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You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. I recently got a Best Buy "refurbished" MBP 14" (after returning a pristine second-hand 16" because it just became a little unwieldy for me in the end). Anyway - "refurbished" seemed to mean, screen sticking to keyboard, some scratches, some bits of sticker on it, I think the screen goes back too far, and the hinges are a little loose etc. I cleaned it up (instead of just sending it straight back, which is what I should have done). However, because it was a good spec and a bargain, I kept it and have been working on it for the past few days.

When I updated it from base Sequoia 15.0 to 15.0.1 for bug fixes, it hung during the update. I restarted and noted the error log, then I ran the update again and it worked.

But - when I looked up the error message online - SEP ROM boot panic, and this was affecting core 0, I immediately started the return process with Best Buy. Luckily I had purchased their Plus membership, so I have until Dec 20 to actually return it.

I am happy with it pretty much - it cost $989 and is the MBP M1 Pro 14 10 CPU/16 GPU with 1 TB.

Most of the info I find about this SEP ROM chip error indicates it is very serious (it is mostly related to iPhones, but I assume the same severity for the MBP), and it stores all the identity type info tying me to the computer, such as fingerprints etc.

Hoping someone here knows more about this than what I can find online.

I would like to keep this MBP, but if it is literally going to fail on me at any moment, I will proceed with the return (of course, it came with no Apple Care +, nor can it be added).

Does it sound fatal?

Has anyone else had this kernel panic error report?

Has anyone seen it once and their computer has been fine?

Obviously, as it is second-hand (and not one little bit refurbished!), I have no idea what has happened to it with its previous owner. But, judging by the condition it arrived in, they were none too careful.