crashes to not lose my work.

I disagree,

After updating to 10.13.2 I connected to both an LG 5K and an Apple thunderbolt monitor and was able to replicate in both instances the freeze by opening the clamshell. This was performed with the 2016 MBP w/touchbar and AMD Radeon Pro 460 GPU.

Something extremely interesting is that I did the same test with a 2017 MBP w/tb with Radeon Pro 560 and didn't freeze!

I documented this in a multiple videos and forward them to Apple. The GPU in the 2016 MBP is the problem.

Rob, I took my laptop to an apple store and froze. Thus far I have tested 4 different LG 5K monitors and 2 different 2016 late MBP with 460 GPU and crashed in every combination.

Even Apple confirmed to me yesterday that that reproduced the problem.

An important thing to do is to set you resolution, both laptop and monitor, to maximum (both while clamshell is open and when is closed. This results in certain freeze when you open the clamshell.

I assume your MBP has the AMD Radeon Pro 460 GPU?

The 2016 model. I bought a 2017 and held on to it for a couple of weeks to trial it. and it had crashed as well, so I returned it and held on the 2016. If the 2017 did not crash, then I would have held on to it and sold off 2016 to someone that doesn't need to connect to an external monitor.

Perhaps something to consider. Is your laptop SSD encrypted or unencrypted. When I had the hard drive encrypted, - it crashed 9 out of 10 times with an external screen and the machine being in clam-shell connected to a bluetooth keyboard. I rebuilt the machine without an encrypted drive, and along with the sequence approach to connecting / disconnecting to an external monitor. the laptop uptime is now more than 4 days. The last time it was restarted was when the OS X update came out. I generally do not restart / shutdown the machine. Oh, and I replaced the monitor cables to Startech and A-logic. I learned to avoid the original monitor cables.

Great!!! Thank you so much.

Please find below a video I made showing the problem.

MacBook Pro 15" (late 2016) Crashing while connecting/disconnecting external monitor. - YouTube

We tested two 2016 (late) BMP with 3 different LG 5K monitors and one Apple thunderbolt monitor and the problem was present at any combination (AMD Radeon Pro 460). Additional 3 replacement MBPs 2016 had GPU issues.

We also tested the 2017 BMP with LG 5K with no issue (AMD Radeon Pro 560)....

All tests with High Sierra

Yousef, I got 3 replacements (late 2016 MBP) and all had the same problem. This is not an isolated issue. When I used the 2017 MBP I didn't have a problem with LG 5K. I guess the problem is the AMD GPU.

See the following video:

MacBook Pro 15" (late 2016) Crashing while connecting/disconnecting external monitor. - YouTube

In my tests I didn’t have a problem with that 2017 MBP with the 560 GPU.

The test I did was with the 5k LG and opening the clamshell.

I also tested several 2016 MPB with the 460 GPU and all had the problem.

See the video I posted.

MacBook Pro 15" (late 2016) Crashing while connecting/disconnecting external monitor. - YouTube

Apple customer relations just called me. After looking at my case and all the videos I've sent them Apple's engineers were able to replicate the problem in house with the 2016 late MBP. However, they are not willing to replace nor refund the faulty computer. They proposed a work around - to run it in default resolution (both my MBP and my external monitor) which makes no sense. I didn't pay $3,500 for a computer that cannot achieve the advertised performance (5K resolution).

Bottom line, the first generation of 2016 MBP are faulty but Apple will not take full responsibility about it!

If this is not resolved within 2 weeks, I will take it further legally.

I want to draft a letter of complain and have it signed by all people with the same problem with the MBP late 2016. Please let me know if you are interested signing. You could also use this letter to claim your rights.

Very disturbing given that they know the problem.

The 2017 model had issues as well. I had used it for 10 days while my '16 was in repair - getting the motherboard replaced. The cost of a new motherboard that's a year old is now negligible for Apple. I can't see them being able to fix the problem in the current state of the technology the 2016 and 2017 models.

Let's see how the petition goes; and we can keep sending Apple the laptop for their thoughts.

At present, I'm trying to develop the habit of putting the computer to Sleep - say a prayer - connect or disconnect it from the external monitor; and then to use. The machine would crash if you don't send it to sleep then connect or disconnect it.

So there was an update from Apple that I loaded and I have not been able to get it to crash since..

I tried plugging my dual monitors in and out several times, closed clamshell, opened clamsell, closed then uplugged and then open.. close unplug then plug in again.. and it so far (crossing fingers) is just working..

I have a hardware appointment at Apple today (1 week wait for appt) and as luck would have it.. i cant get it to crash after the update..

Did they fix it ?

Prior to opening the clamshell, - did you have many applications open, or were you doing anything intensive?

I'm always working with two monitors connected, and I'm easily able to crash it, - when connecting / disconnecting to the monitors.

But, I've learned to send the laptop to sleep - wait a minute - disconnect the monitors. Leave the computer off for a bit, then open the clamshell and go back to work. The machine in this sequence did not crash. Similarly when I connect the machine to the monitors (while the laptop is in clamshell mode.) I turn on both monitors, - then wait patiently - while moving the mouse / pressing the arrow keys on the laptop. After a minute the machine is alive without a crash. Also, when the machine goes to screensaver mode while connected to the monitors, I always leave the screen saver running for a couple of minutes before resuming work.

I don't think the genius bar will be able to help you or anyone. It's a faulty machine. I'm learning to pray-and-live with it - while following sequential steps when connecting / disconnecting it to external monitors.

Same here. I went down to a single 5K with no other devices plugged into my MBP or the 5K the entire week. Didn't unplug the 5K either. Lasted a week before it finally hung and crashed. Using only basic apps, Safari, Mail, etc. If this crash report doesn't prove that the AMD cards are defective, then it's just Apple wanting to avoid any potential legal issues down the road.

*** Panic Report ***

panic(cpu 6 caller 0xffffff800796e339): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f8efdd42a, type 14=page fault, registers:

CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x0000000000000000, CR3: 0x000000001120d000, CR4: 0x00000000003627e0

RAX: 0xffffff7f8f3575a8, RBX: 0xffffff80461bfc00, RCX: 0x0000000000000202, RDX: 0x0000000000000000

RSP: 0xffffff9226f5bd80, RBP: 0xffffff9226f5bda0, RSI: 0xffffff80488a4500, RDI: 0x0000000000000000

R8: 0x0000000000000000, R9: 0x0000000000000000, R10: 0x0000cfd5c966d2a7, R11: 0x0000cfd5c966d2a7

R12: 0xffffff802fc78b00, R13: 0xffffff81abc42090, R14: 0xffffff80488a4500, R15: 0xffffff7f8f0c5daa

RFL: 0x0000000000010202, RIP: 0xffffff7f8efdd42a, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000000

Fault CR2: 0x0000000000000000, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x6, PL: 0, VF: 1

Backtrace (CPU 6), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff9226f5b830 : 0xffffff800784f606

0xffffff9226f5b880 : 0xffffff800797c654

0xffffff9226f5b8c0 : 0xffffff800796e149

0xffffff9226f5b940 : 0xffffff8007801120

0xffffff9226f5b960 : 0xffffff800784f03c

0xffffff9226f5ba90 : 0xffffff800784edbc

0xffffff9226f5baf0 : 0xffffff800796e339

0xffffff9226f5bc70 : 0xffffff8007801120

0xffffff9226f5bc90 : 0xffffff7f8efdd42a

0xffffff9226f5bda0 : 0xffffff7f8efbe91a

0xffffff9226f5be00 : 0xffffff7f8efbde11

0xffffff9226f5be30 : 0xffffff8007e95ecc

0xffffff9226f5bea0 : 0xffffff8007e95df6

0xffffff9226f5bed0 : 0xffffff8007888ec4

0xffffff9226f5bf40 : 0xffffff80078889b5

0xffffff9226f5bfa0 : 0xffffff80078004f7

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4100(1.6)[7EB9B6AC-08F7-3074-9D1A-C49C86602D21]@0xffff ff7f8ef9b000->0xffffff7f8f708fff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSurface(209.2.2)[AE58720D-7079-388F-AD95-FD2366F98F8D]@0xffff ff7f89dd2000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[8E6C654E-4A8F-3C6B-BBFE-BA8A68C9C146]@0xffffff 7f88094000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(517.22)[2AEA02BF-2A38-3674-A187-E5F610FD65B7]@ 0xffffff7f88884000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2(376.6)[5F8F39B4-41AB-3263-9867-D0FAF9BBD2A E]@0xffffff7f89dee000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:

17D47