Google says a Chrome update might be killing some Macs

What you need to know

• It was originally believed that the issue lay with Avid Media Composer software.
• However it appears that a rogue Google Chrome update is at fault.
• Google has shared steps impacted users can take.

Avid Media Composer might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We shared a story yesterday in which a number of Mac Pro users were reporting that their machines would not start correctly after being shut down. At the time it was thought that the presence of Avid Media Composer was the cause, although now it seems that isn't the case at all. Instead, Google has confirmed that its Chrome update corrupted some macOS file systems.

Google confirmed the issue in a Chrome support thread, saying that "a Chrome update may have shipped with a bug that damages the file system on macOS machines with System Integrity Protection (SIP) disabled." SIP is designed to prevent apps from modifying system files, but it needs to be disabled to allow apps like Avid to have a direct connection to a Mac's graphics systems. That's where the link to Avid came from.

Google says that it has now ceased the rollout of Keystone 1.2.13.75 – the Chrome updater software that caused the issue – while it works on a fix. In the meantime it has also shared details on steps impacted users can take in order to get their machines back up and running.

We've reached out to Avid for comment on their stance following this news after it confirmed yesterday that it was aware of the ongoing issues. At that time Avid gave the impression that the issue was related to its own software. We'll update this post if and when we receive a response.

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