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Macbook Pro frying USB peripherals
- ionised 8y agoMy MacBook Pro 2017 provided by work is doing the exact same thing. I had issues connecting multiple displays which eventually led to not being able to get a third display working at all, and finally anything connected to two of the USB-C ports would start getting very hot and emitting a burning smell. Combined with the problems I've had with the keyboard on this thing, and problems getting mice to work without hideous acceleration or sensitivity issues, this might possibly be the worst development machine I've ever used.
- ratsimihah 8y agoHaven't really found a solution here, mostly complaint. The closest I found last night was > You need to buy an extra dongle to regulate the voltage properly But I'm not sure which dongle it's referring to. So what is the solution if any? * Bring the MBP to an Apple Store? * Buy a dongle? * Don't use the USB ports ever again?
- mad_vill 8y ago"I would definitely take this MacBook to an Apple Store as this problem doesn't seem to be user-fixable."
- techgeekaj 8y agoI'm surprised nobody trolled and said the classic "have you tried turning it on and off again?"
- robbyt 8y agoOh, and make sure to reset the PRAM
- cerberusss 8y agoAnd reset the SMC, too.
- LocalH 8y agoDon’t forget to fix permissions.
- slezyr 8y agoTried to fix my printer. Each time error happens it shows this dialog http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKZkixdOT68/U0MYOWy1clI/AAAAAAAAWCE/D96UrhJWb9g/s1600/error+6000+en+impresoras+Canon+PIXMA+MG2410.JPG http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKZkixdOT68/U0MYOWy1clI/AAAAAAAAWC...
- saagarjha 8y agoIs this an isolated failure, or something wrong with all MacBook Pros?
- therealmarv 8y agothere is only one way to find out ;)
- sf_rob 8y agoI have a similar USB setup that was getting hot to the touch this weekend (sd card reader). I blamed the reader, but now I'm curious.
- 3JPLW 8y agoGiven that this was posted back in January and nobody else has chimed in with a "my computer too" or "oh my goodness that's how my peripherals all died" post, I'm guessing it's an isolated failure.
- chimeracoder 8y ago> Given that this was posted back in January and nobody else has chimed in with a "my computer too" or "oh my goodness that's how my peripherals all died" post, I'm guessing it's an isolated failure. Plenty of people have. My laptop did the same thing back in January, frying two separate U2F devices (at first, I thought the key was faulty, but it fried two different keys on different ports). I replaced the laptop and haven't thought about it since, until two days ago, when my replacement laptop fried a display adapter.
- maskedinvader 8y agoouch, my wife has the non touch macbook pro 2016, I should warn her ah well never mind, she doesnt really have any usb c peripherals.
- pavlov 8y agoThe test setup shown uses a USB-C to USB adapter, so it would fry any non-USB-C device connected through an adapter.
- lotyrin 8y agoOof. What a minefield USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 seem to be, still. My coworkers had a situation where a certain combination of chargers and hubs plus bad luck (intermittent issue) fried some devices. That really shouldn't be possible. I'm quite happy to still have a mid-2015 MBP with its USB-A and MagSafe but it's only a matter of time before I get issued a machine without them (and probably no physical ESC key either)...
- jimmy1 8y agoI never thought I would miss the ESC key so much. As a bonus I guess I learned how to remap keys in almost every tool I use. :/
- mFixman 8y agoYou can globally remap Caps Lock to Escape by going to Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys.
- frenchie4111 8y agoWarning: Once you remap this, you can never use vi on a non-remapped keyboard again (Source: me)
- weaksauce 8y agoI recently changed my caps lock + hjkl to be the arrow keys system wide and act as command-option-shift-Ctrl+ whatever key you press. And finally f18 if pressed and released by itself(though you could map it to escape instead). In vim(well spacemacs) I have jk and kj set to escape so I can exit out of insert mode by just mashing those two keys on home row. This is the best setup I have ever used. To get caps locks on I have it set to toggle if I press right shift and caps locks.
- macjohnmcc 8y agoI had a WASDKeyboard made with a Ctrl key in place of the capslock key and it has a switch to allow that mapping. I'm spoiled by not accidentally TYPING ALL IN CAPS!
- zitterbewegung 8y agoI had an issue with my Macbook Pro 2017 where they said there was a voltage issue. It made it so that the graphics card when being shut down would have artifacts.
- op00to 8y agoI don't see this on mine. Something wrong with this dude's specific machine.
- deong 8y agoWell yeah. I don't think anyone is under the impression that Apple made a laptop that, by design, fries peripherals when it's charging.
- pilsetnieks 8y agoIt's #1 on the first page. It would be understandable if this was a widespread issue but it being a single case, someone must really hate Apple.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tomxor 8y ago> it being a single case, someone must really hate Apple. A question on Apple's own forum demonstrating a clearly dangerous hardware flaw is hating Apple? ..they really can do no wrong. Also notice the "I have this question too" button which has been pressed 26 times.
- pilsetnieks 8y agoI meant that more about pushing an unverified post on a user forum with no proof to #1 spot.
- tomxor 8y agounverified? it's just voltage not intel ME.
- untog 8y agoThis is the nature with hardware failures: they don't happen to everyone. That doesn't mean it isn't an issue.
- andrewmcwatters 8y agoI feel good about waiting through this generation of MBP.
- georgebarnett 8y agoI’ve just been forced by circumstance to get a new laptop at work and it’s a 13” MBP. Not happy.
- tcfunk 8y agoanecdata: I actually noticed a popping sound recently when plugging in a USB receiver for my wireless mouse via a USB-C adapter. The adapter was already plugged in, and then I plugged the receiver into the adapter. Since that happened, I've been putting the receiver into the adapter first, and then plugging in the USB-C adapter second, and haven't heard it happen since.
- pkrefta 8y agoFew days ago I've bought previous generation Retina 15,4 with funny faces from sellers at my local Apple store :) Great keyboard, dependable battery, Magsafe, ESC and other goodies :) And I couldn't be happier - no crappy keyboard, no donglemagendon and other crap :)
- mi100hael 8y agoSame! It's a far superior piece of hardware. The prices they charge for dongles on top of the already-high price of the laptop are insane.
- LyndsySimon 8y agoI just sold my mid-2015 rMBP on Craigslist, but I won’t be moving to the new one. I tried the new ones, Windows 10 tablet hybrids, iPad, iPad Pro, and Android tablets. I settled on an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and LTE - I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I not discovered Blink Terminal (an iOS MOSH/SSH client) and do most of my “real” work in the shell. Otherwise, I’d probably have ended up with an X1 Carbon running ArchLinux. I may still end up with a Carbon, but so far I’ve not been able to rationalize the expense.
- hiram112 8y agoWhat did you sell it for? I just bought a new 2015 rMBP (2.2 GHZ, 16GB, 256) for $1750 off Ebay in order to avoid the issues everyone else is having. Yesterday it was on sale for about $1500 at BestBuy...doh
- ksec 8y agoI bought a 2nd hand 2015 rMBP in mint condition with Applecare till 2019 October. 2.9Ghz, 8GB, 512SSD for $1100 I think i got a very good deal, I am hoping Apple would understand their mistake and at least make something decent by 2019.
- gargravarr 8y agoAn office near me (we're moving into the same building) recently cleared out a lot of old hardware. I found 2 rMBPs among the 'broken' pile. One didn't boot, the other did boot but had a smashed screen. I took both, swapped the screens, and now have one perfectly working 2014 mid-range rMBP (2.5GHz, 16GB, 256GB, GT750) /for free/. Could not believe my luck! Easily fast enough to keep up with the current machines. One man's trash ^_^
- bb88 8y agoFirst thought is that probably a SMD component has shorted itself out. Unfortunately that's default behavior for many SMD components -- short circuit instead of an open circuit. If the power adapter supplies 20V (which sounds like it might), then any components which might have shorted them selves out could be passing 20V to the other usb power line right next to it. The other side of the machine probably has another USB controller, which likely explains why it's fine. So, in short, I don't think this is a problem with USB-C, just a bad luck of the draw that you got a failed component along the way. Edited to add: Louis Rossmann's macbook repair Youtube channel is pretty good at discussing why things fail for a mac. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w
- konschubert 8y agoWhat is SMD?
- nasalgoat 8y agoHe probably means SMT - surface mount technology.
- dsr_ 8y agoSMT is the technology; individual devices are SMDs, or "surface-mounts" or "surface-mounted". Beyond terminology, SMD are much harder for an individual hobbyist to desolder, replace and resolder than through-mount, but they are easier for pick-and-place machines to deal with. If you're prototyping a simple device, you can start with a breadboard -- no soldering. Then you can get a circuit board printed to your spec and use the same components, for low-volume work. If you need high-precision placement, you will probably need to transition to surface-mount.
- jonhendry18 8y ago"Beyond terminology, SMD are much harder for an individual hobbyist to desolder, replace and resolder than through-mount, but they are easier for pick-and-place machines to deal with." And SMD are smaller, allowing smaller circuit boards and smaller devices.
- baddox 8y agoThis reminds me of an incident that was entirely my fault where I was using a USB dongle that allows you to use standard RC aircraft transmitters (joystick controllers) as input devices for software flight simulators and I somehow ended up sending a 3S RC battery (11 volts) through it to my computer monitor’s USB port, completely frying the monitor.
- jmfurlott 8y agoThis happened to my machine! It fried almost all my peripherals including causing my USB keyboard to spark and smoke (ruining a $300 HHKB). After a bunch of frustration and a long week, Apple just replaced the logic board, but I am afraid the problem will return. I recommend bringing your computer in on any sight of weird shocks or sounds before all your data is fried.
- dm319 8y agoDid they pay for your HHKB?
- smnscu 8y ago(slightly off-topic) Am I the only one who notices the static(?) happening when Macbooks are plugged in? Symptom 1, brushing your hand against the aluminium feels weird, this doesn't happen when you remove the charging cable. Symptom 2, back when I used wired headphones I could clearly distinguish the static noise when the system was plugged in, it would go away if I touched the laptop or, again, remove the charging cable. edit: I'm in Tunisia right now, and every socket here seems to have the 3rd prong thingie which I can only assume it's the ground connection. So I can confirm petronic's account, no symptoms here whatsoever.
- thatswrong0 8y agoI definitely notice (1) from time to time.
- petronic 8y agoI've noticed #1 when traveling with the ungrounded attachment for the power brick and a type-F power adapter. At home I still use the old 3-prong cable from my previous gen MBP or USB-C power from a dock's grounded power supply and don't get that weird sensation.
- benkuhn 8y agoI have this problem often when I’m in Africa. Sometimes the case shocks me very lightly as well. I’ve always assumed it’s a problem with lack of grounding and/or dirty power. (Had it with non-macs as well)
- smnscu 8y agoHoly shit, I completely forgot. But yes, I've had this happen to me as well. It's a bit... distressing to get (slightly) shocked by your laptop.
- decasia 8y agoYes, I'm in South Africa right now and this issue is very frequent. It helps some to use the two-prong plug on the charger instead of the three-prong plug. (If anyone can explain why that works, I'd love to know.)
- drcode 8y agoJonathan Ive: "We need 100% of MacBook users to use my beautiful butterfly keyboard, regardless of the dust that screws up the key mechanism." Tim Cook: "That's not possible- they can always just plug in a USB keyboard." Jonathan Ive: "Is there nothing we can do to stop them from doing that?"
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Reedx 8y agoWhy is that such a problem with this keyboard anyway? My B button is sticking after just 2 months! I've been using Macbook Airs and Pros for about 8 years and never once had any issue with any of them until this one.
- tim333 8y agoBad design. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16926571 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16926571
- dawnerd 8y agoSeems that when they get warm the problems get worse. Sometimes they'll work but not click so its a bit weird. Otherwise, like with the spacebar it just doesn't register at all. Really frustrating if you're doing heavy workloads
- cerberusss 8y agoGet a can of compressed air and follow this procedure: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662 This helped my 2016 MBP, but also helped a friend with an older 2014 model.
- nottorp 8y agoThat only makes sense if you have no memory... why would they have to post that unless the keyboard is crap? I use pre-emoji macbooks outdoors all the time and they keyboards are still fine.
- alpb 8y agoCan confirm this. The new MBP with TouchBar has fried my USB Type-A Yubikey. I was ignoring the signs that it was getting quite warm, then one day it completely died.
- barnstorm 8y agoI've melted two minis! I now use the larger yubi and just plug it in EVERY TIME I need to use it.
- Kelbit 8y agoAs an electrical engineer - I think incidents like these are a pretty solid argument for incorporating overvoltage protection into 5V USB peripherals. Even something as simple as a zener clamp with a polyfuse to make a dead-simple crowbar circuit will save a device and won't contribute a whole lot to BOM cost.
- joshvm 8y agoIt's a bit odd, most older Macbooks have current limiting ICs on the USB ports. I've found this out when tinkering with devboards and accidentally shorting things. In fact most motherboards have some kind of protection for overcurrent conditions. But USB-C isn't limited to 5V, power delivery is at 20V. That might explain what's going on here (since the user reports 20V on the output) - it thinks that the peripheral is a power hungry device and it's trying to charge it. That's a problem, but it could be that the peripheral is poorly designed and is mistakenly asking for power that it can't actually handle. Edit: in this case the peripheral seems to be the Macbook charger... and plugging it in causes 20V on all the other outputs with only a dongle plugged in. Oops. Yeah not good. I wonder what happens if you actually load the port? Perhaps it'll drop down to 5V? Or maybe it'll fry things. That said, my comment above still applies: USB-C relies on both devices to be compliant with the spec. Otherwise you can get into situations where one device fries the other, or tries to charge things it shouldn't, etc.
- nameless912 8y ago> most older Macbooks have current limiting ICs on the USB ports. And thank goodness for this, early in engineering school I was doing a project on an arduino and because I was young and stupid I kept accidentally shorting power to ground. Killed at least 5 or 6 ATMega328's but the MacBook just helpfully chirped that I was drawing too much power and it was shutting off the port. Saved my ass at least a dozen times over.
- elsonrodriguez 8y agoThis feature has been on motherboards going back to the 90s. I remember that some DSL modem was notorious for requiring a reboot of the computer because the USB ports stopped working. The reality was that the modem was drawing too much power and the motherboard just disabled every port on the bus.
- mataug 8y agoThis happened to my work computer. Fortunately instead of frying the peripheral the port fried itself and now the furthermost port doesn't work. I took it to my company's IT and they told me that apple laptops which around 20% of the workforce use, causes 80% of the problems. He jokingly mentioned that if my company stops using apple computers he'd probably be out of a job.
- znpy 8y agoI honestly believe you, but earlier this was posted: "IBM says it is 3X more expensive to manage PCs than Macs" ( https://www.computerworld.com/article/3131906/apple-mac/ibm-says-macs-are-even-cheaper-to-run-than-it-thought.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/3131906/apple-mac/ibm-... ) (btw, I don't think it's true)
- justherefortart 8y agoMaybe they shouldn't have sold off the Thinkpad line then. :-/
- DonHopkins 8y agoMy Macbook Pro fries itself.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoOuch! Pass through power mode for the lose. Next I would wonder if it were symmetric, which is to say if you plug the charger into the left furthermost plug, do any other plugs show up with 19V on them ? I'm guessing someone "assumed" you would always plug the charger into the port closest to where the mag safe connector used to be.
- jaimehrubiks 8y agoMy MacBook Air mid 2013 also fries peripherals via USB when idle or rebooting (even when unplugged from dc), happened twice.
- jacquesm 8y agoThat's a good warning, thank you.
- chimeracoder 8y agoThis happened to me too, back in January. It managed to fry two different U2F devices as well as a cable, which were plugged into different ports. One of the devices got so hot before I noticed it that it actually melted the plastic on the U2F device itself. Fortunately, it was my work laptop, and my company was able to replace it, but at best it's inconvenient to have to replace a machine, and it's kind of frightening to suddenly smell burning plastic in your home.
- barnstorm 8y agoI have the two port version for work and it has MELTED two yubi keys. Certain combinations of doc, hub and charger results in audio failures and video tearing/blinking on secondary screens. It's a joke.
- notadoc 8y agoThe current MacBook Pro can't be scrapped soon enough. What a mess. Frankly if Apple just updated the old trusty 2015 MacBook Pro model to have 32gb RAM and a faster CPU, I'd be thrilled.
- Bud 8y agoWhich they can't. Intel CPUs don't support 32 GB RAM yet.
- TheGorramBatman 8y agoFalse. If you check Intel ARK, you can see, for example, the i7-2860QM has a max RAM of 32 GB (and this is a processor from 2011). Heck, the i7-8809G supports 64 GB.
- Bud 8y agoWe're speaking of mobile CPUs and LPDDR4, here. In other words, viable designs for laptops with good battery life that don't weigh 8 pounds.
- hankhonk 8y agomy thinkpad is running on 40GB RAM on an i7 just fine
- cerberusss 8y agoYep, because it doesn't use a mobile i7. So Lenovo made a different battery/RAM size tradeoff.
- vokep 8y agoHad this same thing happen recently and came across this post. Wish I had thought of putting it on HN!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sadappleuser 8y agoI recently purchased a macbook from apple. After one day I found out the mic did not work, when I received my first facetime call on the laptop. Since I was using the laptop for some projects I was not able to give it immediately back. I called apple support on chat, the person made me install update and restart mac, consuming 2 hours for no reason. Then I decided to goto the store. At the store they made me wait for 2 hours. Then I was able to present my new macbook without a functional mic. At the store I had the worst experience, the person basically took my laptop for 30 minutes, came back and said I spilled water, they did a test and handed me a 700$ bill to fix it! This was beyond me. I told the person, that I just bought it and it is hard for me to challenge a test that I don't know. It is possible I a drop spilled when I was drinking water/coffee on my laptop. I have a macbook pro, also it works great I have spilled some water on it, usual wear and tear, I don't have a problem with it. However the person was very adamant that I was lying and I better pay the fees or not waster their time. Very confused about my situation, I contacted apple on chat again, and told them about my experience at the store. The chat person called their manager, who again threatened me saying that if I want to challenge their diagnostic test I can, otherwise I should stop contacting them. I have no knowledge about how to find out about this test, what it is, does it consider normal usage conditions of laptops or anything like that. If anyone has had similar experience or knows about this diagnostic test do share, I don't want to pay 700$ extra on a macbook
- lightedman 8y agoThe test is them opening the unit up and looking for water damage. You need to tell them to physically show you the water damage or you're placing them under citizen's arrest for felony fraud. Apple employees are stupid and won't act in your favor until you start involving the law. Learn the law, know the law, and use it against Apple at all possible times.
- clu3l355 8y agoI had a similar experience with an authorised repair place - my keyboard went on the blink (as has been reportedly recently with all the touchbar MBPs. Upon opening it they found a coffee stain from where I had spilt coffee on it months before. Their response "we can't fix it sorry, Apple wouldn't allow it"...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- navidfarhadi 8y agoMaybe Apple will offer a $29 bumper to install around the rim of your 2016/2017 MBP that just blocks the port since you are most likely using it "the wrong way" /s I'm interested to see a few other people test this out though to see what happens. I'd test it myself but unfortunately I don't have access to a 2016/2017 MBP. Hopefully it isn't a widespread issue.
- hnaccy 8y agoGuess I'll stick with 2015 macbook for as long as possible.
- cerberusss 8y agoMy experience with my 2016 MBP is great. But sticking with your 2015 model is a good idea regardless. CPU speeds haven't really advanced since 2015, the screen is basically the same, etc. The only thing is USB-C/Thunderbolt. I love it, but I probably wouldn't upgrade my laptop for that.
- gzu 8y agoI have a 2017 non touch 13 and get a fuzzy pixelated screen for a few seconds after I open the lid after it’s been asleep all day/night. Don’t know if that’s common.
- illegalsmile 8y agoI have the same and occasionally notice the same when lifting the lid along with the occasional millisecond screen tear when in use.
- Mister_Snuggles 8y ago2017 13" with a touchbar, I get something similar under the same conditions. My guess is that the display is showing garbage that's in the framebuffer for a second before the OS can render the GUI.
- gzu 8y agoI guessed something with FileVault causing a gpu issue when waking from sleep. Nothing else is wrong that I’m aware of. I couldn’t find any answers or even questions on forums (or search well enough).
- kmfrk 8y agoI have a dongle for USB(-A) that provides only charging and no data transfers. Is there a reverse option where you can buy a dongle that intercepts this madness with overvoltage protection or whatever?
- krisoft 8y agoMy work computer developed the same problem (MacBook Pro 15-inch, 2017). If the battery wasn't 100% charged and it was plugged into a charger, the mac reliably fried usb-c ethernet-dongles. I took it to an Apple Authorized service provider and they called me, and said that the computer is just fine. To add insult to injury they even sent me a screenshot of a big green "passed" message.
- bwilliams 8y agoThis explains why two of my keyboards were randomly fried using the new macbooks. Between this and the keyboard, these machines are disasters.
- glup 8y agoReally too bad we called another incident Donglegate already.
- fcarraldo 8y agoCan confirm, I fried an HP Omen Accelerator eGPU unit and the left port on my MBP. Luckily, HP repaired the eGPU and the warranty covered the MBP.
- chx 8y agoUSB C PD is a negotiated protocol, the controlling chipset is not supposed to set VBUS to above 5V unless the sink explicitly asks for it. Unlike what people are saying here, it's not a matter of a simple component shorting out, the USB C controller must have a firmware error for this. That's the theory. In practice, really, wtf is going on there, I have thought laptops didn't implement USB PD as a power source at all?? Why would the VBUS of different ports be connected together?
- dnautics 8y agowe experienced this in our office as well.
- mirrow 8y agoThis happened to my work machine too! The notebook is top of the line MacBook Pro 15, 2017. It fried at least four USB-C to ethernet adapters. It is not isolated accident, at least two other people on my team had the same problem. Our notebooks came from the same batch (MacBooks were issued at the same day).
- jit_hacker 8y agoI would love to see the look on the face of the guy at the Apple Store when OP pulls out the multimeter. No disrespect, but in my experience they're good at handling common issues and terrible when you have something unique.
- Rjevski 8y agoYep, I laughed when the only response on that forum thread was “take it to the Apple Store”. I doubt anyone in there would even know how much voltage should an USB port deliver. I guess he can prove his point by asking the Apple people to plug their iPhone into the laptop and watch the thing catch fire.
- magoon 8y agoHave you tried an SMC reset? It isn’t impossible that this is a software or configuration bug.
- peterburkimsher 8y agoIf it makes it any better, there's a comic about this from almost 10 years ago. http://bradcolbow.com/archive/view/the_brads_impossible/ http://bradcolbow.com/archive/view/the_brads_impossible/
- lucb1e 8y agoOh wow, the Brads. I loved those! I think I am still subscribed to the RSS feed, but haven't seen new ones in a while :(
- dghughes 8y agoSomething like that happened to me with my 17 inch Macbook Pro back in 2011 (?). I plugged in a USB stick there was a flash and then a big pop sound. The laptop went black and wouldn't power on for a few minutes. After a while it powered on and all seemed OK lasting until last fall when its video card died.
- jakobov 8y agoYou need to buy an extra dongle to regulate the voltage properly. Apple sells one for $29.99
- ratsimihah 8y agoBy dongle, are you referring to a USB-C to USB adapter?
- corrigible 8y agoWithout a monthly subscription? What a bargain!
- netproteus 8y agoI had exactly this problem with my MBP, took it back to apple and they ended up replacing the whole logic board and 2 IO boards under warranty.