List Of Issues With Apple's New MacBook Pro Is Growing

While Apple has released a software fix to address a performance issue in its brand-new MacBook Pro, details are surfacing about other problems still facing the laptop.

They include a "kernel panic" system crash reportedly affecting some MacBook Pro users, as well as an internal change to the laptop that may make it difficult to recover data. These are in addition to the fact that Apple retains its troubled butterfly keyboard design with the new MacBook Pro, which launched earlier this month.

[Related: Apple Launches Updated MacBook Pro With Improved Performance And Keyboard]

According to user threads on Apple's support site, some owners of the 2018 MacBook Pro are experiencing repeated "kernel panic" crashes, which require a restart. This type of system crash is comparable to a Windows "blue screen of death" error.

Other user threads on the site reveal that some iMac Pro owners have reported the same issue since the high-powered workstation debuted last December.

Some publications have speculated that the crashes may stem from Apple's inclusion of the T2 security chip in both the iMac Pro or MacBook Pro, though there's no definitive evidence of that.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With the addition of the T2 chip, "under certain circumstances [Macs] can act erratically," said Jerry Zigmont, owner of MacWorks LLC, an Apple consultancy in New Haven, Conn., in an interview with CRN.

However, Zigmont said he hasn't come across the kernel panic issue himself, and doesn't expect that a large percentage of users will be affected.

"I'm sure Apple will chase this down, but it seems like a real edge case," he said.

Still, there's a potentially larger issue as a result of changes to the newest MacBook Pro: Apple reportedly didn't retain the recovery port on the laptop's logic board. With previous models, the port could be used to recover data in the event of a logic board failure. "If you didn't have a backup, Apple could try to get data off [your Mac] using this port," Zigmont said.

But for the 2018 MacBook Pros, "that's gone now," he said. Some reports suggest this may make it impossible to recover data after a logic board failure. Apple has also not responded to a question on this issue.