You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

2020 MacBook Air crashes constantly

My M1 MacBook Air crashes constantly, usually when unattended. It could just have a few apps running, like Music, Safari, and Finder. It's running fine, I close the lid and walk away. Next time I use to ˆ'm at the login screen after a reboot.


This has been a once every few days (although maybe a week or two with no crashes) frequency. Until recently when I updated the OS to Big Sur 11.6.2. Now I'm lucky to go a day without a crash. Three today.


Are others having this problem? Is there a solution? Did I get a lemon?

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Jan 5, 2022 7:33 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 7, 2022 8:43 AM

Hi Scott F,


Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode?


To start up in Safe Mode on your M1 MacBook Air:


  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Press and hold the power button (Touch ID) until Startup Options starts loading.
  3. Select your startup disk (Macintosh HD), hold down the Shift key, then select Continue in Safe Mode.
  4. Check if your Mac continues to crash (kernel panic):


  • If it continues to panic, please let me know. The issue probably lies with hardware, firmware, or the filesystem. (The majority of macOS Big Sur is fine, as it is cryptographically sealed. If it was tampered with, your Mac would refuse to start up.)


4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 7, 2022 8:43 AM in response to Scott F

Hi Scott F,


Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode?


To start up in Safe Mode on your M1 MacBook Air:


  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Press and hold the power button (Touch ID) until Startup Options starts loading.
  3. Select your startup disk (Macintosh HD), hold down the Shift key, then select Continue in Safe Mode.
  4. Check if your Mac continues to crash (kernel panic):


  • If it continues to panic, please let me know. The issue probably lies with hardware, firmware, or the filesystem. (The majority of macOS Big Sur is fine, as it is cryptographically sealed. If it was tampered with, your Mac would refuse to start up.)


2020 MacBook Air crashes constantly

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.