Macbook Pro Late 2013 shutting down randomly

Question

Macbook Pro Late 2013 shutting down randomly

I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Late 2013) not one week ago, and already I have had several instances where it has shut down of its own accord, seemingly at random. I suspect this problem has carried over from my previous laptop via the content I've transferred (see below for details), but I can't be sure.

Product Details:

Model: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Late 2013)
Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 (Q-Core)
Memory: 16GB 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (Dual Graphics)
Operating System: High Sierra 10.13.6

The Problem:

As stated above, the laptop shuts down seemingly at random, even when the laptop isn't under any particular strain. Since purchasing the laptop, I have mostly been either internet browsing or running short Python scripts (usually with runtimes of less than a minute). After an indeterminate amount of time, the screen will go black and the laptop will shut down, sometimes a few seconds after (as indicated by the keyboard light still being on after the screen goes black), sometimes instantaneously. Being recently refurbished, the laptop's various components have had very little use so far, with the battery cycle count at a mere 13 to date.

I actually had the same problem with my previous laptop - a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, Late 2012) - and I couldn't identify the cause then either. Anti-malware and anti-virus scans came back clean, and the built-in Apple Hardware Test also turned up nothing, although when I tried to run the extended Hardware Test the laptop would always shut down after about 7 minutes. I (perhaps wrongly) chalked it up to a hardware fault and thought nothing further of it, as I already had plans to buy a new laptop. The fact that the problem persists even on a completely different laptop, however, leads me to believe that the cause is down to something on the hard drive, but I am at a complete loss as to what. I transferred all the content from my previous laptop to this one.

Attempted Troubleshooting:

The following is all in reference to my current laptop.

Reset the SMC and PRAM (had no effect)
Malwarebytes and Bitdefender scans (came back clean)
Built-in hardware test said everything was fine
Constantly monitoring temperature with TG Pro, which never shows any indication of overheating (although sometimes upon restarting following an impromptu shutdown, it will briefly display a temperature of ~90-100 degrees Celsius, before quickly falling to ~60-70)
Asking for 'Previous shutdown cause' via the Terminal invariably returns code -128 following one of these shutdowns
After reading online that a possible cause could be a faulty Thunderbolt LAN Ethernet driver, I followed the solution there, which seemed to work for a few hours, but the laptop did eventually switch itself off again
Tried rebooting in Safe Mode, and reproduced the task I was carrying out at the time of the previous shutdown, which involved browsing on Safari and using TOPCAT (data manipulation software used in astronomy) while simultaneously running a Python script (which this time was quite lengthy by design, because I wanted to see if the laptop would cope with it). This time, the laptop actually did show signs of overheating before shutting down, as TG Pro displayed temperatures in the 90s and the fans sounded like they were going into overdrive

That's everything I can think to include. If you would like an EtreCheck report (or something similar) then I am happy to provide one. Obviously any help at all would be much appreciated, as this has been driving me absolutely crazy! Thank you.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6), Late 2013

Posted on Aug 2, 2018 12:02 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Aug 2, 2018 12:38 PM in response to BlindGuardian20

Also - and I'm sure this goes without saying, but just in case - the battery has never been close to being depleted when the laptop shuts down. Lowest it has been at the time of shutdown is 27%. It's perhaps also worth noting that it seems to have this problem regardless of whether it is plugged in or not.

Reply

Answer 2

Aug 2, 2018 2:28 PM in response to BlindGuardian20

EtreCheck Report (in case it helps)

EtreCheck version: 4.3.6 (4D041)

Report generated: 2018-08-02 20:07:21

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:58

Performance: Excellent

Problem: Computer is restarting

Description:

Computer shuts down randomly with no obvious cause.

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

No Time Machine backup- Time Machine backup not found.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Kernel extensions blocked- There are blocked kernel extensions awaiting user approval.

Apps with heavy CPU usage- There have been numerous cases of apps with heavy CPU usage.

Unsigned files- There are unsigned software file installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

32-bit Apps- This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Abnormal shutdown- Your machine shut down abnormally.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro11,3

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4850HQ) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 13

Video Information:

Intel Iris Pro - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD

NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M - VRAM: 2048 MB

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0512F 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Internal PCI 5.0 GT/s x2 Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 500.07 GB

disk1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) 500.07 GB (206.63 GB used)

disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] 500.07 GB (47 MB used)

disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] 500.07 GB (1.04 GB used)

disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] 500.07 GB (1.07 GB used)

Mounted Volumes:

disk1s1 - Macintosh HD 500.07 GB (291.11 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /

Encrypted

disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] 500.07 GB (291.11 GB free)

APFS

Mount point: /private/var/vm

Network:

Interface en0: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

Interface en3: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 4.99 GB available

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G65)

Time since boot: Less than an hour

System Load: 1.66 (1 min ago) 1.58 (5 min ago) 1.50 (15 min ago)

Security:

System	Status
Gatekeeper	Mac App Store and identified developers
System Integrity Protection	Enabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool