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Level 1

7 points

Thunderbolt Display USB Keyboard Problem Workaround

Hi everyone,

I've seen hundreds of messages related to the fact that the thunderbolt displays will occassionally not recognize a wired apple keyboard connected to the display when connecting to a laptop. I might have a workaround for those affected.

My 2103 15" MacBook Pro would never see the keyboard once I unplugged the unifed thunderbolt cable and plugged it back in. I've done everything from doing the switching USB ports dance, turning display off (pulling out power cable), connecting and reconnecting in various different steps, and even tried a new thunderbolt cable to bypass the built in one. Nothing ever worked, or a least, worked consistently. USB drives, iphone cables etc all work just fine, so I know the USB jacks are functioning.

I discovered that if you use the USB keyboard extender cable that Apple provides with some macs, and plug your keyboard into the the display through that cable, it will see the keyboard instantly. Everytime. We've tried it on a few computers at work and it solved the problem on those as well. I should note that the keyboards we are using are the latest apple ones with the launchpad key on F4.

If you are having problems, give it a shot. It just might solve the issue, until Apple gets it act together and acknowledges there is a problem.

Happy typing.

Posted on Jul 19, 2013 7:44 AM

52 replies

kino314

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2015 4:46 PM in response to kino314

Halfway plugging worked for a few days but turned out to be unstable. I switched to use extension cable.

Dec 10, 2015 2:51 AM in response to kino314

Hello, friend 🙂 i have same usb-peripherals behavior, both being connected half inserted and with extender, when system awakened - it works, when need to wake up - sometime it works, sometime not. i think its a feature of usb working over thunderbolt in this display. I tried it with wireless asus set w4500

CSJG

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2016 4:30 PM in response to GL_Philly

Amazing! I have been dealing with this issue and it's been so frustrating. Your fix worked perfectly! THANK YOU!!!

Sep 1, 2016 9:48 AM in response to SandersL

This worked for me, thanks. I created an account just to let people know because this problem has been bugging me... all new equipment this year. Mac-book air user (early 2015), 27 in thunderbolt. OS X El Capitan

Jan 3, 2017 7:49 AM in response to GL_Philly

awesome! can't believe this worked. thank you.

Feb 8, 2017 9:19 AM in response to GL_Philly

I can also confirm that this issue was resolved for me by using the extension cable Apple included in the display box.

Sep 27, 2017 10:29 PM in response to GL_Philly

We had the same issue and tried using a different thunderbolt cable from the screen to the MacBook Pro, and that also worked. Hope that helps!

Thunderbolt Display USB Keyboard Problem Workaround