Hi HWTech,
Thank you for your questions and help. I'll answer them below.
Is the laptop using an original Apple SSD or a third party SSD?
I think it may not be original, but it came with the laptop when I bought it used a few years ago, Here's the details:
Macintosh HD:
Free: 284,78 GB (284.782.690.304 bytes)
Capacity: 959,95 GB (959.953.813.504 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: APFS
Writable: No
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk1s5s1
Volume UUID: AC1CED95-D917-4A7F-9F5C-04FF3A9CCEB0
Physical Drive:
Device Name: Aura Pro X2
Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: PCI-Express
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: Unknown
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
Is the laptop connected to the power adapter or running just on the battery?
Connected to the adapter.
Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.
I'll run the program and let you know. I bought the laptop refurbished by a third party and it has worked very well for me for the three or so years that I've had it. The freeze problem is relatively new, maybe I've been putting up with it for a year.
Try running the third party app EtreCheck and post the complete report here so we can examine it for clues.
Has anything recently changed with this laptop (hardware or software) or your work station?
No.