I guess I'm late to this party, but I'm curious if anyone has heard of any more instances of this issue? Is anyone searching for solutions to their mysterious MBP shut down problem and coming across this forum page?
About a month and a half ago, I would have said my mid-2014 MBP was the smoothest and least troublesome computer I've ever owned. It handled tons of work and projects with ease, had strong battery life, and rarely hiccupped for any reason. Then, after one long day, I opened Netflix and my screen went dark. The fan ran hot for about 10 seconds, then the screen went black. My laptop was off.
It was shocking, not because I hadn't experienced an unexpected shutdown before with a laptop, but because I'd never experienced anything remotely suggesting a problem on this particular computer which, at this time, is still under 4 years old. After that first shutdown, I worked for weeks terrorized by this sudden black screen. Beyond the fact that video seemed more likely to trigger it, and that it would happen in consecutive bursts (effectively killing any work session), I couldn't isolate or attribute the problem.
Three Geniuses at Apple spent about a week, in person and over phone, telling me to update my operating system. I do a lot of creative projects and avoid updating as much as possible for compatibility issues. But I was at wit's end with this problem. I updated, and several things changed: I lost the ability to use several third-party programs I relied on, some directories were altered or missing, and my laptop, without question, ran noticeably, and booted considerably, slower. By this point, I was crushed to find it did nothing to curb the sudden shutdowns. Some weeks of stress later, I came across this forum post.
@smorhaim and
@robwainwright's script to keep 1 core running at 100% instantly solved the problem for me. I was completely thrilled when I came across it. I didn't (and still don't) understand exactly what it does and why it works. All I know is my MBP doesn't shut down when I keep this script running.
The bewildering issue began right in the middle of a particularly intense and busy work time for me, so when this script solved it, I tried my best to carry on and catch up on all my work. It is now several weeks later. I have set up to work more from the office desktop, and without relying on my MBP so much, I have a much better perspective on the machine in front of me.
The shutdowns are no more, but running this script BURNS my MBP. It runs hot and loud, and battery life is at best a quarter of what it should be. The computer is hysterical and just holding the thing feels wrong. The fan noise also prohibits me from doing the number one thing I bought the computer to do: audio recording. Disable the script and the computer looks, feels and sounds pristine and works effortlessly - until it shuts down again.
I have done some research and learned there was a graphics issue with earlier Retina MBPs. The only intuition I have from my experience with this problem tells me it is also somehow linked to the graphics card. Based on the replies on this thread, I also get the sense that it is a fairly prevalent problem that calls for more organization than a 2-page forum post. I urge anyone who has come across this thread for similar reasons to post here and share your story.
This is my first MBP. It was a bit of a leap of faith - the most expensive computer purchase I ever made. When I bought it, I gifted my Toshiba laptop to my father. He has since used it every day professionally and it is still running beautifully after 9 years.
