MacBook Air and MacBook Pro owners who have one of the new 13-inch 2020 models released earlier this year appear to be experiencing problems with USB 2.0 accessories that connect to their machines though a hub or
adapter.
There are a number of complaints about the issue on
the MacRumors forums,
Reddit, and the
Apple Support Communities. Affected customers appear to be seeing devices connected to the Mac randomly disconnect, as explained below by a
MacRumors reader.There are many other similar complaints about disconnection and freezing issues when using USB 2.0 accessories that connect to a Mac through a hub, though there seems to be no clear pattern as to which accessories are affected or when the issue occurs, making it difficult to determine what could be causing the disconnects.
MacBook owners have run into connectivity problems with all kinds of devices that require a USB-A connection, including mice, keyboards, and other accessories. Multiple hubs have been tested, which suggests that the issue is not caused by a particular brand of hub, and it also appears that most of the complaints are limited to USB 2.0 accessories rather than USB 3.0 and 3.1 accessories.
SMC resets, safe mode, Disk Utility repairs, different user logins, and operating system reinstalls have all been unsuccessful addressing the bug, which suggests that it may be something that Apple needs to fix in a future software update, if it is a software problem.
A
Reddit user found that USB 2.0 devices that become unresponsive remain indefinitely in the System Information even if unplugged from a hub, while USB 3.0 devices behave properly, so this is one possible cause. He was able to solve the problem with a Thunderbolt CalDigit hub, but whether that fix will work for all impacted machines is unknown, and CalDigit Thunderbolt hubs are pricey.Multiple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air owners have contacted Apple so Apple may be aware of the issue and could have a fix in the works. Apple has been replacing some affected machines with new models, but users report that the problem persists even when a new Mac is provided.
Article Link:
Some 2020 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Users Experiencing Issues With USB 2.0 Accessories