MacBook Pro 13 2019: Apple confirms random shutdown issue, its response may leave people reeling

People on the official Apple support and MacRumors forums have been debating for months about why some 13-inch MacBook Pros have been shutting down at random, regardless of the battery percentage that they are reporting. Specifically, only machines released after the July 2019 refresh are affected.

Some have speculated that the cause of the issue could be the System Management Controller (SMC), as multiple machines have been experiencing the same issue even though their batteries are not defective. One of the roles that the SMC has is reporting the battery's charge level. If the SMC reads this incorrectly, then it could cause the laptop to determine that the battery is empty when it actually is not. Regardless of what the cause of the issues is, Apple has issued the following advice:

• If your MacBook Pro's battery is less than 90 percent charged, continue to step 2. If your battery is more than 90 percent charged, use your computer until the percentage drops below 90 percent, then continue to step 2.
• Connect your Mac to its power adapter.
• Quit all open applications.
• Close your computer's lid, which puts your Mac in to sleep mode.
• Let your Mac charge for at least 8 hours.
• After 8 hours, update to the latest version of macOS.

If the problem persists after following these steps, then Apple recommends contacting its support team for additional troubleshooting. Since the affected devices are only a few months old, then any repairs or exchanges will fall under the device's warranty coverage. Regardless, the help offered by Apple may do little to rectify the issue, and may be galling to those whose MacBook Pros are suffering from random shutdowns. Let us know in the comments your experiences of the issue and what steps you have taken to address it.