tiggerdjpaul

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tiggerdjpaul
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  • M4 Mac mini may have a USB-C connectivity problem

    tiggerdjpaultiggerdjpaul
    Hello,

    This is an update to my "March 24, 2025 2:17PM" post and a reply to Enossified's post from "June 11, 2025 5:41PM".

    First is an update.  Most of the USB issues I was having on the Mac Mini with M4 Pro have been resolved somewhere in the 15.4 or 15.5 updates.  Ejecting discs can still be slow.  This appears to be finder not being updated of the disc's connection status as restarting finder will show the disc is not mounted.

    After reading about this issue on other forums, the TB5/TB4/USB-C ports appear to have limited power and do not support the full expected power rating for each port when all the ports are used.  This appears to have been the case for a while, i.e. not just an M4 issue.  I currently have a externally powered disc/hub to the middle TB5 port.  Keyboard is plugged into the one front USB-C port and an unpowered USB-A hub into the other front USB-C port.

    I'd go ahead and buy what you need.  I'm going to need to replace my 2010 Mac tower and will do it with the M4 version of the Mac Studio-which also appears to the power limitations on the back TB5 ports.  With the Mac 0S 15.5 update and not trying to draw too much power out of the TB5 ports, things should work well.

    Still not sold on Mac OS Sequoia and would downgrade if I could.  However, the apps I use seem to work well so far; Final Cut Pro, GIMP, Inkscape, Keynote, LibreOffice, Logic, Numbers, Pages, Sound Studio, UVR, & Topaz photo & video apps.
    muthuk_vanalingam

  • M4 Mac mini may have a USB-C connectivity problem

    tiggerdjpaultiggerdjpaul
    Long story short, I'm thinking there are 2 issues going on here.  The first is Mac OS Sequoia; definitely don't install it on your M1 systems.  The second being the TB5 ports on the M4 Mac Mini, don't buy it until Apple acknowledges this and has a fix.  These issues are also cropping up on their newer M4 Mac Studios from what I have read on various forums.

    I manage several computers for home & our church.  I was waiting for the M4 systems to replace my 2010 Mac Pro with the Mac Studio and my 2012 27" iMac with a Mac Mini & monitor.  After purchasing an M4 Pro Mac Mini to replace my iMac, its is the first Apple computer in 20+ years I wish I had never bought due to the position of the power switch, the Sequoia version of Mac OS, the back TB5 ports, and the very poor and noisy heat management system.  

    Out of the box, the M4 Pro Mac Mini had issues with any USB 2 device that was plugged into them; drive, keyboard, or mouse.  The first issue was during the initial OS update.  All the USB C & TB5 ports were dead toward the end of the update.  I couldn't get the keyboard or mouse to work in any port, front or back.  Computer had to be shutdown holding down the power key.  Fortunately, it continued where it left off and came back.  Keyboard now worked in the front USB ports, but not the back.

    Second issue, once the initial setup was done, was no USB device with a USB A type of connection worked in the rear USB ports.  USB C drives worked ok, but may or may not connect/mount.  This was Mac OS 15.1.1  Computer is currently running Mac OS 15.3.2  Most of the issues seem to have been resolved except USB 2 devices plugged into the back TB5 ports.  They mostly work, but may not be available at times.  Seems like the ports are turned off and the keyboard isn't enough to wake them up?  Keyboard has to be plugged into a front port.

    Prior to getting the M4 Mac Mini, I had done an OS upgrade to Mac OS 15.1 on the following computers and had the issues on all of them. 
       M1 Pro 16" MacBook Pro: Right TB4 Port Not Working 
       M1 2020 Mac Mini: USB A Ports Unreliable Connections   
       M1 2020 Mac Mini: USB A Ports Unreliable Connections

    Note that for the issues below, for the most part, these are direct connections to the computer's ports.  Only exception was USB A devices on the MacBook Pro used a simple dongle to go from USB A to USB connections.  Dongle is working correctly at USB 3.2 speeds.

    On the MacBook Pro's TB4 port, drives would show up in disk utility however, they would not be mounted in Finder.  I chatted online with Apple and was unable to resolve this issued.  It was recommended to re-install the OS.  Did that erasing the SSD first and installing Mac OS 15.1.1 which had just been released.  Same issues without any additional software installed and nothing from the previous installation copied over.  Problems continued with the Mac OS 15.2 update.

    On the Mac Minis,  USB 2 or USB 3 drives wouldn't connect all the time and if they did, they may disappear while you are accessing them.  These were various drives formatted with the FAT32 or EXFAT file systems.  We had one drive that when plugged in, crashed the computer.  All you got was the spinning beach ball.  No keyboard, no mouse, only option was the power button.  I plugged the drive into a linux system, it worked fine and found out it was formatted with the NTFS file system.

    Note that none of the problems on the older M1 systems existed before the the installation of the Sequoia version of Mac OS.  They were all running Mac OS Monterey 12.6.2 before and working fine including the NTFS formatted drive.

    The current state is that the M1 systems are reverted to Mac OS Sonoma 14.7.3 which resolved all of the USB issues.

    Being an electronics engineer, I've been using all types of computers and operating systems since the 80's.  We shouldn't be having any of these issues from Apple, or anyone else.  The main reason I switched to Apple computers was because they just worked.  With the M4 & Sequoia, that seems to no longer be the case.
     
    gatorguy