You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Mouse and Keyboard Not Working After Recent Software Update

I have run into a frustrating issue after downloading the Security Update 2020-005 on my Macbook Pro 13" (early 2015). Before i had done so, my laptop had no issues or glitches. However, the day after the update and i opened my laptop, my keyboard was no longer typing and my trackpad would not move the cursor on the screen. I restarted my laptop multiple times and updated it to the most recent Security Update (2020-0056), reset the SMC as well as the PRAM, which seemed to make it better. However, i still run into instances where my force clicking does not work, my keyboard does not work, or when i open my laptop after putting it to sleep then there are small glitches where the cursor or area where you fill in your password is not responding. This causes me to shut my laptop down and boot it back up every-time. Is there any recommendation of how i could resolve this issue because it has become very frustrating?

MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Sep 25, 2021 3:20 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 25, 2021 7:28 AM

It sounds like something is confusing the OS.


Since rebooting your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (press the shift key when you hear the startup chime at startup, hold until you see the Apple logo and progress bar). It can take much longer to safe boot (10 min) so be patient.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 


Safe mode forces the OS to clear certain caches and logs and do other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's expected.


Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?


Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.

If the problem is still unresolved, please return here and post a reply and we’ll see what else we can come up with for help.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 25, 2021 7:28 AM in response to Walt_K

It sounds like something is confusing the OS.


Since rebooting your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (press the shift key when you hear the startup chime at startup, hold until you see the Apple logo and progress bar). It can take much longer to safe boot (10 min) so be patient.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 


Safe mode forces the OS to clear certain caches and logs and do other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's expected.


Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?


Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.

If the problem is still unresolved, please return here and post a reply and we’ll see what else we can come up with for help.

Sep 25, 2021 11:42 AM in response to Walt_K

Usually when both the Keyboard & Trackpad stop working at the same time on the 2015 MBPro it usually is due to a bad Trackpad Cable. The Trackpad Flex Cable on the 2015 MBPro has a high rate of failure. If the Trackpad Cable is not the problem, then it can indicate an issue with either the Trackpad, Logic Board (or possibly the Keyboard).


Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R or from a bootable macOS USB installer to see if the Keyboard & Trackpad both work. If this works, then it may indicate a possible software issue with your macOS installation. Try to reinstall macOS over top of itself (without erasing the drive) using one of the methods just mentioned. You can also try booting into Safe Mode which if it works indicates a third party app is most likely causing the problem.

Mouse and Keyboard Not Working After Recent Software Update

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.