USB device drawing too much power error message

Had the same thing happen to me with a 6-month old MacBook Pro (10.8.3) and an Iphone 5. Same cable would not charge Iphone in electrical outlet either. Switched out the cable and all is fine.

Netfeather you are a hero ... I have all the same equipment you have and I was like "***, all my stuff is updated and top of the line why the heck am I having an issue?" LOL never thought it'd be the cord. Apple store here I come!!! 🙂😁

You don't even have to go to the Apple Store. I got my new cable at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Generic-8-Pin-cable-compatible-Iphone/dp/B009YCVIME/ref=sr _1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1368538555&sr=8-3&keywords=lightning+cable

I know but my cord is covered under the apple care so they'll replace it free.

Well I feel like my phone is just broken now because its not charging off of anything. It used to be when this happened it would still charge off my computer but now I'm getting this "drawing too much power" message. I don't think its my cables though because I am using 2 different ones, and they both work with my iPad just not my iPhone 4S. Don't know what to do....😟

Make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store. Bring the cables too.

Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

A few more suggestions. Same thing happened to me and I could not figure out why until I went to About this Mac > More Info > System report > Hardware > USB where you can see each of your USB ports and what is connected to them. Turns out I had several extra devices under the desk that I had forgotten about. This matters because Macs can deliver extra power to one or two USB ports if needed, but not without limit and it is the last device that tips the threshold that gets booted off.

I removed the unnecessary USB devices, and additionally put the smartphone on the USB port on the back of the iMac, presto, no more problems.

It would have been a nice little bit of programming if Apple's alert message about a USB device drawing too much poer, they had suggested to check all the USB devices attached to the computer and that a power hungry device already connected would prevent additional ones from working.

if you have two USB ports (e.g., on the MacAir) take a look at both (mid-2012 has one on left/right of computer). I had (and occassionally have) the same issue, however, it has to do with my left USB port being out of alignment.

I had this same problem, read through this thread and ... my problem was a faulty Lightning cable.

I used three other Lightning cables and they all worked.

Thank you to all who responded in this thread!

I tried resetting my SMC and even brought my Mac to the Genius Bar. They ran diagnostics and basically one of my USB was fried. The message occurred in both Yosemite and El Capitan, so it wasn't an OS issue.

It's not a complete fix but it is a decent workaround. If you Disable Notifications and set it to start at 4 AM and end at 3:59 AM (how to do here: OS X Yosemite: Turn off notifications), you won't see the message anymore. It's not a fix, but it is a workaround if you don't care about seeing notifications.