USB problem/Thunderbolt on Mac mini M4

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I’ve having the very same problem with my newly purchased base-model M4 Mac Mini. My old Apple Extended Wired USB Keyboard simply won’t be recognized, or intermittently stops working (same with my old LogiTech USB wired mouse).

i’ve tried plugging them in independently, and switching out the third-party adapter to an Apple made more than the results are exactly the same. Never, ever had any issues with this keyboard and mouse with any other Mac I’ve owned.

Sleep is unnecessary on later Macs and should be disabled. Shut for long absences/idle overnights and for regular operation use the settings exactly as shown below: (reboot after setting):

Also, do not manual-sleep for brief absences; use instead the Lock Screen settings to switch the display off on timer:

Once set, you can also use Control-Command-Q to immediately lock your screen (instead of waiting for the display to switch off on timer).

Anyone able to get an answer from Apple support? This is a massive miss on apple's part not to test their USB compatible ports before shipping to the masses.

Had headaches with the m2 MacBook years ago out of the box. Thought things would be different this time but quality continues to slip.

My guess would be a problem with the power supply of the rear USB / Thunderbolt ports, which would be a hardware problem hardly solveable with a software workaround.

And, no, in absolutely no way is keeping the Mac permanently out of sleep mode a viable solution.

My cable is 12" long and works perfectly fine in the front but not the rear ports. It's an Apple production issue if everyone on here is having the same issue with the rear ports. I'm sure we're all using different cables and different devices but experiencing the same problem with the same ports, and we all are fine when we use the front ports

Well, since you posted the incorrect cable to use, and I did ask how you decided the cable was the problem when it works 100% in the front, I guess you have no reasoning for thinking it's the cable since I asked politely for you to explain your thinking and you just bailed.

If it works in the front but not in the back, even a noob can conclude it's obviously not the cable - you don't need 3 decades of experience to figure that simple situation out.

Thanks for trying, but nothing you said made sense, yet I did ask for your explanation, which you balked on.

Good luck out there

I'm new to Mac. Recently bought a Mac Mini with M4 chip. My problem is with the front ports (not the rear ports). I have an XCellon USBC-4311-2 hub and a wireless Logitech mouse. The mouse stopped working. Switched the hub to one of the back ports and the mouse worked again. After rebooting, the the front ports started working again. Took the computer to a local authorized dealer. They ran some checks and they say all is fine. Today it happened again.

I'm surprised this thread has seen no posts since early February. I have a Mac mini M4 w/512GB drive and it is basically a brick due to this problem. I've had to completely remove my external USB drives, USB wired or USB wireless (Logitech) keyboards and USB label accessories since they all fail within 30 minutes or so. This is true with the front or back ports. I'm currently only running with a Thunderbolt drive plugged into the back and have to use a small bluetooth Apple keyboard which I don't like. I've reported this to Apple a week ago and they acted surprised and claimed they hadn't heard of the issue. They want me to take it to the Apple Store and I will but not looking forward to hauling all this equipment into the store to set up and wait 30+ minutes for it to act up knowing I'll be leaving their with no remedy to the situation other than possibly a replacement Mac mini that most assuredly will have the same issue. Aargh!

I have similar issues. Keyboards and mice plugged into the back Thunderbolt ports on my M4 mini will randomly stop working, requiring a physical disconnect and re-connect. These are native USB-C connector devices; I'm not using USB-A to USB-C converters.

Looks like these back ports are becoming a fairly well known issue, based on just a few minutes' web searching.

Hopefully fixable by a firmware or OS update!

BerkeleyBernie wrote:

I think it is a physical hardware problem in my case— the rear ports do not provide a secure fit. Slight movement of a cable is enough to disconnect an external drive. In my case, I have a powered OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock (with 2 drives attached) connected to a rear port. I've now tried 2 thunderbolt cables to connect the dock to the rear ports on the M4 Mac Mini and I've tried 2 of the 3 ports.* Both cables and both ports have disconnected with a slight movement of the cables (at the Mac Mini end of the cable). Both cables are new that came with products (i.e. external drive enclosures).

It shouldn't be necessary to use something like this. I haven't found it necessary on my Mac, and have no idea how well this gadget works – but in case the link is helpful:

Other World Computing – OWC ClingOn USB Type-C Connector Securing Device

Same here. Apple Keyboard is absolutely not working when connected to an external, usb-c sceen’s dock. Works intermittently when connected to some ports on a usb-c dock.

Absolutely unacceptable for such a pricy device with not a singe usb-a port.

Definitely not a cabling issues, it is the Mac Mini. I used the link to submit a bug report.

see my previous post for link to Mac World article.

I would post a fresh discussion IIWY. Lumping all problems to one discussion that fits the title but little else is the surest way of converting it to lala-endless.