Weird problem with iPhone and MacBook Pro

[negativzero]

I usually leave my iPhone docked to my MacBook Pro while I am at work or at home so it is usually plugged in for long hours on end, but sometimes I need to unplug the phone and take it with me to lunch or the can and when I return to plug it back in, the MacBook does not detect the iPhone and it does not even charge at all. Now to compound the problem, when I swap USB ports, the MacBook detects the iPhone on the other USB port, but when I swap my USB stick on the working port to the port that was previously occupied by the iPhone, the USB stick does not work.

So it seems like the iPhone is "killing" my USB ports and the only way I can get back to two USB ports in a working state is to restart my Mac. Is there a problem with my Mac or iPhone? I've tried replicating this problem and its been consistent on SL, Lion and now Mountain Lion too. Does anyone here have a non-reboot type solution for me or do I need to bring it back to AppleCare?

 

[PriapusZA]

Sound to me like a hardware fault with the MacBook and not the iPhone.

Use the AppleCare pack and let Apple deal with it.

 

[iforbes]

Do you eject the iPhone or just unplug it?

 

[shootist]

Some MBP have low power output on the USB ports and I suspect that the phone is drawing to much current making the USB port shut down.

Get a couple of wall outlet chargers for your phone. Only connect it to your computer when you need to transfer data from one to the other.

 

[Interstella5555]

Do you eject the iPhone or just unplug it?

Unless there's something actively transferring, iPhones are hot removable, there's no need to eject.