How do I fix constant kernel panics on MacBook Air 2019 running macOS Sonoma 14.7.3?

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Level 1

4 points

How do I fix constant kernel panics on MacBook Air 2019 running macOS Sonoma 14.7.3?

2019 macbook air (1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, Sonama 14.7.3) constantly has Kernel restarts. This started one year ago when I started using peripherals such as an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Since then, the macbook will randomly restart while asleep. Restarts happen every 2-3 weeks.

I have stopped using all peripherals for the past 4 months, then reset SMC and PRAM. Still, there are restarts. I have run diagnostics and it returned that there were no hardware issues.

Apple wont allow me to paste the entire crash report, but the report mentions a missing stackshot buffer and references bridgeos as the cause. If anyone has insight into what might be triggering this or how to troubleshoot further, I’d really appreciate the help.

Here is some of the key info from the crash report.

OS Version: Bridge OS 9.3, Product: iBridge2,12

Panic String: Unexpected SoC (system) watchdog reset occurred

Notes: Missing stackshot buffer or size

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″, 14.7

Posted on May 2, 2025 12:43 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

66,758 points

May 3, 2025 06:54 PM in response to FShenouda

As @Owl-53 has mentioned, low storage space is a big problem. Within only 10GB of Free storage space which is way too low. You need at least a minimum of 20GB+ of Free storage space just for the most basic of usage scenarios.

It is hard to say if the Kernel Panics are hardware or software based since you have such a low amount of Free storage space. There is a possibility though that you do have a hardware issue with the Logic Board.

It is curious that the Intelligence Platform Compute Service has high CPU utilization. I didn't think Intel Macs utilized it at all.

Try to free up at least 10-20GB more of Free space so you end up with 20GB - 30GB of Free storage space to compare your results. Ignore the "Available" storage space since it is very misleading and with macOS is not a synonym for Free. This is the first thing you should do. FYI, it may take a day or two for you to actually see a change in the Free space value due to how macOS & the APFS file system works.

You can also try running Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if the First Aid summary says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll back through the report to see if any unfixed errors are listed. If there are errors, then run First Aid again until they are gone. If after several scans the errors remain, then try running First Aid while booted into Recovery Mode.

Your Battery is also over 1,000 charge cycles.

If you have access to another Mac running macOS 15.x Sequoia, then you can try a DFU Firmware Revive to see if it makes any difference (doubtful). You can also try an SMC Reset and PRAM Reset.

Also, do you have a backup of your data? If not, then you should do that ASAP. There are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the data stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all of the hardware, software, and security changes.

These 2018-2020 Intel MacBook Airs don't have a good track record with their Logic Boards. So I would not spend any money on this laptop. The M2+ Macs (even the M-series MBAirs) will out perform this low end Intel MBAir.

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Answer 2

Owl-53

Level 10

100,249 points

May 3, 2025 04:12 AM in response to FShenouda

From the Etrecheck Report

Sorry, using this computer configuration ( 128 GB Capacity SSD Drive ) is going to a challenge to do anything meaningful in the way of Storage Space

Consider on you next purchase of a new computer to configure it with a much bigger drive capacity.

While you are at it, configure the computer with more RAM

With each newer versions of macOS

The demands for Storage and RAM are much greater than this computer an handle

Low disk space - This computer is running critically low on free hard drive space.

SSD too slow - SSD is showing poor performance.

disk0 - APPLE SSD AP0128N 121.33 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

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Answer 3

FShenouda Author

Level 1

4 points

May 5, 2025 01:25 PM in response to HWTech

Thank you both for your responses. I know this is a lower end Macbook, I originally bought it for school and my only use case was simple web based tasks, and I wasn't worried about storage.

Also considering the fact that this restart issue began after I started connecting multiple peripherals (mainly monitors), I figured that could likely be causing the issue. I didn't think that the low free storage could be a cause. Assuming the cause is low storage, shouldn't using an external storage device help? If I move data to the external storage and have say, 50gb free on the actual MBair, that should solve it?

Based on what I've looked up, these T2 Macs tend to have a lot of these problems. I certainly wont be spending money on it, and will get an M-chip mac when the time comes for me to get a replacement.

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