iMac 2019 - Keeps Crashing and Restarting – Need Advice

Thanks for the report., The first thing I see is there is no backup of the computer, this is EXTREMELY dangerous and the #1 thing you need to address. If my hunch is correct you are very high risk of losing ALL of your data. So please read Back up your Mac with Time Machine and begin using Time Machine. This requires an External Hard Disk to backup to, the one many experienced users on these forums suggest is the OWC Mercury Elite Pro, get a 2-4 TB model. Why this drive, VERY high quality which equals reliability, reasonable cost and dead simple to setup and maintain. Please order today and have it delivered ASAP and back up.

What my hunch is, is that the internal HD is getting ready to fail!!!!!!

After you have received the new External Hard Disk and backed up for the first time with Time Machine then download DriveDX and test the internal HD. If ANY errors appear, that means my hunch of a failing HD is correct. At that point you have to decide what to do. You can have another HD installed or what I'd recommend is buying an external SSD and using that as your boot drive. Another option of course is replacing the computer, your 2019 still has some life in it so really that is something to think about.

Thanks for the info on your system however without an EtreCheck report there isn’t a great deal we can tell. Please download EtreCheck, run the report, save it to your Desktop and then attach the report to your reply to this message. We can then tell what has been installed (don’t worry ZERO personal information is included). We can also look to see more about how the computer has been confirgured, backup plan, the software that you have installed etc…

If you have questions about EtreCheck please feel free to ask them.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but you should definitely start using Time Machine. Try un-downloading all apps that weren't available when you first got it (basically the apps you have when you factory reset), especially if its one from the web.

If you just so happen to have another MacBook, (whether it be your siblings, or someone else's) log into that one with your Apple ID and etc until you can figure out how to Revive your MacBook. (hint:you need another MacBook, and you can get an easy explanation on how to do a revive with the magic thing called "SearchLabs") (also you'd need to log into someone else's if its a hardware/software issue with your MacBook itself)

Or if you're like me just boot into safe mode until you figure out the rest and hope it doesn't start breaking down before your eyes😀👍

In spite of what DriveX shows, this kernel panic entry:

  2025-03-26 01:13:08 Kernel Panic (5 times)

        First occurrence: 2025-03-22 22:33:56

        Details:

            panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800c8db356): nvme: ". Controller fatal bit

            set. Write. fBuiltIn=1 MODEL=APPLE SSD SM0032L FW=DXZ77A0Q CSTS=0x3 US

            [1]=0x0 US[0]=0xdf VID=0x144d DID=0xa806 CRITICAL_WARNING=0x0.\

            Panicked task 0xffffff9085aff1d8: 241 threads: pid 0: kernel_task

suggests a hardware fault with the solid-state drive portion of your Fusion Drive system. You drive speeds in the EtreCheck support my suspicions of a drive issue.

Performance:

    System Load: 2.16 (1 min ago) 2.66 (5 min ago) 3.52 (15 min ago)

    Nominal I/O usage: 0.05 MB/s

    File system: 65.55 seconds

    Write speed: 389 MB/s

    Read speed: 1265 MB/s

That incarnation of Apple's Fusion Drive is, based on reports from healthy drives, expected to show Write speeds at 600-900 MB/sec, and Reads over 1300 MB/sec. In addition, the File System score for a healthy drive system should be under about 40 seconds. Yours is 65 seconds. Fail is around 120 seconds.

Fusion has turned out to be not the great in-between storage solution once thought. You have the option of using the external SSSD boot volume solution rkaufmann87 mentions if you are not ready to replace this computer or pay high labor charges to have is serviced. It can be done at home without opening the case.

The report you provided is only for the SSD portion of your Fusion Drive, the part I am concerned about is the HD. Please provide that DriveDX report. If you cannot then the next step is taking it to your local Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Well I may be incorrect the HD looks okay, however Allan found something that I missed (it's wise to have multiple sets of eyes review reports) please re-read his post.

My suggestion is to take the computer to your local Apple Store to be professionally diagnosed. Apple does not charge for this service. You can let them know what Allan found and have them check what he thinks is wrong. If he is correct and it is a hardware failure Apple will provide you with a repair estimate and then you can decide what to do. However, not doing anything is a recipe for disaster and simply is like hiding your head in the sand thinking that will protect you somehow.

Please ensure you backup before you do anything as your data is in serious risk. We get users all the time about how to get their data off of their failed computer. And to be honest, they never like what they hear because it's almost always very bad news.