MacBook Pro, what’s the problem with the USB 2.0 port

Some users are reporting problems with the USB ports on the MacBook Pro: they get disconnected from the PC and can't figure out why

The new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air have compatibility problems with the vast majority of USB peripherals, namely those in USB 2.0 standard. This can be deduced from the numerous user complaints on Apple's official support forum, Reddit and other forums such as MacRumors.

On these latest Apple products, there is no USB-A port, only USB-C 3.1 ports. This means that users, in order to use external mice and keyboards, for example, have to connect them via a USB-C hub. And that's already very inconvenient, but if it at least worked, it wouldn't be a big deal. Instead, according to many users, very often peripherals connected via the hub are automatically disconnected. The problem would be absolutely random and impossible to reproduce, and this complicates life even more for users. Finally, it's not even a hub problem, because tests have been done with many different hubs and the problem recurs punctually, always in a random way. The only thing that seems certain is that the bug occurs only when connecting USB 2.0 devices and not also with 3.0 or 3.1 ones.

USB problems on MacBook Pro, how to solve them

According to users' reports, in order to make peripherals work again it is necessary, in some cases, to reset the System Management Controller (SMC). Other users have solved it by restarting the laptop in safe mode. Still others by launching the Disk utility and looking for errors in the files. There are even those who have solved it by simply changing the user when logging in. It is quite likely, then, that this is not a hardware problem but a software one, something wrong with the USB management drivers on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. However, while it might be a trivial problem to fix, it is a serious flaw for users.

USB problems on MacBook Pro, users enraged

Not being able to connect USB 2.0 peripherals, of which there are many, to a MacBook is something literally crippling for an owner of the latest generation MacBook Pro. These laptops, in fact, have only two USB ports and both are Type C and in 3.1 standard. Apple's new laptops, then, have no power connector and only charge via USB like smartphones. But if there are two ports, one of which is occupied for charging your device and one occupied by a hub that doesn't work with USB 2.0 peripherals, then how do you make the most of your MacBook Pro?