Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Any fix for the random pink screen reboots on the new M1 macs??
- Thread starter swealpha
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You are definitely not alone having pink screen kernel panics. I had the issue as an early adapter of both a M1 iMac and a 13" M1 MacBook Pro. The problem appeared to be USB-C adapters/cables. The MBP had to have the firmware restored at the Apple Store. Better cables and OS updates have fixed the issues AFAICT.
Hi, new to the forum and not happy to see a lot of us are experiencing the pink screen issue.
I received my MacBook Pro M1 Max late Dec. 21’; last week I updated the OS to Monterey 12.2 from 12.1, following the update I’ve been experiencing the pink screen issue (not sure if the OS update is a direct correlation to the system crashing). To-date, the system has crashed 10+ times, system reboots, followed by the Kernel crash report. I report these back to Apple.
I use the laptop 95% of the time connected to an external Apple Thunderbolt Monitor using the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter, as well as an Apple Keyboard, and Microsoft Mouse plugged into the Monitor. The pink screen has only occured when I’m using SAP and Excel within the Parallels Virtual Machine.
I called Apple tech support over the weekend, ran a diagnostic twice, once with the laptop by itself and second how I would normally use it (external monitor connected, etc). Both times I received ADP000. I called Parallels tech support today, explained the issue, stated all the above, gave him access to my laptop to verify the settings etc., no issues were found within Parallels and Windows.
I tired to recreate the problem while tech support was screen sharing and the MacBook crashed (yay, not but yay). He gathered data reports from Parallels and I emailed him the Kernel crash report so they could decipher the cause of the crash. I’ll share the Kernel crash report from Parallels when I get it.
Based on the thread, I will plug the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter into a different port as well as using the laptop as I normally would without anything connected. Any other thoughts on what I should try?
I received my MacBook Pro M1 Max late Dec. 21’; last week I updated the OS to Monterey 12.2 from 12.1, following the update I’ve been experiencing the pink screen issue (not sure if the OS update is a direct correlation to the system crashing). To-date, the system has crashed 10+ times, system reboots, followed by the Kernel crash report. I report these back to Apple.
I use the laptop 95% of the time connected to an external Apple Thunderbolt Monitor using the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter, as well as an Apple Keyboard, and Microsoft Mouse plugged into the Monitor. The pink screen has only occured when I’m using SAP and Excel within the Parallels Virtual Machine.
I called Apple tech support over the weekend, ran a diagnostic twice, once with the laptop by itself and second how I would normally use it (external monitor connected, etc). Both times I received ADP000. I called Parallels tech support today, explained the issue, stated all the above, gave him access to my laptop to verify the settings etc., no issues were found within Parallels and Windows.
I tired to recreate the problem while tech support was screen sharing and the MacBook crashed (yay, not but yay). He gathered data reports from Parallels and I emailed him the Kernel crash report so they could decipher the cause of the crash. I’ll share the Kernel crash report from Parallels when I get it.
Based on the thread, I will plug the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter into a different port as well as using the laptop as I normally would without anything connected. Any other thoughts on what I should try?
I think it's macOS issue that Apple needs to deal with. Otherwise, there is no way to solve the problem. The only factor I can think of is try not to use external devices.
Nobody knows. One would presume there will be a spec update when the M2-series chips start rolling out, but that wouldn’t likely happen until after the iMac Pro and Mac Pro get their M1-series chips. So maybe not until very late this year or early next year.
It is likely that the only people writing about the problem are those experiencing it. If you search for those keywords, you’ll just find the posts saying they have a problem.
I’ve got an Air M1 but have never seen this issue either.
I was having kernel panics (the non-colorful kind) on Big Sur on an M1 Air last Feb/March but after the OS update in April(?) they stopped. It’s been very stable on Monterey.
I didn't start using Big Sur until July 2021 as I had lots of problems with it and went back to Mojave when Big Sur came out.
I've started getting these pink screen crashes, typically after waking from sleep on my M1 Max. Although getting it to stay in sleep seems to be half the battle too.
Started having issues after 12.1 with several per week so decided to do a fresh OS instal as I'd cloned my instal from my previous 2019 i9 MPB which this replaced. Installed only the software I need for my business just in case there had been a carry over with an old bit of software from the i9 MBP.
Still having the same issue.
Booked a Genius visit with a 3 hour drive. No issues found in store.
Engineer called as follow up to instal some data capture software to see if they could see what was going on.
Engineering have been back and said they until I instal a total clean instal with no other software installed, wait until the crash happens again then they'll be able to track down what the issue is!
How the hell can I do this on a business machine which I use to run my business and edit my projects on? Am I supposed to work on a blank OS. I've got nothing on which is too left field software wise. DaVinci Resolve, Adobe PS/LR, MS Word/Exel, SoftRAID for the DAS OWC, and Carbon Copy Cloner. That's it.
Pretty disappointed in Apple to be honest. The laptop rocks, I was planning to invest and replace my staff's laptops at some point. Although until this is resolved that some point is fast moving down the year.
Started having issues after 12.1 with several per week so decided to do a fresh OS instal as I'd cloned my instal from my previous 2019 i9 MPB which this replaced. Installed only the software I need for my business just in case there had been a carry over with an old bit of software from the i9 MBP.
Still having the same issue.
Booked a Genius visit with a 3 hour drive. No issues found in store.
Engineer called as follow up to instal some data capture software to see if they could see what was going on.
Engineering have been back and said they until I instal a total clean instal with no other software installed, wait until the crash happens again then they'll be able to track down what the issue is!
How the hell can I do this on a business machine which I use to run my business and edit my projects on? Am I supposed to work on a blank OS. I've got nothing on which is too left field software wise. DaVinci Resolve, Adobe PS/LR, MS Word/Exel, SoftRAID for the DAS OWC, and Carbon Copy Cloner. That's it.
Pretty disappointed in Apple to be honest. The laptop rocks, I was planning to invest and replace my staff's laptops at some point. Although until this is resolved that some point is fast moving down the year.
I used to work in corporate engineering support and one of my jobs was serviceability engineering. That part of the job was to create tools and write procedures and provide engineering input so that people in the field could more easily diagnose problems. If they want to essentially borrow your computer to test with, then they should provide you with a loaner so that you can run your production.
I only have my MacBook Pro running Monterey. I have two older notebooks that I could use but don't need to.
This is why large companies validate software and it can take many months to go through this process.
Exactly, how the heck can I do any meaningful work, except email and browsing, on a vanilla instal. I got a curt answer of tel if you're not willing to help us we can't diagnose the software issue. £3600 laptop....
I had pink screen kernel panics I traced to dodgy USB-C adapters. Do you have any external peripherals connected? Mine has since been fixed with better quality cables and OS updates. Hope this helps!
Managed to track it down to the SoftRAID controller for the external OWC 8 bay RAID box. SoftRAID issued an update which has cured the crashing. Seems things are slowly getting better with external peripherals over TB/USBC3.
Still have an issue with the time machine drive though. I can eject it in either the OS or in SoftRAID but when I turn the box off I get the jetted drive warning pop up.
Still have an issue with the time machine drive though. I can eject it in either the OS or in SoftRAID but when I turn the box off I get the jetted drive warning pop up.
UPDATE: I was told I had a lemon!
Last week, the Apple Store preformed a stress test, everything checked out. They then sent the MBP to the AppleCare Service Center, whatever test they performed yielded the replacement of the Logic Board and Touch ID Board. When I picked up the MBP today, the service tech stated the software update from 12.1 to 12.2 revealed a flaw in the hardware which caused the system to crash. I was told this was an isolated issue and I was one of the unlucky ones.
Restoring from Time Machine now, I'll check back in and provide an update.
Me neither. From this report, though, it seems like a hardware problem that affects a small number of devices.
I started getting this pink screen nonsense and crash, today. Immediately after updating to 12.4 Beta, but I seem to have traced it back to my VPN application. Weird.
UPDATE: The repair was a complete dud! I restored my machine and within minutes the system crashed and rebooted. Could this be a M1 Max issue? I called and spoke to AppleSupport, he confirmed the pink screen is a hardware issue, reviewed the repair, and questioned why the logic board was replaced but not the processor itself. I was told to bring it back to the Apple Store and tell them this is a repair chain issue, see how they remedy this, and ask for a new laptop at this point. Stand by ...
I hate it when you get caught in one of these repair loops. I’d be pushing for a brand new machine if you can. surely it would be a cheaper option for all concerned.
While I am sure pink screen panics can be caused by hardware, it is definitely not universally the case.
My own recent experience with 2020 M1 MBA which started pink screen panicking so frequently that it was nearly unusable, was solved by close scrutiny and search of the intimidating panic log that appears on the Desktop after the restart. Search for word "Panicked". I found that Creative Cloud was my culprit (see screenshot). I uninstalled and reinstalled Creative Cloud and it has been completely stable since. You can probably find past panic logs in var/tmp but you may need to unzip a sysdiagnose....not difficult. Of course your experience may not be so straightforward, and will probably be something other than CC.
Last edited:
Happened for the very first time on my 6 months old Mac Mini, last night. Suddenly, while watching Netflix on Firefox, there were pink squares spread all over both my displays, something like 40-50 squares with black space between them. Like polka dots. Then after a second or two, IIRC, screens turned black and a message appeared about kernel panic. I clicked 'OK', and it restarted fine.
If this happens every six months, I'll live with it, but it has me worried.
If this happens every six months, I'll live with it, but it has me worried.
I still have yet to see this problem and I don't see it being reported in r/Mac anymore. Perhaps they fixed it for some people with a software fix.