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Serious M1 Macbook Pro stability issues

Safe mode temporarily stopped the issue with the external monitor disconnecting and then kernel panicking when it was reconnected - although the mouse freezing persisted throughout.

After 24 hours I booted back into normal mode and both issues returned.

The final step is to reinstall MacOS.

I object to spending my time troubleshooting their (probably) faulty product.

However, it sounds like reinstalling MacOS doesn't take a tonne of time.

If that doesn't work then I am firmly demanding a fresh machine.

And at least - having completed troubleshooting steps - I can throw my weight around in-store.

Fortunately, I immediately ordered both a Macbook M1 and a Google Pixelbook Go when my last Macbook died mid-project, in December.

It was so unpleasant having to find and rent a Macbook in Lisbon at zero notice so I could hit my deadline that I swore I'll always have two machines, no matter what I am in the world.

I later wondered if having a backup machine was overkill.

But it's nice to know I can hand the M1 over and continue working on the (pretty awesome) Pixelbook Go.
 
To be clear, this may well be a hardware problem, but then again it may well just be a software issue (In my experience Safe Mode working makes it more likely that it's software. There are exceptions however. For example Safe Mode will allow some MacBooks with a bad GPU to function since Safe Mode does not load all the GPU drivers.) Software-only issues are still somewhat common (it's VERY common on Windows boxes). The bottom line is that if you use a computer for any real length of time you'll EVENTUALLY run into a software issue. It really stinks when it's with a new computer of course, but it's far from impossible. It's sure a LOT better than it use to be though. Back in the day your computer could crash while writing to the drive and you would spend the next 5 hours reinstalling the OS, from floppy, if you were lucky enough to have the floppies AND if they were still good. Plus you had to do all that work walking up hill, against the wind, in the snow, while pulling all the extensions cords with you! A real PITA let me tell you!

It's frustrating to be sure, and Apple may be your fastest and easiest solution, but if it turns out to be a software issue don't expect them to replace the computer, or say it's defective, or anything. It's certainly possible that the hardware is 100% fine, and that the software is, for whatever reason, utterly borked. With this being a relatively new machine, and the frustrations you've had, a sympathetic person at an Apple store may help you out.

Ultimately, a reinstall-in-place may not help you. You may need to do a full wipe and clean install to be completely sure that it isn't just a software problem, so your biggest concerns right now is making sure your important files are backed-up etc. Again, read-up carefully if you want to do a full wipe and reinstall on these, it's not the same (or nearly as easy) as on the older Intel based machines.
 
panjandrum said:
To be clear, this may well be a hardware problem, but then again it may well just be a software issue (In my experience Safe Mode working makes it more likely that it's software. There are exceptions however. For example Safe Mode will allow some MacBooks with a bad GPU to function since Safe Mode does not load all the GPU drivers.) Software-only issues are still somewhat common (it's VERY common on Windows boxes). The bottom line is that if you use a computer for any real length of time you'll EVENTUALLY run into a software issue. It really stinks when it's with a new computer of course, but it's far from impossible. It's sure a LOT better than it use to be though. Back in the day your computer could crash while writing to the drive and you would spend the next 5 hours reinstalling the OS, from floppy, if you were lucky enough to have the floppies AND if they were still good. Plus you had to do all that work walking up hill, against the wind, in the snow, while pulling all the extensions cords with you! A real PITA let me tell you!

It's frustrating to be sure, and Apple may be your fastest and easiest solution, but if it turns out to be a software issue don't expect them to replace the computer, or say it's defective, or anything. It's certainly possible that the hardware is 100% fine, and that the software is, for whatever reason, utterly borked. With this being a relatively new machine, and the frustrations you've had, a sympathetic person at an Apple store may help you out.

Ultimately, a reinstall-in-place may not help you. You may need to do a full wipe and clean install to be completely sure that it isn't just a software problem, so your biggest concerns right now is making sure your important files are backed-up etc. Again, read-up carefully if you want to do a full wipe and reinstall on these, it's not the same (or nearly as easy) as on the older Intel based machines.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advice.

So following their troubleshooting steps will help increase the chance of a straight swap?

I always tell people, 'I pay the Apple tax because I value my time'.

Well, this experience has damaged that argument.

I find their ambivalence and assumption that I have hours to play around as 'junior competition technician' to be pretty insulting.

They've not mentioned a full wipe and reinstall yet - just a reinstall.

I'll do the plain reinstall then firmly demand a replacement, if it doesn't work.

I've got Time Machine and it backs up once or twice each day.
 
alexjholland said:
Thanks for your advice.

So following their troubleshooting steps will help increase the chance of a straight swap?

I always tell people, 'I pay the Apple tax because I value my time'.

Well, this experience has damaged that argument.

I find their ambivalence and assumption that I have hours to play around as 'junior competition technician' to be pretty insulting.

They've not mentioned a full wipe and reinstall yet - just a reinstall.

I'll do the plain reinstall then firmly demand a replacement, if it doesn't work.

I've got Time Machine and it backs up once or twice each day.
Click to expand...

To be fair (to Apple, and to pretty much every other computer manufacturer), all computer-users have to occasionally play 'junior-technician' it just really stinks when it's with a brand new computer. Basically, for *hardware* issues your computer is covered, but it isn't covered for software issues.

Let us know how the reinstall-in-place goes (that's a common troubleshooting step, and it helps a surprising amount of the time).
 
Sigh. You're probably both right - other manufacturers suck more.

It's just a bit grating to spend $2.5k and be slammed with 'M1 processors are awesome' articles...

...and the reality is I've got their maxed-out, most expensive machine and it commits suicide whenever I leave it for a coffee break or lunch.
 
alexjholland said:
Sigh. You're probably both right - other manufacturers suck more.

It's just a bit grating to spend $2.5k and be slammed with 'M1 processors are awesome' articles...

...and the reality is I've got their maxed-out, most expensive machine and it commits suicide whenever I leave it for a coffee break or lunch.
Click to expand...
I mean M1 is essentially a beta product IMO. It's a new a CPU architecture and many programs are not optimised for it.


My 16" 2019 was $2.4K it has 4 USB-C(TB3) ports, supports 4 external monitors and comes with 16GB RAM 512GB standard.
It's also a much more stable and the intel Mac platform has many apps available.

IMO, most YouTubers just hype up M1 and other new products. I would buy Apple Sillicon machines 2 years, after all Macs have switched over it would get more stable by then. Till then I am fine with Intel 16".
 
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Kung gu said:
I mean M1 is essentially a beta product IMO. It's a new a CPU architecture and many programs are not optimised for it.


My 16" 2019 was $2.4K it has 4 USB-C(TB3) ports, supports 4 external monitors and comes with 16GB RAM 512GB standard.
It's also a much more stable and the intel Mac platform has many apps available.

IMO, most YouTubers just hype up M1 and other new products. I would buy Apple Sillicon machines 2 years, after all Macs have switched over it would get more stable by then. Till then I am fine with Intel 16".
Click to expand...
I can't argue against M1 performance.

It sits there coldly and silently while running a tonne of creative apps.

I just seem to have got an unstable model?
 
Kung gu said:
I mean M1 is essentially a beta product IMO. It's a new a CPU architecture and many programs are not optimised for it.


My 16" 2019 was $2.4K it has 4 USB-C(TB3) ports, supports 4 external monitors and comes with 16GB RAM 512GB standard.
It's also a much more stable and the intel Mac platform has many apps available.

IMO, most YouTubers just hype up M1 and other new products. I would buy Apple Sillicon machines 2 years, after all Macs have switched over it would get more stable by then. Till then I am fine with Intel 16".
Click to expand...

My experience is vastly different from yours. No stability/hardware issues whatsoever, any software issues I encountered were with third-party applications rather than Apple (although those have all been resolved at this time), many apps available on the M1 so I have no clue why you felt the need to prop up Intel there, significantly more efficient than any other computer I've ever owned, battery life that lasts for an entire cross-country flight (Alaska to Florida) and still has enough power for 10-12 hours of use once in Florida. My coding and development apps work, the Adobe and Microsoft Office Suites work, and tools I use such as iStat Menus, Alfred, even Paragon NTFS for Mac are working great (both on Big Sur and Monterey).
 
Good news.

I did a reinstall several days ago and all seems well.

No restarts/kernel panics. No mouse losing connection.

It wasn't a big deal, it took maybe 60-90 minutes to write the OS files.

No need to restore from backup.

I guess a file somewhere probably got corrupted and the reinstall fixed that?
 
NOPE - it's all fallen apart.

Several days later my mouse started failing again - and is almost unuseable.

And yesterday I had my first pink screen kernel panic after wake.

Install seemed to temporarily work and now it's bad again.

Straight back to Apple for an exchange, right?
 
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