May 9, 2008
Solved mysteries: MacBook USB ports solve your Cylon infestation
Posted May. 9, ’08, 9:44 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Troubleshooting
Well, that answers that question. If you listened to my appearance on the MacJury podcast a couple of weeks ago—and if you didn’t, then I’m afraid we are no longer friends—you heard me describe fixing a problem with my USB mic by the simple and expedient solution of switching which port it was plugged into, something that I’d noticed in the past as well. Why, wondered the assembled panel, should that make such a difference? Was one of my ports broken?
Our own occasional columnist and Mac expert extraordinaire Andy Ihnatko provided the solution on the most recent MacBreak Weekly podcast, where—after listening to fellow panelist Alex Lindsay run into the same sort of Cylon-sound mic problems I’d suffered from—he pointed out that the MacBook’s rear USB port (the one closer to the screen) does not provide as much power, since it’s already connected to an internal USB hub that also feeds the keyboard, trackpad, iSight, Bluetooth, and IR receiver. Adding another high-drain device—such as a microphone—to the mix is probably not going to end well.
So if you’re running into any problems with USB devices not getting enough power, maybe you should try switching up the ports and see if that solves all your woes.
[via Gadget Lab]
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Interesting - anybody know if there similar issues with iMacs? Would one port be better than another for attaching, say, an external drive?
Interesting, this seems to explain why only the right USB port on my MacBook Pro can be used with a USB-powered speaker system (no wall plug-in or battery power for the speakers). If one port has more power coming to it I guess it crosses the critical threshold for power needed to drive the Logitech speakers?