Left and right side USB-C ports work differently

Question

Left and right side USB-C ports work differently

Hello,

I'm currently designing a hardware peripheral to be used on computers. This device, a smartcard reader, will be used with MacBook Pro computers through a USB-2 link.

It works fine with "old" versions of MacBook Pro, when plugged on USB-A port. However, there is a strange behaviour with recent MacBook Pro whose USB ports are only USB-C typed. My device works fine when it is plugged on the ports located on the right side of the computer, but it does not work with the ones located on the left side.

Does someone know the technical differences between the sides for the USB-C ports?

Remarks:

- the current consumption of my device is 500mA and its nominal voltage is 5V

- it works only in USB-2, it does not work neither in USB-3 or thunderbolt"

Thanks in advance for your support!

Francois

Posted on Sep 7, 2020 4:49 AM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

68,306 points

Sep 7, 2020 10:48 AM in response to FrancoisFromDocto

The only difference between the right & left side USB-C ports that I'm aware of is one side has been reported to have more bandwidth available (I think it is the left ports, but I'm not certain). There were multiple posts on these forums a year or two ago.

If you have an issue on the one side, then maybe you have a hardware issue with the laptop. There is an I/O Boards on each side and there are separate protective circuits on the Logic Board for each side as well. If anything has damaged these particular circuits, then you may get odd behavior. Plus a USB-C port may work fine using the power adapter, but may have issues when used to transfer data (or vice versa).

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Left and right side USB-C ports work differently

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