2018 MacBook Pro 13" issues that every model has?

[M-1]

I ordered a customized 13" MacBook Pro 2018 model with touch bar. I've been excited to take delivery of this Mac but am now seeing large threads of issues specifically towards:

• Speaker crackling / Audio jitter
• Crashes with an error related to Bridge OS

This is extremely discouraging to read especially when these Mac models are over 6 months old. One would think that any software issues have been ironed out by now but even with the latest update it seems the issues are ongoing.

Apparently the culprit of these issues is the new T2 chip. However if I look on the MacBook Air forum, I don't see any threads about this. Since the MacBook Air Retina has a T2 chip, I guess it may not be the T2 chip after all.

I've had some pretty nasty experiences with several MacBook Pro's in the past related to kernel panics and discrete nvidia graphic card issues. From my experience whenever Apple adds more features like automatic graphics switching, more issues arise. So to avoid these problems I've settled with per se simpler Mac models in the past like the MacBook Air which have less bells and whistles but were more reliable and dependable. I wanted to revisit and give the MacBook Pro's a chance since I am a power user but apparently after more than 10 years with Macs, it seems MacBook Pro's still face several reliability issues.

Is this in fact the case or are these threads exceptions to different use cases and possibly related to third party pro peripherals?

Now I'm thinking to settle with a MacBook or MacBook Air Retina yet again so as to avoid these issues but I am also hopeful to hear some positive feedback specifically on the 2018 MacBook Pro Touch Bar 13". It would be reassuring and I hope to hear to hear back from some users that have not experienced any of the issues above.

 

[CrysisDeu]

Just to add another one. It seems that noise when ssd is under load is also a common issue that happens on all mbps.

 

[KayM8]

I'm afraid this won't make you any happier... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-flexgate-discussion.2160010/

 

[leman]

These issues are certainly not something that every model has Without a doubt, the reports so far indicate an increased probability of experiencing one of these problems, but it doesn't mean that you will experience them. None of our 2018 13" — or 15" models — and we bought around a dozen so far, have any of these problems.

 

[Hadron]

The truth is that the one thing you cannot tell from forum posts is how common these issues are. I work in a field where the MBP is a common choice, and as well as having a late 2018 model myself know a number of others who are using them. Nobody I know has suffered any of these problems.

That's not saying that they are not real - obviously they are. But it's very hard to judge how likely you are to encounter them: forum posts give a skewed picture and Apple don't release any numbers.

The only issue I encountered was that it was less stable than I'd expect out of the box (soft reboots a couple of times a week, the "stability patch" making no difference). But updating to Mojave fixed all of that, and it's now back to what I expect from one of these things: the only time I reboot is for an update that requires a restart (the last being 29 days ago). It struck me as sloppy that the OS it came with wasn't stable, but I guess they'd shifted their attention to Mojave...

 

[Howard2k]

These issues are certainly not something that every model has Without a doubt, the reports so far indicate an increased probability of experiencing one of these problems, but it doesn't mean that you will experience them. None of our 2018 13" — or 15" models — and we bought around a dozen so far, have any of these problems.

Have you tried recording with a USB audio interface?

 

[leman]

Have you tried recording with a USB audio interface?

No, we don’t do audio work of that kind. Our audio people use lab or field equipment and don’t record directly to the laptop.

 

[Ploki]

I have a 13" i5/16/512 i just got yesterday and it has no issues. No coilwhine, no T2 issues, no crackles, no audio dropouts, not overheating.

in fact, it runs so cool that fans drop 0 when browsing the web. (I didn't know they do that lol, i thought iStat Menus is broken)

it's tons better than the i9 i returned

I don't have a USB interface, but firewire so far seems to work OK.

I advice against doing a migration - i think T2 machines prefer to be setup as new.

 

[dapa0s]

I have a 13" i5/16/512 i just got yesterday and it has no issues. No coilwhine, no T2 issues, no crackles, no audio dropouts, not overheating.

in fact, it runs so cool that fans drop 0 when browsing the web. (I didn't know they do that lol, i thought iStat Menus is broken)

it's tons better than the i9 i returned

I don't have a USB interface, but firewire so far seems to work OK.

I advice against doing a migration - i think T2 machines prefer to be setup as new.

My 13 inch 2018 was great as well, but I returned it today, since I got the base model with 8gb ram, and I need more for logic pro most of the times.

Now I'll either order an iMac 5k or another 13 inch with 16gb ram, I'm still not sure. But the 13 inch I returned was great with 0 issues.

 

[jerryk]

I think what you are seeing is the "forum amplification effect". If one person says "this is happening" 10 people will chime in and post over and over about the issue. You see it all the time. As a Tesla owner if your read the forums you assume they all have doors put on backwards, the paint is applied by kindergartners, and they catch fire every day.

I would just wait until you get your computer and try it out. You may get unlucky and have some issues. But, the odds are you will be like most users you will join the "silent majority" and just enjoy your computer.

 

[Ploki]

I would just wait until you get your computer and try it out. You may get unlucky and have some issues. But, the odds are you will be like most users you will join the "silent majority" and just enjoy your computer.

besides, you can return it.

My 13 inch 2018 was great as well, but I returned it today, since I got the base model with 8gb ram, and I need more for logic pro most of the times.

Now I'll either order an iMac 5k or another 13 inch with 16gb ram, I'm still not sure. But the 13 inch I returned was great with 0 issues.

check out the Mini. it's amazing with logic; much better than the i9 + you can stick a lot of RAM in it.

 

[chrfr]

No issues with my i5 2.3/16GB/512GB model at all.

 

[dapa0s]

check out the Mini. it's amazing with logic; much better than the i9 + you can stick a lot of RAM in it.

I gave it a go, but I hated that I had to get my own screen. I have this one and, honestly, it's nowhere near as good as the one on the 5k iMac.

 

[case2001]

I have a 13" i5/16/512 i just got yesterday and it has no issues. No coilwhine, no T2 issues, no crackles, no audio dropouts, not overheating.

in fact, it runs so cool that fans drop 0 when browsing the web. (I didn't know they do that lol, i thought iStat Menus is broken)

it's tons better than the i9 i returned

I don't have a USB interface, but firewire so far seems to work OK.

I advice against doing a migration - i think T2 machines prefer to be setup as new.

Ok not to hijack the thread, but I’m hijacking the thread....

So my tbMacBook Pro was delivered this morning. I am coming from a 2013 MacBook Air with Sierra. I have time machine backups since I got the machine new in 2013. I was planning to use migration assistant to set it up. Are you suggesting this is not advisable? Could you be specific about your experience setting up. I would appreciate it!

 

[jerryk]

No, we don’t do audio work of that kind. Our audio people use lab or field equipment and don’t record directly to the laptop.

I do. I have a couple of interface (Onyx Blackjack and Audient ID14) connected to DBX 286s processors. The interfaces connect to a 2018 15" Macbook Pro and a Surface Book. No issues with recording on either the MacBook Pro or Surface Book. On both machines I use Adobe Audition as the DAW.

 

[Gamer-Dad]

Ours are problem free as well...

 

[Ploki]

Ok not to hijack the thread, but I’m hijacking the thread....

So my tbMacBook Pro was delivered this morning. I am coming from a 2013 MacBook Air with Sierra. I have time machine backups since I got the machine new in 2013. I was planning to use migration assistant to set it up. Are you suggesting this is not advisable? Could you be specific about your experience setting up. I would appreciate it!

Person on logic forums said that same issues he was having disappeared when he set up his Mini as new.
You can do the migration thing and if issues happen, try a clean install, if it doesn't work

 

[upandown]

Anything you read on here is overblown. The speaker issue is real but a lot better than it used to be. I’m confident they will fix it eventually.

 

[Cashmonee]

Tomorrow will mark one week with my 13". I used the migration tool from a 2018 Mac mini, and have yet to have any T2 issues that I know of. The one issue I have come across is charging. Sometimes the computer won't charge on a particular USB port, but if I switch it to another it works, and then the original port works as well. I reset the SMC this morning after coming home to a completely dead machine yesterday because of this.

Otherwise it has been fine. I have the i7/16/1 for reference.

 

[Ploki]

Tomorrow will mark one week with my 13". I used the migration tool from a 2018 Mac mini, and have yet to have any T2 issues that I know of. The one issue I have come across is charging. Sometimes the computer won't charge on a particular USB port, but if I switch it to another it works, and then the original port works as well. I reset the SMC this morning after coming home to a completely dead machine yesterday because of this.

Otherwise it has been fine. I have the i7/16/1 for reference.

I also did a migration to 13" from a 2018 Mini. But 2018 mini is also T2.
I have the i5/16/512.
Does the i7 also turn off fans completely?

 

[Cashmonee]

I also did a migration to 13" from a 2018 Mini. But 2018 mini is also T2.
I have the i5/16/512.
Does the i7 also turn off fans completely?

During web browsing and word processing, etc the machine is as silent as my mini was. It does kick up fans more than the mini did though.

 

[Ploki]

View attachment 815509

During web browsing and word processing, etc the machine is as silent as my mini was. It does kick up fans more than the mini did though.

the i5 turns them off completely looks like this is unique to the 13" i5.

 

[meme1255]

I have the 13" MBP since September - I have experienced 1 KP related to BridgeOS during sleep (with older macOS, it hasn't appeared with 10.14.2). I can trigger BridgeOS KP when I run disk utility check on the system drive (live checking). I'll sent report to Apple directly via dev bug reporting system, not only via the system dialog if 10.13.3 does not resolve it though. I have no keyboard or audio issues.

The fans: In my experience it idles at 0 RMP without external display. With the display connected it usually won't turn off the fans entirely, it rather keeps them running at ~800-1200 RPM (not audible).

 

[Ploki]

I have the 13" MBP since September - I have experienced 1 KP related to BridgeOS during sleep (with older macOS, it hasn't appeared with 10.13.2). I can trigger BridgeOS KP when I run disk utility check on the system drive (live checking). I'll sent report to Apple directly via dev bug reporting system, not only via the system dialog if 10.13.3 does not resolve it though. I have no keyboard or audio issues.

The fans: In my experience it idles at 0 RMP without external display. With the display connected it usually won't turn off the fans entirely, it rather keeps them running at ~800-1200 RPM (not audible).

Just by clicking "First Aid" to verify? I can't find the old "repair" button anymore in 10.14.2

 

[PhilMacbook]

Before buying I was concerned about issues I'd read about on here but my MBP is fine. Most of them must be fine otherwise there would be high profile law suits and news stories on mainstream media.

I did have a problem with Migration Assistant. It seemed to migrate everything except iTunes and Photos which I did manually. The backup drive failed the following day so perhaps it was due to the drive rather than the MBP or Migration Assistant.