Hi!
I just started using Zwift two days ago. During my first ride which went on for about 30 minutes everything worked fine.
However, today when I took a longer ride that was supposed to last about 60 minutes my whole computer froze after 40 minutes. The fan in my computer was going on like crazy and my best guess is that my computer ran out of memory.
Has anyone had the same issue and have they found a possible solution?
Best regards!
It sound like your Mac overheated. 
Hi @Simon_Risberg welcome to Zwift forums.
If the fan is going crazy - it’s very possible that you have overheating issues with the Macbook. Are the vents clear of dust and getting enough air? A cooling pad can help dissipate heat.
When you say “freezes,” do you mean a) the laptop crashes, b) the game app shuts down, or c) something in the game stops working?
If C: does you avatar stop moving, or do other avatars in the game vanish? The first indicates something’s wrong with the signal between your trainer and the computer running the game app. The second indicates a poor connection between your computer and Zwift’s servers.
Hi!
I might have overheating issues but it has never overheated before. It is A). The whole laptop froze and then restarted itself. Are there settings that you could do to lower the framerate or something?
I will try again on Friday but as of now the fans are going crazy as soon as I start Zwift.
There are some settings in the game menu that can lower the resloution of the graphics, see if that helps.
I thought “fan going like crazy” was just business as usual here. At least on my MBP, the pairing screen alone (or rather its background animation) is enough to raise CPU temperature to well above 70 °C before even finding any Bluetooth devices. Doesn’t sound like a sustainable long-term solution to me…
Never had mine crash, though. You may want to make sure that there is nothing obstructing the air vents behind the body/display hinge, but it could also just be a one-time fluke.
@Simon_Risberg
Hm. There are cases on MacOS when the Zwift app will not launch, but the days when OSX would crash is rare these days.
I noticed that you’re still running v.OS 10.14? Your MacBookPro15 looks reasonably new - is it capable of running the latest OS update? If you’re ok with doing that, please do.
If you’re intentionally not auto-updating the OS, that’s ok too. Whether you run Mojave or Catalina OS, please read through this post and try those tips. This is the Mac OS fix for occasions when the game app won’t launch properly and that looks like the game app crashed.
Let us know if that works? If no, I’m going to ask you to email your log files to us.
Hi!
Due to it being my work computer I can’t upgrade to Catalina unfortunately due to some tools that we use not being supported there.
I will read the post and see if it works, if not I will send you the log files. Do you have an email address that I can reach you on?
Best regards!
Hi @Simon_Risberg
Work computer, eh? Is there a software firewall running on it? If so, are you able to allow traffic to zwift’s servers? Information on specific firewall ports is here.
Does it automatically connect through a VPN to your company’s network? Can you disable that when you use Zwift? If you can’t disable the VPN, you might be out of luck - that’s controlled by your network admins.
If neither of these conflicts apply to you: here’s how to find your log files. Please attach all the various .TXT files in an email to support@zwift.com.
Hi!
I have been trying a few runs since we last spoke and it has worked fine. The runs have been around 20-25 km. It seems like it was a one time freeze. Will still send the logs to the specific email and ask for you if it occurs agian.
Thanks!
Hi Shuji!
You told me to loop back to you if the error ever occured again. Now it has. I will send the log files to support@zwift.com and ask for you.
Hi Simon,
Thanks, I’ve forwarded your log files to the QA team to see what they might find.
Since it is a work computer - are there any cloud sync processes backing up files on that laptop? Like Time Machine, iCloud, etc?
Hi, I am having the same problem. Did the problem disappear? or did you find a fix?
Hi!
I fixed it by placing my laptop far back on a stool so the airshaft of my laptop got to breath. That seemed to be working for me. So in short, my problem was that my laptop was overheating.
Hope it helps!
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I have a feeling my problem is software related.
Hi,
It’s been a long while, however I have an overheating Macbook Pro too and as far as I see the problem is caused by the Zwift application not providing the option to decrease CPU usage (i.e frame rate?) in the game. There is an option for battery saving, which actually decreases frame rate on the backend, but obviously applicable only when power is unplugged, thus if you work on battery, it works cooler and actually the fans stop. Else, fans blow at 100% and it feels like the notebook will explode any time 
Needless to say CPU temps go well over 100 degrees celsius. :o
Soo, this is clearly a Zwift for Mac optimization issue, and not being resolved so far is a shame if you ask my opinion.
If I were able to run Zwift while the macbook is powered, I would be able to continue using clamshell mode. (When lid is closed, if you unplug the laptop, secondary monitor is disabled. You need to open the lid.) And when unplugged, with the current battery health, I can ride about 2 hrs max, and the battery dies.
Regards,
Baris