External USB Keyboard/mouse randomly stops working on New MacBook Air Early 2020 model running Catalina 10.15.4

I have the same issue with my 13" 2-port 2020 MacBook Pro.

I have it connected to an Asus external monitor via the HDMI port of a hub. At first I bought a Satechi hub sold by Apple which had a number of ports on it. I hooked in my monitor and my LaCie Backup. Occasionally I would hook up a webcam as well. The monitor would completely lose its connection if I had the LaCie plugged in at the same time. I tried switching the location of the power cord (which was in the other port) and the LaCie - but this gave the same problem.

I then tried a J5 hub. This time the monitor gets the signal most of the time, but randomly blacks out several times a day. This is a problem because I'm teaching online (Covid). To get the signal restored to the monitor, I have to quickly move my mouse back and forth.

I called Apple about this, but they didn't have an answer (other than the resets that Apple support suggested but didn't work). I asked if they would refund my money on it (I bought Apple Care) and put it towards the purchase of a more expensive Apple laptop, one that would have 4 ports, but I got disconnected and they didn't call back. I had been polite the whole time; I think they just didn't want to deal with it.

At first I used a wireless Logitech mouse, but it kept losing connection too. I've since purchased a new Apple magic mouse and I have no problems with it.

I had hesitated to buy the 2-port for fear that something like this could happen, but decided that Apple was trustworthy and would have made sure that a hub attached to the 2-ports would take care of typical peripherals.

The laptop also has heat dissipation issues. I have to keep it on top of a cooling pad with 5 fans going whenever I use it. I don't know if that's contributing to the port problem.

I took my 2020 13-inch two-port MBP into a nearby Apple Store for a repair to try and fix this connection problem. They wiped the OS and reinstalled a new one. But this wasn't able to resolve the problem.

The connectivity problem has gotten worse with time. My 2020 MBP now won't connect at all to my webcam either by hub or by C-port-to-USB adapter. (But my 2013 MBP can connect to it just fine.) My 2020 MBP stopped being able to connect to my external monitor (a 2018 Ben Q) via a hub - and then stopped being able to maintain a connection with it via a C-port-to HDMI cable. I changed the HDMI cable but this didn't help. (But my 2013 MBP can connect to the monitor just fine.) And my 2020 MBP apparently won't connect to my LaCie backup drive by direct connect (the LaCie connects directly to a C-port). Despite regularly plugging in the backup drive overnight, my MBP says it hasn't been backed up in 10 days.

So I called Apple and they said to ship it to them for repair and they sent me a box to ship it in.

Apple said that if this repair doesn't work, to arrange to send it in again for a third repair. They said that if the 3rd repair doesn't work either, then they will replace it or allow me to pay the difference and get a four-port MBP.

I have a 13-inch two-port MBP

You have to use a bluetooth magic mouse.

The ports on the 2020 won't connect to most devices. Believe me I've been through many devices, and so have many, many other people.

I've taken mine in for repair thinking there muse be something wrong with the ports. I've shown them videos in live time showing the intermittent connectivity. But Apple says that when they test it, it works just fine - and that, they say, solves the problem for them.

Same problem on my 2018 15 MacBook Pro. seems to be SW issue/bug. everything with USB 2 causes problems and/or not recognized. USB 3/3.1 SSD is working fine though

Today I got this update - It mentions that this particular issue is solved. Let see, I'm still skeptical tough!

These external drives are directly connected though. I do have a USB dock from Anker that I use for some other things, but the Mac seems to operate just fine when those are plugged in by themselves. It's only when the external drives are plugged in that I'm having issues.

And point of fact, it's now happened with a new USB 3.0 drive I bought. I'm not sure what's going on.

Having the same issue with my MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) w/ Catalina 15.5.5. I am using the CalDigit USB-C Pro dock via TB3 to connect to my keyboard (Logitech G513) and my mouse (Logitech G502). At intermittent intervals both devices stop working at the same time, and I have to disconnect and reconnect the TB3 cable for them to reappear and continue working. Additionally, the keyboard is connected to a USB A hub (UGREEN USB 3.0 Hub 3 Ports USB Sound Card 2 in 1 External Stereo Audio) where as the mouse is connected directly to the CalDigit hub.

Hi, I have also been having this issue with my recently purchased 2020 MBP 13'' (4 ports). I have followed the same steps as the original poster to no avail. I have this issue with a USB2.0 keyboard regardless of which of my two usb-c hubs (Anker and Novoo) I use, and which port I use. Unplugging the entire hub typically fixes the issue but the timing between subsequent failures seems to be largely random.

If I do not use the keyboard for ''a while" it is likely to occur - sometimes I will not use the keyboard for hours and it will still be connected, whereas other times I don't use it for <5 minutes and it disconnects. This is an extremely annoying issue, especially given that this is a new device.

Just to add to the conversation.

I'm having the same issue on a MacbookPro 2020 13" with 4 thunderbolt ports.

I have a bunch of peripherals but I hardly think it's a problem on my end because there was no issue with my previous macbook pro (mid 2012), which I was using up until a week ago.

I really hope it's a software issue and can be solved easily via a patch or something.

Just want to chime in. Using an anker hub with a few peripherals plugged in. Struggling with same problem on macbook pro 2020, a connected bluetooth usb logitech mouse shuts off randomly and I have to unplug and replug the USB-C connection from my hub to my computer for it to work again (and usually only for a temporary amount of time). Stay strong everyone. Hopefully apple is figuring it out since we can't be the only ones complaining.

I have the same problem

15" MacBook Pro 2020

3 non USB-C devices. An apple keyboard, an old 8 button mouse and a plantronics headset.

About once a day they all freeze only a reboot fixes it.

2 of the devices are plugged into a usb-c port replicator thingy which isn't affected, nor is the cdmi monitor plugged into it

Haven't bought any USB-C devices yet

Agree with the comments about apple not admitting there's a problem but thats how Apple operate so we shouldn't be surprised

An SMC and NVRAM reset normally puts the problem off for a couple of days

Always seems to freeze at the worst time too.

Yes, it would be nice if Apple were a little bit more transparent and issued some sort of statement letting us know that, yes they're aware of the problem, there's no need to return your 2020 MacBook Pro, and that they're working on a software fix. 🙏 Leaving us all in the dark is not a good customer experience, especially given the price of these products. ☹️

on a recent support call with applecare the person told me that he had never heard of it before and told me to reset vram, smc, etc. it obviously didn’t work and im still losing my external usb2 g502se and keyboard at random times for no apparent reason.

apple should have found this bug before releasing these devices. since they apparently didn’t, they need to issue a statement confirming this bug so users don’t waste anymore time or money troubleshooting this

this isn’t helpful. regurgitating support article tips and links in a thread like this doesn’t help anyone. it’s obviously a deeper problem that can’t be fixed by these basic reset functions. so after dozens of comments confirming the same issue, why not offer us something useful

That's ridiculous. One of the hubs that I've had the problem with is their own USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. They are literally throwing sand in your eyes.

And they likely made it that much worse by making you buy another USB hub, which could also have the problem.

I've seen some reports from people that the issue stopped happening, though.

I feel so stupid for giving my laptop to an 'authorized service' - they damaged the corpus of the laptop and refuse to replace it. It's been such a negative experience overall for me.