It's not clear what exactly is causing the issues that users are experiencing. According to reports, it is affecting both the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, but there is no indication of what triggers the problem. It doesn't appear to be limited to a single carrier. One user attempted rebooting their phone in safe mode to make sure no third-party applications were at fault and still experienced the shutdown, suggesting that it may be a Google-related software issue.

This is far from the first time Google's Pixel lineup has suffered from a significant issue. The company's original Pixel phones were plagued by microphone problems that eventually led to a lawsuit from device owners. Last year, shortly after the launch of the Pixel 3, users reported that the phone wasn't saving their photos. But at least in those cases, the phones didn't just shut down without warning.