2018 MacBook Pros crashing with "Bridge OS" error

[Never mind]

Unless you are an Apple engineer working on the case, this is nothing more than pure speculation. You can’t possibly know enough about what Apple knows or doesn’t know about the issue to make that statement.

Yes, but since Apple will not chime in, all we can do is speculate and since Apple has messed up in the past including now I would rather just send them a clear message by returning the darn computer until they do come forward with an explanation. Just leaving us in the dark is putting a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Yes, but since Apple will not chime in, all we can do is speculate and since Apple has messed up in the past including now I would rather just send them a clear message by returning the darn computer until they do come forward with an explanation. Just leaving us in the dark is putting a bad taste in my mouth.

Agreed. But my response was directed at the poster who said that Apple has no idea what the issue is. There is no way anyone can say that without being deeply involved in the case. Just because they haven’t stated that they know what it is or that they are working on/close to a solution does not mean that they have no idea. They may not, but without being neck deep in the investigation/research and/or resolution, one can simply not make that jump.

 

[mreg376]

Unless you are an Apple engineer working on the case, this is nothing more than pure speculation. You can’t possibly know enough about what Apple knows or doesn’t know about the issue to make that statement.

Apple has no idea what’s going on when the same problem has been evident for a year and they’re still shipping $1,200 to $13,000 devices with the same defect.

 

[mdnz]

Because of a software issue?

Because you pay $3000 and it kernel panics? The reason why doesn't matter. And unless you work at Apple you have no idea if it's software or hardware related.

 

[Plutonius]

Apple has no idea what’s going on when the same problem has been evident for a year and they’re still shipping $1,200 to $13,000 devices with the same defect.

I would have to agree that Apple knows by now what is failing with the T2 and why. Seeing how they haven't completely eliminated the problem also shows me that they do not have a solution yet.

If it was a software / firmware issue, Apple would have had it solved in under a year. If it's a hardware issue, software / firmware can do much to mitigate hardware issues but they generally can't eliminate them entirely.

 

[mreg376]

I would have to agree that Apple knows by now what is failing with the T2 and why. Seeing how they haven't completely eliminated the problem also shows me that they do not have a solution yet.

If it was a software / firmware issue, Apple would have had it solved in under a year. If it's a hardware issue, software / firmware can do much to mitigate hardware issues but they generally can't eliminate them entirely.

That may be true, but if Apple knows something about a hardware issue they're keeping it from everyone, including their own "geniuses," who look at you like a deer in the headlights when anything about a "T2 problem" is mentioned.

And sometimes, when a software/firmware solution is imposed as a workaround or intercept for a hardware defect, it impacts performance or features, which is not what people paid thousands of dollars for a computer expect or should be subjected to. I laugh at proposed T2 solutions that are essentially "turn off this" or turn off that." These machines need to be shoved up Apple's a** until they acknowledge the problem and come up with a solution that will work, even if that means replacement of the T2 chip or entire motherboard.

 

[turbineseaplane]

These machines need to be shoved up Apple's a** until they acknowledge the problem and come up with a solution that will work, even if that means replacement of the T2 chip or entire motherboard.

110% agree.

I find the addition of the T2 pretty frustrating as it seems to offer marginal benefits along with a huge new problem, as seen in this thread.

 

[MacNut]

Because you pay $3000 and it kernel panics? The reason why doesn't matter. And unless you work at Apple you have no idea if it's software or hardware related.

So you return it and get another one and it does the same thing. Maybe it is software.

 

[AZhappyjack]

That may be true, but if Apple knows something about a hardware issue they're keeping it from everyone, including their own "geniuses," who look at you like a deer in the headlights when anything about a "T2 problem" is mentioned.

And sometimes, when a software/firmware solution is imposed as a workaround or intercept for a hardware defect, it impacts performance or features, which is not what people paid thousands of dollars for a computer expect or should be subjected to. I laugh at proposed T2 solutions that are essentially "turn off this" or turn off that." These machines need to be shoved up Apple's a** until they acknowledge the problem and come up with a solution that will work, even if that means replacement of the T2 chip or entire motherboard.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... I've had my 13" 2018 MBP for about 6 months now ... not the first issue ... but that doesn't help those who are struggling with the issue. I still want to believe with everything within me that Apple has not yet identified the cause and solution, but that doesn't mean they are incompetent or uncaring... sometimes problems like this are hard to track down and eradicate. I hope they are not sitting on a serious, hardware issue for which they know the cause, and have just chosen to not address it (and seriously doubt that is the case). I do wish they were a bit more forthcoming with with the details about what they DO know - it might go a long way with the customer base. Not everyone is a fanboy or a shill... most of us just like what we like, and expect it to "just work" like in "the olden days".

 

[Plutonius]

So you return it and get another one and it does the same thing. Maybe it is software.

Reading through this thread, it seems like in many cases that exchanging cures the problems while in other cases, it doesn't.

You may end up with another MacBook Pro with T2 problems but exchanging it has a good chance at working.

 

[MacNut]

Reading through this thread, it seems like in many cases that exchanging cures the problems while in other cases, it doesn't.

You may end up with another MacBook Pro with T2 problems but exchanging it has a good chance at working.

I also wonder how wide spread a problem this is. It could be only effecting 300 people and they all posted in this thread.

 

[Plutonius]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... I've had my 13" 2018 MBP for about 6 months now ... not the first issue ... but that doesn't help those who are struggling with the issue. I still want to believe with everything within me that Apple has not yet identified the cause and solution, but that doesn't mean they are incompetent or uncaring... sometimes problems like this are hard to track down and eradicate. I hope they are not sitting on a serious, hardware issue for which they know the cause, and have just chosen to not address it (and seriously doubt that is the case). I do wish they were a bit more forthcoming with with the details about what they DO know - it might go a long way with the customer base. Not everyone is a fanboy or a shill... most of us just like what we like, and expect it to "just work" like in "the olden days".

Apple is addressing it with software and firmware patches. Unfortunately, if it's a hardware issue with the T2, I don't believe they can entirely fix it in software / firmware.

Apple is a large corporation and their decisions are based off of profit and cost. This is demonstrated by their problems with the butterfly keyboard which started in 2016. Apple refused to acknowledge the problem until they were hit with a class action lawsuit. Even after the lawsuit, Apple continued using the butterfly keyboard with a minor change (membrane) and the keyboards are still failing in the 2018 models.

Apple is neither for the most part uncaring or incompetent. They are just a business who decided that continuing to sell computers with the T2, is better than acknowledging the problem, suffering lack of sales and reputation while they work on a fix, and a recall (i.e. it's better to keep quiet).
[doublepost=1545856616][/doublepost]

I also wonder how wide spread a problem this is. It could be only effecting 300 people and they all posted in this thread.

I don't think it's as widespread as it seems from reading the forum but I think it's a definite issue (i.e. more than 300).

On the other hand, I think that many people just see a computer restart in the morning and they don't even realize that they had a bridge OS failure .

 

[beageek]

Apple is addressing it with software and firmware patches. Unfortunately, if it's a hardware issue with the T2, I don't believe they can entirely fix it in software / firmware.

Apple is a large corporation and their decisions are based off of profit and cost. This is demonstrated by their problems with the butterfly keyboard which started in 2016. Apple refused to acknowledge the problem until they were hit with a class action lawsuit. Even after the lawsuit, Apple continued using the butterfly keyboard with a minor change (membrane) and the keyboards are still failing in the 2018 models.

Apple is neither for the most part uncaring or incompetent. They are just a business who decided that continuing to sell computers with the T2, is better than acknowledging the problem, suffering lack of sales and reputation while they work on a fix, and a recall (i.e. it's better to keep quiet).
[doublepost=1545856616][/doublepost]

I don't think it's as widespread as it seems from reading the forum but I think it's a definite issue (i.e. more than 300).

On the other hand, I think that many people just see a computer restart in the morning and they don't even realize that they had a bridge OS failure .

Agreed. I guess many people don't notice the bridge OS failure since all apps will be up exactly what they were working on.

 

[RobbieTT]

Eh? What about the crash report that comes up and offers the option to send to Apple?

 

[Idefix]

That may be true, but if Apple knows something about a hardware issue they're keeping it from everyone, including their own "geniuses," who look at you like a deer in the headlights when anything about a "T2 problem" is mentioned.

the geniuses can't answer because they have very strict non-disclosure agreements.

If they comment they will be quoted all over the internet--and incidentally, immediately fired.

 

[dotzero123]

Would restarting the MacBook and pressing "D" for diagnostics let folks know if there was a problem with their Mac?
(Possibly a stupid question but jut thought it was worth an ask.)

 

[Plutonius]

Eh? What about the crash report that comes up and offers the option to send to Apple?

If they had it sleeping at night, many people just receive a message stating a restart was done. People here have said they had to dig through the logs to find out they had a bridge OS failure.

 

[kreasonos]

I would have to agree that Apple knows by now what is failing with the T2 and why. Seeing how they haven't completely eliminated the problem also shows me that they do not have a solution yet.

If it was a software / firmware issue, Apple would have had it solved in under a year. If it's a hardware issue, software / firmware can do much to mitigate hardware issues but they generally can't eliminate them entirely.

Do you actually believe if this was a hardware issue that Apple would not have changed the hardware by now? You really believe that? Furthermore, do you think if there was some massive issue with the T2 chip that Apple would have R&D'd a new Macbook Air and put the same chip in it and then released it to the public? Think long and hard about that.

 

[AMKassirMD]

I received my new 2018 MacBook Pro i9 32MB Vega 20 on Black Friday, November 23. From nearly the beginning, I've encountered several failures to wake from sleep, requiring a reboot. I never received a crash report...until December 21.

On this day, while connected to LG Ultrafine 5K monitor, I chose Sleep from the Apple menu. (All previous times didn't involve the LG.) The MacBook Pro was in “clamshell” mode. I disconnected the Mac from the display. After a couple of hours, I opened the MacBook, which restarted. For the first time I was presented with a problem report, which seems to indicate a Bridge OS kernel panic. The report is copied below. I also submitted the report automatically to Apple. Previous wake-from-sleep issues did not result in an automatic restart; rather the Mac was unresponsive and I had to force a shutdown. Perhaps this automatic restart is necessary for the crash report to be available.

Here are the first few lines of the report:

{"caused_by":"macos","macos_system_state":"running","bug_type":"210","os_version":"Bridge OS 3.2 (16P2542)","timestamp":"2018-12-22 03:03:01.40 +0000","incident_id":"3E28D9BB-8A64-4F8B-8582-F76C32BB3479"}

{

"build" : "Bridge OS 3.2 (16P2542)",

"product" : "iBridge2,7",

 

[kreasonos]

I received my new 2018 MacBook Pro i9 32MB Vega 20 on Black Friday, November 23. From nearly the beginning, I've encountered several failures to wake from sleep, requiring a reboot. I never received a crash report...until December 21.

On this day, while connected to LG Ultrafine 5K monitor, I chose Sleep from the Apple menu. (All previous times didn't involve the LG.) The MacBook Pro was in “clamshell” mode. I disconnected the Mac from the display. After a couple of hours, I opened the MacBook, which restarted. For the first time I was presented with a problem report, which seems to indicate a Bridge OS kernel panic. The report is copied below. I also submitted the report automatically to Apple. Previous wake-from-sleep issues did not result in an automatic restart; rather the Mac was unresponsive and I had to force a shutdown. Perhaps this automatic restart is necessary for the crash report to be available.

Here are the first few lines of the report:

{"caused_by":"macos","macos_system_state":"running","bug_type":"210","os_version":"Bridge OS 3.2 (16P2542)","timestamp":"2018-12-22 03:03:01.40 +0000","incident_id":"3E28D9BB-8A64-4F8B-8582-F76C32BB3479"}

{

"build" : "Bridge OS 3.2 (16P2542)",

"product" : "iBridge2,7",

Does anyone have a timeline of Apple's Bridge OS updates? Build logs?

 

[Plutonius]

Do you actually believe if this was a hardware issue that Apple would not have changed the hardware by now? You really believe that? Furthermore, do you think if there was some massive issue with the T2 chip that Apple would have R&D'd a new Macbook Air and put the same chip in it and then released it to the public? Think long and hard about that.

I don't believe anyone is saying that it's a massive problem.

It take quite a bit of time to design, test, and fab a chip like the T2 in the quantities they need (its not a simple go in the back room and come out with something that works). I'm sure that Apple produced a large amount of the T2 before the iMac Pro or MacBook Pro even came out and that Apple assumed (probably correctly) that they could fix most of the T2 chips failures in software / firmware.

There was no way from a cost standpoint that Apple could admit anything wrong with their centerpiece T2 chip or stop using it. Charge a little more for the computer and AppleCare and assume that most of the issues will be corrected in software and firmware. What do you think would happen to Apple if Apple took out the T2 from the Air or Mini ?

A question to you. Don't you think if there was some massive issue with the butterfly keyboard that Apple would have R&D'd a new type of keyboard and then released it to the public? Their solution was to add a membrane to the butterfly keyboard and call it fixed even though there seems to be just as many failures. Apple is a corporation like any other.
[doublepost=1545884226][/doublepost]

Does anyone have a timeline of Apple's Bridge OS updates? Build logs?

Apple doesn't mention or document the bridge OS errors but you can probably assume that all the software / firmware updates since the MacBook Pro was released had some T2 fixes in them.

 

[mreg376]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... I

That's probably what makes it so difficult. Maybe it's

Do you actually believe if this was a hardware issue that Apple would not have changed the hardware by now? You really believe that? Furthermore, do you think if there was some massive issue with the T2 chip that Apple would have R&D'd a new Macbook Air and put the same chip in it and then released it to the public? Think long and hard about that.

No, I don't think Apple would have changed the hardware. When is last time that Apple changed hardware in the middle of a production run. You'll realize that was NEVER. They may still think after a year that people will either deal with it or the problem would disappear. But it hasn't. Sone brand new computers have the same problem the iMac Pro did a year ago. Think even short and hard about that and the answer is obvious. They don't know, don't care, cannot find a solution, and DON'T want to replace the defective hardware.

 

[Howard2k]

110% agree.

I find the addition of the T2 pretty frustrating as it seems to offer marginal benefits along with a huge new problem, as seen in this thread.

Grudgingly, I agree.

I think it (T2) has great potential, but the MBPro line up these days seems risky for those of us with machines that are working perfectly well. Sure, there's always a gamble, but I think it's indisputable that the odds are worse these days than they have been in.. Maybe forever? 13" Quad Core should be something that's worth of celebration IMO, but there are too many with problems for my taste. Certainly put me down in the "jealous" column of this who have machines that are working well. I'm just not ok rolling the dice. ESPECIALLY at current pricing.

 

[SDColorado]

That's probably what makes it so difficult. Maybe it's


No, I don't think Apple would have changed the hardware. When is last time that Apple changed hardware in the middle of a production run. You'll realize that was NEVER. They may still think after a year that people will either deal with it or the problem would disappear. But it hasn't. Sone brand new computers have the same problem the iMac Pro did a year ago. Think even short and hard about that and the answer is obvious. They don't know, don't care, cannot find a solution, and DON'T want to replace the defective hardware.

Or alternatively maybe they *have* replaced hardware? Perhaps a revision of the T2 chip and still haven’t solved all the issues? It would be an update that they would not have to make a public announcement about.

It isn’t as though Apple hasn’t tried and failed with 2nd and 3rd generation hardware. Maybe they will finally solve the keyboard issues in Gen 4?

 

[Beancamel]

Apple is notorious for not admitting they have a problem. why would they? most users arent going to notice nor care... small vocal power users will make waves and bring it to light but not enough to get Apple to scramble and fix this in a timely manner... IMO (emphasize opinion) its a hardware related issue. maybe the T2 tech wasnt ready for prime time.... maybe it wasnt flogged and tested ENOUGH, who knows? Apple may just need to go back to the drawing board and admit defeat cause if it was as simple as a firm ware or software update i think they would have dolled it out by now!