Q:

How should I handle total freeze upon launching iPhone simulator?

I updated Xcode (11.4.1) this afternoon and noticed the new iPhone SE 2 simulator option. Cool! My iOS app was running fine on my physical device and all simulator before this update, but now when I launch the simulator, it freezes my MBP (2019 16", Catalina 10.15.4) while attempting to run. I can still move the mouse, but nothing else responds, and I'm forced to do a hard reset. Anyone else having this issue? Any suggestions on how to approach fixing this? I don't particularly want to keep trying it, only to repeatedly force reset my Mac.

A:

Turned out this was a pretty fundamental hardware issue related to the graphics card with new 16" MBP. Not sure how many machines are affected, but it's easy enough to find threads and forums with owners discussing this issue. I met with a Mac technician at an Apple store and fortunately, she had seen the issue and immediately agreed to replace the machine. The new machine they gave me has also had a handful of kernel panics, but of a different sort, and they seem to have stopped suddenly after a few days of use. Keeping Apple on speed dial though if more issues arise.

