Some SD Cards Not Working Properly With 2021 14 and 16-Inch MacBook Pros

[DevNull0]

Each microSD card has its own controller and there are dozens of companies making their own controllers, each with different firmware.

This is probably why Apple hates add-on storage. They're used to coding for only Apple approved vendors.

And yet $10 digital cameras and $1 SD->USB readers from ebay and aliexpress have no trouble supporting all thoses controllers. But a $2000 computer from a $2 Trillion company can't seem to handle them.

Tim Sculley really should be running a company like Pepsi where all that matters is marketing and there's minimal product innovation. He is a widget salesman with no interest in tech and it shows in everything Apples does.

 

[JPack]

And yet $10 digital cameras and $1 SD->USB readers from ebay and aliexpress have no trouble supporting all thoses controllers. But a $2000 computer from a $2 Trillion company can't seem to handle them.

Tim Sculley really should be running a company like Pepsi where all that matters is marketing and there's minimal product innovation. He is a widget salesman with no interest in tech and it shows in everything Apples does.

Those cheap readers have gone through so many firmware and hardware updates. Teardowns show Apple used some custom reader chip from Genesys Logic. Apple has a "not invented here" syndrome so you can bet the drivers and firmware for it are 1.0.

 

[jlc1978]

honestly I’d much rather not prefer that port anyway along with others. Only useful port I liked it return of MagSafe.

It would have been better for Apple to design a USB-C MagSafe style design and not waste space that could have been used for more USB-C ports, IMHO. I have a $15 cable that has a MagSafe style USB-C connection and it works just fine to charge and breaks away if pulled. USB-C specs allow for high powered connections so that is not an issue either.

I also would have made the SD slot MicroSD but can see why SD is more useful for more people. I am using an old Nifty SD Reader so my card doesn’t stick out very far; but it has issues periodically even though it never did on my old MBP.

 

[CrysisDeu]

I’m literally a pro who uses an SD card, and not as part of a camera setup. I know dozens of other pros who use SD cards. I don’t get how people don’t understand that their needs are not universal. You don’t need and SD cards? Great, there are a bunch of other ports there for you to use. But for those of us who do use them, it’s a really nice thing to have. Apple worked directly with a bunch of professionals on what they want out of a laptop and clearly enough of them said SD card for it to have been included.

Yes I do understand people have different needs, and I personally use SD cards a lot. And yes, SD card is not the reason we lost a tb4 port, hdmi is.

But it is a fact that tb4 ports can become any port we need. Having used usb-c only for multiple years, I always keep a small hub with me for occasional needs for usb-a, sd card, micro sd, etc. I will still keep it even if my macbook comes with an sd card slot, not to mention it is only ufs-ii and won’t work for unforeseen reasons. And I usually have a usb-c cable with me so I can get the files directly from my camera.
I am not saying everyone should live this way, but it is very convenient to have a universal port done right, that can become anything needed by everyone.

Some pros use sd card, but some don’t. If Apple wants to satisfy everyone, why don’t they include a CFast port? How about an ethernet port? But that is not how apple usually does it. Some people hate it, but some do like it. I really wouldn’t want my macbook to have a vga port, some company, usually apple push for it.

If we do acknowledge people have different needs, isn’t having more thunderbolt ports the better possible way to do it?

 

[CrysisDeu]

honestly I’d much rather not prefer that port anyway along with others. Only useful port I liked it return of MagSafe.

I am trying to understand why magsafe is still preferred.
The older circular ports on laptops are usually very hard to pull out, and magsafe does solve the problem of tripping on cables. USB-c cables are, however, much easy to pull off. I would even argue the lateral force you need to pull usbc off is a lot smaller compared to this year’s magsafe3.

Not to mention usbc allows one cable display, charging, and hubs via external displays.
And it is universal, no more cables to bring.

 

[boss.king]

Yes I do understand people have different needs, and I personally use SD cards a lot. And yes, SD card is not the reason we lost a tb4 port, hdmi is.

But it is a fact that tb4 ports can become any port we need. Having used usb-c only for multiple years, I always keep a small hub with me for occasional needs for usb-a, sd card, micro sd, etc. I will still keep it even if my macbook comes with an sd card slot, not to mention it is only ufs-ii and won’t work for unforeseen reasons. And I usually have a usb-c cable with me so I can get the files directly from my camera.
I am not saying everyone should live this way, but it is very convenient to have a universal port done right, that can become anything needed by everyone.

Some pros use sd card, but some don’t. If Apple wants to satisfy everyone, why don’t they include a CFast port? How about an ethernet port? But that is not how apple usually does it. Some people hate it, but some do like it. I really wouldn’t want my macbook to have a vga port, some company, usually apple push for it.

If we do acknowledge people have different needs, isn’t having more thunderbolt ports the better possible way to do it?

Who said they’re trying to satisfy everyone? I think it’s far more likely that they’re trying to satisfy the widest group within reason.

I get how universal ports are convenient, and that’s why Apple included three of them. But dedicated ports are also very useful because they allow you to use your machine without a rats nest of dongles and cables.

And as you say, for all those other ports, you can still use a dongle.

 

[CrysisDeu]

Where I cannot tolerate a loss of photos, I use cameras with dual card slots and typically record simultaneously to two cards, such as an XQD card and a fast UHS-II SD card (depending on the camera). For convenience, I usually copy from the SD card to a Mac and at least one separate drive; once I have multiple confirmed backups I reformat both cards in camera.
It is very convenient to use the SD card, although I do not have to. I can use the XQD card via dongle (which is a bit faster). If the XQD card fails or has a corrupted file (hasn't happened yet) I would have to use the SD card. At that point there is no way I would put it in a dodgy card slot.
It would be nice to have a reliable functioning SD card slot. Less reliance on dongles, which can get forgotten, misplaced, or not work.

Well I imagined the pros of using sd card slot compared to direct usbc connection is that you can use the camera while the file is being transferred.
My point is that there is are lot more ports to be desired by different pros, and people are assuming all pros just uses sd card.
Rather than adding a port some people/pro uses, letting us chose which port usbc converts to is not a bad (and personally a superior) choice

 

[CrysisDeu]

Who said they’re trying to satisfy everyone? I think it’s far more likely that they’re trying to satisfy the widest group within reason.

I get how universal ports are convenient, and that’s why Apple included three of them. But dedicated ports are also very useful because they allow you to use your machine without a rats nest of dongles and cables.

And as you say, for all those other ports, you can still use a dongle.

Sadly even four is usually not enough for me even with usba and usbc docks connected. The decision of including a dedicated HDMI meant the machine is unusable for me.
SD card slot is not the problem here, but you see my point.

 

[demars]

Yes I do understand people have different needs, and I personally use SD cards a lot. And yes, SD card is not the reason we lost a tb4 port, hdmi is.

OK, I'm not saying this to defend putting the HDMI or SD slot on the MacBook Pro, I didn't want either personally. But they didn't give up a TB 4 port for either.

The previous iterations of the MacBook Pro that had four TB ports had two TB controllers and four ports. So, each controller was shared by two ports. The entire configuration only had the throughput of two TB 3 ports but in most cases you weren't plugging in four devices that needed nearly that throughput and, well, you had four ports which was handy.

In the current MacBook Pros there are three TB 4 controllers and each port gets its own controller so you get 50% more throughput. They didn't take any lines away from the TB controllers, they added them. I guess some people argue that they took lines away from what could have been a hypothetical fourth controller that they could have added but, c'mon!

Now if the issue is simply not enough ports, they could have added a port; there is plenty of room. They could have simply split one of the controllers into two ports. But that would have been weird because people would have wanted to know which ports where shared and which weren't.

Or, again, the could have split every controller into two ports. There would have been six ports. Again, there is enough room on the chassis. The question is, would that have stopped people from complaining? (The correct answer is, nothing will stop people from complaining.)

Dennis D.

 

[wilberforce]

Those cheap readers have gone through so many firmware and hardware updates. Teardowns show Apple used some custom reader chip from Genesys Logic. Apple has a "not invented here" syndrome so you can bet the drivers and firmware for it are 1.0.

Genesys Logic is a reputable Taiwan company that also provided the SD controller in the 2015 era MacBooks and the iMac Pro, and have been supplying many SD controllers for many years. It seems there is nothing to criticize here: it is good Apple is using a tried and tested supplier.

Genesys Logic, Inc.

 

[boss.king]

Sadly even four is usually not enough for me even with usba and usbc docks connected. The decision of including a dedicated HDMI meant the machine is unusable for me.
SD card slot is not the problem here, but you see my point.

Can I ask what you’re doing that maxes out the bandwidth of three 40Gb/s ports at once?

 

[whitby]

I generally use ProGrade readers which are very fast (for my SD, SDXC, SDHC, UHS I, USH II etc. cards and CFExpress cards). I use Sandisk and Sony SD cards and they work extremely reliably. However using the reader in my new 16.2" MBPro M1 Max the read speed is around 15 to 20% of the read speed I get using the Prograde reader. Not at all what I expected, so now I ignore the slot in my machine and use the Prograde reader. The Prograde reader uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. I hope this is a software issue and not a hardware related problem, otherwise that SD card slot is never going to get used.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I generally use ProGrade readers which are very fast (for my SD, SDXC, SDHC, UHS I, USH II etc. cards and CFExpress cards). I use Sandisk and Sony SD cards and they work extremely reliably. However using the reader in my new 16.2" MBPro M1 Max the read speed is around 15 to 20% of the read speed I get using the Prograde reader. Not at all what I expected, so now I ignore the slot in my machine and use the Prograde reader. The Prograde reader uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. I hope this is a software issue and not a hardware related problem, otherwise that SD card slot is never going to get used.

It makes you wonder why Apple even bothered returning the SD card slot in these new Macbook Pros.

We've seen reports of it being slow... or not reading cards at all.

But one thing always works... DONGLES! Or more specifically, external card readers. I guess that was the answer all along!

 

[wilberforce]

Well I imagined the pros of using sd card slot compared to direct usbc connection is that you can use the camera while the file is being transferred.
My point is that there is are lot more ports to be desired by different pros, and people are assuming all pros just uses sd card.
Rather than adding a port some people/pro uses, letting us chose which port usbc converts to is not a bad (and personally a superior) choice

I guess this is part of the dilemma: do you give people what they request, or do you give them what they don't yet know they want.
The latter has been the Apple way, at the expense of the former.
Now that Apple has apparently relented and attempted to give what at least some people have been requesting repeatedly, some people are not entirely happy.
This has happened in other industries. I know of one vehicle manufacturer where customers have been repeatedly asking for a different form of their top-selling vehicle, so when they finally relented and made it, people decided it was meh and very few are buying it. Can't 100% trust what people say they want.

 

[CrysisDeu]

Can I ask what you’re doing that maxes out the bandwidth of three 40Gb/s ports at once?

Yes sure.
I use two on one side to connect to one 4k and one 5k display. Having multiple displays is essential for my work and drastically improves my efficiency. I would get another 4k display if there are 3 thunderbolt ports on one side.
The displays, they charges my macbook and provided two usb-a port and three usb-c ports.
I used two usba ports to connect to my mouse and mechanical keyboard for occasional gaming. I keep another set of magic trackpad and keyboard for working.
I used three usbc ports for my webcam, microphone, and connecting and charging lightning devices such as airpods max and iPhone. Having the cable is essential for mobile development.

On the other side, one of the port is occupied by a hardware key for authentication purposes, and that is just a convenient spot, no it doesn’t need 40Gb/s, but it needs to be there 24*7.
The last one is the only spare one I have. I need it for my usbc hub, time machine ssd, and multiple file storage ssds. I need to choose and only use one at a time.

You see, pro workloads and needs can be very different.

 

[CrysisDeu]

I guess this is part of the dilemma: do you give people what they request, or do you give them what they don't yet know they want.
The latter has been the Apple way, at the expense of the former.
Now that Apple has apparently relented and attempted to give what at least some people have been requesting repeatedly, some people are not entirely happy.
This has happened in other industries. I know of one vehicle manufacturer where customers have been repeatedly asking for a different form of their top-selling vehicle, so when they finally relented and made it, people decided it was meh and very few are buying it. Can't 100% trust what people say they want.

What makes apple who they are is that they believed in what they think is correct, not what some people want.
We have plenty other companies out there being ordinary, satisfying the customer.
I don’t want Apple to be one of them.

 

[boss.king]

Yes sure.
I use two on one side to connect to one 4k and one 5k display. Having multiple displays is essential for my work and drastically improves my efficiency. I would get another 4k display if there are 3 thunderbolt ports on one side.
The displays, they charges my macbook and provided two usb-a port and three usb-c ports.
I used two usba ports to connect to my mouse and mechanical keyboard for occasional gaming. I keep another set of magic trackpad and keyboard for working.
I sed three usbc ports for my webcam, microphone, and connecting and charging lightning devices such as airpods max and iPhone. Have the cable is essential for mobile development.

On the other side, one of the port is occupied by a hardware key for authentication purposes, and that is just a convenient spot, no it doesn’t need 40Gb/s, but it needs to be there 24*7.
The last one is the only spare one I have. I need it for my usbc hub, time machine ssd, and multiple file storage ssds. I need to choose and only use one at a time.

You see, pro workloads and needs can be very different.

It sounds like a decent thunderbolt dock like the CalDigit TS3plus might be able to solve all your problems.

 

[Phnwhowhen]

Yikes, hopefully just software issues. The SD Card and HDMI ports are the only ones not modular, so any issue with those require a complete logic board replacement. ?

 

[profcutter]

It would have been better for Apple to design a USB-C MagSafe style design and not waste space that could have been used for more USB-C ports, IMHO. I have a $15 cable that has a MagSafe style USB-C connection and it works just fine to charge and breaks away if pulled. USB-C specs allow for high powered connections so that is not an issue either.

I also would have made the SD slot MicroSD but can see why SD is more useful for more people. I am using an old Nifty SD Reader so my card doesn’t stick out very far; but it has issues periodically even though it never did on my old MBP.

I actually completely agree with the MagSafe argument here. The sd card makes sense to me, but why the hell bring back MagSafe? I’m constantly having to plug it back in on my 2015, and any little upward pressure pops it out. Even a couple inches away from the machine on the cable. Ugh.

 

[profcutter]

Yes sure.
I use two on one side to connect to one 4k and one 5k display. Having multiple displays is essential for my work and drastically improves my efficiency. I would get another 4k display if there are 3 thunderbolt ports on one side.
The displays, they charges my macbook and provided two usb-a port and three usb-c ports.
I used two usba ports to connect to my mouse and mechanical keyboard for occasional gaming. I keep another set of magic trackpad and keyboard for working.
I used three usbc ports for my webcam, microphone, and connecting and charging lightning devices such as airpods max and iPhone. Having the cable is essential for mobile development.

On the other side, one of the port is occupied by a hardware key for authentication purposes, and that is just a convenient spot, no it doesn’t need 40Gb/s, but it needs to be there 24*7.
The last one is the only spare one I have. I need it for my usbc hub, time machine ssd, and multiple file storage ssds. I need to choose and only use one at a time.

You see, pro workloads and needs can be very different.

Why not connect the third with HDMI?

 

[dspdoc]

Yikes, hopefully just software issues. The SD Card and HDMI ports are the only ones not modular, so any issue with those require a complete logic board replacement. ?

It better be fixable via software or it’s going to be a disastrous recall. However, Apple has a way of seemingly burying issues that need to be fixed. They need to be held more accountable.

 

[SFjohn]

Apple added two crappy ports to their MacBook Pros 14” & 16”: a slow cheap SD card reader and an old cheap HDMI 2.0 port (vs. 2.1). Yet everyone cheered! Great processors, but those ports won’t age well.

 

[CrysisDeu]

It sounds like a decent thunderbolt dock like the CalDigit TS3plus might be able to solve all your problems.

Well you see, how great thunderbolt port is

 

[CrysisDeu]

Why not connect the third with HDMI?

Because hdmi port and cable is ugly. On the new MacBook Pros, they are on the other side of the ports, so there will be a thick cable going across my desk.
Also Apples’ displays (LG ultrafine and pro display XDR) doesn’t even have hdmi in.
HDMI wouldn’t provide the channels for the usb hubs on the monitors to be functional.
HDMI ports cannot be plugged in both ways, so a bit harder to get it in.
HDMI won’t charge my laptop. I don’t need this functionality for my second or third screen, but it is a con nonetheless.

 

[Larabee119]

Safari not 120hz sd reader not working well, hdmi not 2.1 and webcam like a 320p one this is a great pro machine, but you gain a few min exporting video so I guess it’s worth it

Here I found the troll lord again. Last time I heard you love the machine to dead. Return your machine please.

Apple's own usb SD card reader works fine. It's a problem with the MacBook.

I think it's the problem with the firmware. All of my Sony Tough SD cards work just fine, no issues at all.

At this point, Apple and Microsoft is racing to show the world who can make the most buggy OS. LMAO.
A little ding in the Apple dong . Let's buy some pop corns and watch the media blow this out of the water.