Reply To: Diagnostic query: Unexpected kernel panic on macOS Sequoia 15.1 after waking (1794679675)

[Owen Parker]

Check the Unified Log for liquid or corrosion events via log show --predicate 'eventMessage CONTAINS[c] "liquid" OR eventMessage CONTAINS[c] "corrosion"' --last 7d — a false-positive liquid-detection flag on the TBT/USB-C port controller will assert AppleThunderboltNHI during the wake sequence as the SMC gates power to the PHY. If the Mac has an eSIM modem (cellular models), reset the baseband with sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :DeviceSettings" /Library/Preferences/com.apple.modem.plist 2>/dev/null; sudo pkill -HUP com.apple.CommCenter and disable System Settings → Network → Cellular → Allow Cellular Data Switching to prevent a modem firmware hang from stalling the PCIe link shared with the NHI. Thermally, verify the VRM and TBT retimer temps via sudo powermetrics --samplers smc -i 1000 -n 1 | grep -iE 'tbt|vrm|thunderbolt' immediately after wake; sustained >95 °C on the retimer triggers an emergency NHI reset that manifests as the observed panic. As a definitive isolation, run Apple Diagnostics (D at boot) with the dock disconnected — any PPT or NHT reference codes confirm a firmware/hardware fault in the TBT controller’s power-gating sequence rather than an APFS snapshot bottleneck.

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