Hello there!
A few weeks ago, I realised that my inbuilt SD card reader on my MacBook Pro (late 2011, OS 10.9.3) had stopped working. Whenever I put my camera's SD card in, it won't recognise that it's even there, which is peculiar, as it always used to.
Is this a simple fix I can do myself? Is it something Apple can do? Is it impossible to fix?
Thanks,
Tom
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)
Tom..
First, try a PRAM reset > OS X Mavericks: Reset your computer’s PRAM
If that doesn't help, reset the SMC > Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Sorry, I tried both of those, but they didn't work. 😟
A lot of people have this problem, and it is almost always a hardware issue. I had a close look at my macbook (2012/15") and find it almost beyond belief that such an expensive piece of gear is equipped with such a cheap and nasty card-slot. Proper card-readers have spring-loaded connectors for each pin. The connectors inside the macbook's sd-raeder are tiny metal pins that easily get bent out of shape. There are $10 gadgets out there with better hardware. Apple, you can do better than this! Saving a few cents per computer at the factory can't possibly be worth all the trouble this is bound to cause.
I just realized tonight that I don't need to use the kluge I'd figured out of using a compact flash adaptor for the SDXC cards plus CF to firewire card reader to rapidly transfer images from a new camera to my early 2011 MBP.....it has an SD card reader built in! Hooray! I forgot about it because I've probably used it no more than 2 or 3 times in 5 years since my cameras shot CF cards.
So....happy camper. I was surprised not to find the usuall springy release on the reader, and a little worried about putting it in just right, and apparently that concern was justified. After no more than 4 insertions (switching between 2 cards, trying to find which card had the first image shot with the camera), the card reader stopped working.
Really astonishingly crappy performance, I presume from the Apple hardware; the cards are fine in the camera and via the adaptor > reader > computer connection. Even the $17 adapter has spring-loaded card release and has tolerated a few dozen ins & outs.
Does anyone know of a fix with a sturdier bit of hardware, or is the space so limited that nothing better-built can be put in it?
SD Card Reader Failure
