Is there any issue that happens before reaching the return cell? I had similar case, and it was some crash in other helper, but somehow the crash message was from collection view and not the real problem

Folks, Apple has abandoned us. The fix is only on M1 chips. But until you get on of them, try to use for development the iOS 12.4 Simulator (and maybe a real device with iOS 12 - I don't have one), but for me the app starts normally on iOS 12. FY, Apple.