14" and 16" M1 Pro SD Card Slot Problems

[Fomalhaut]

I've been having this problem forever with every MBP I've had since 2016. I almost always have to either insert the card twice or I have to unplug the card reader and plug it back in.

Interesting. I also find this with my SanDisk UHS-II reader dongle, but I don't recall ever having to do it more than twice. It has also never failed to read any card or transfer slower than expected (most of my cards are UHS-I though).

 

[Busbob]

Tried a 64GB Sandisk Extreme PRO in my 16". Works without any issue and it's faster than my Sandisk USB-C card reader purchased in 2019.

I posted previously about this very thing. My 32GB Sandisks (2 of them) worked, albeit slow as molasses on a cold day. My 64GB Sandisk works like lightning. Dumped the 32GB Sandisks for 2 more of the 64GB variety and the sd cards all work like a champ. Gotta be a software issue hiding in here somewhere.

 

[smirking]

Gotta be a software issue hiding in here somewhere.

Do those cards have the same V rating?

 

[Busbob]

Do those cards have the same V rating?

They all say V30

 

[wilberforce]

I posted previously about this very thing. My 32GB Sandisks (2 of them) worked, albeit slow as molasses on a cold day. My 64GB Sandisk works like lightning. Dumped the 32GB Sandisks for 2 more of the 64GB variety and the sd cards all work like a champ. Gotta be a software issue hiding in here somewhere.

Post #181 found a 64GB Sandisk did not work properly. I have a Sony 64GB card that works, and a Sandisk 64GB card that doesn't.
There has to be some specific condition(s) that determine whether it works or not. But there are so many variables involved, it is hard for us to reverse engineer the magic combination that does always work.

 

[RigSatMe]

As was mentioned before, SD Cards - outdated piece of crap, period! Please, Apple remove redundant technology.

 

[cool11]

See post #170.
"Fingers crossed..."

Some SD cards not working with 2021 MacBook Pro, users report | AppleInsider

Owners of both the new 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro have uncovered issues with the ability to mount and utilize some SD cards.

appleinsider.com

With special mention, to this topic!!!

At least, they watching us.
Come on apple, fix completely this ridiculous problem.

 

[zarathu]

Pro Motion is broken in Safari, now this. Apple better get a move on with the fixes. I wonder what else will pop-up in the next coming days...LOL.

Damn... And I thought theM1Pro was just plain perfect in every way. Well, I’m trading mine in for a Core2Duo Dell, at least I will know to start that its crap.

 

[RigSatMe]

deleted........

 

[KDLM]

Those built-in SD card readers always seem to break, meaning that the cards aren't recognized anymore. I've lost two so far, and the silly thing is that a regular card reader costs less than $50 and may last twenty years. Replacing the card reader in the MacBook could cost more than $500.

Thanks for that info. Another good reason to get AppleCare, which you can now keep going indefinitely by paying yearly, which I will do until I no longer need my new MacBook Pro.

 

[KDLM]

I wouldn't say coincidence yet. I'm pretty sure somebody a few posts back said his cards got corrupted too. Sounds like two coincidences is too many. I'm not putting any SD card into my new MacBook til Apple sorts this out.

I believe you're referring to me. Yes, I believe my cards may well have been corrupted as now at least two of the eight have stopped recording in the middle of shooting video, giving an error message that said something like data could not be written to the cards fast enough. That never happened before. However, they seem to be working again. So maybe the problem is intermittent. I always reformat my cards in the camera before each shoot. I don't know what's going on, but it seems they may have been corrupted by my new MBP, and, like you, I will not use its card reader again until this is resolved.

 

[KDLM]

As was mentioned before, SD Cards - outdated piece of crap, period! Please, Apple remove redundant technology.

I'm curious about what you mean. Move on to what? Even if Apple moved on, there are probably millions of devices in use that record to SD cards, so people would still need the ability to read them.

 

[dalepogibah]

I may have a solution, but you will have to spend or not if you already have this. I bout the M1 max 2 days ago and excited to view and edit it on my mac.. but got frustrated because i cant event preview this files that I want to check and edit. I search alot of forums and suggested to delete the com.apple.finder.plist,....etc...

Apple care told me that they received ed numerous of call regarding this issue...

Well here comes my solution, if you have dongle, use that for now to stick the memory card...

This is what I have and used on my 2019 16 inch...

HyperDrive DUO USB-C Hub (7-in-2, for MacBook) | Hypershop

Form-fitting USB-C Hub for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. This USB-C docking station securely attaches to MacBook adding 7 ports: 4K 60Hz HDMI output, USB-C PD, and more.

www.hypershop.com

Hope it helps...

 

[KDLM]

I may have a solution, but you will have to spend or not if you already have this. I bout the M1 max 2 days ago and excited to view and edit it on my mac.. but got frustrated because i cant event preview this files that I want to check and edit. I search alot of forums and suggested to delete the com.apple.finder.plist,....etc...

Apple care told me that they received ed numerous of call regarding this issue...

Well here comes my solution, if you have dongle, use that for now to stick the memory card...

This is what I have and used on my 2019 16 inch...

HyperDrive DUO USB-C Hub (7-in-2, for MacBook) | Hypershop

Form-fitting USB-C Hub for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. This USB-C docking station securely attaches to MacBook adding 7 ports: 4K 60Hz HDMI output, USB-C PD, and more.

www.hypershop.com

Hope it helps...

You're right, but this is something that has been mentioned over and over.

 

[Fomalhaut]

Please, Apple remove this outdated redundant technology, please!

Remove it, and replace it with some other removable media format?

If so, which one? SD has been around for about 20 years, but it hasn't yet been widely replaced by anything with a similar physical format or price point, and there are still millions of devices that use them in circulation (mostly cameras I expect).

SD will of course be replaced in time...but we're still in that "VHS vs Betamax" phase where it's not entirely clear what the replacement will be, and relatively few people have adopted the newer formats. Given this uncertainty and target market, what was Apple to do? They just went with the status quo, which is still SD.

Or would you prefer a different kind of port altogether? e.g. another TB4 port?

 

[wilberforce]

Please, Apple remove this outdated redundant technology, please!

I'm actually not against having it removed, especially if substituted by something else potentially of more use to more people. I need to use a dongle for my XQD and CFe cards anyway.

But if it is provided, which is a nice convenience for some, I would like it to work reliably. This is not a hard thing to do: many Macs and other devices do.

 

[benwiggy]

In my experience, the Write speed depends on the format. HFS+ is terrible; exFAT is medium; and APFS produces speeds close to the rating. I've had no problem with Read speeds.

This would suggest that it's a software problem, rather than a hardware issue with the reader itself.

 

[Jl006p]

This is from my Sony Tough card UHSii

Advertised for 150MB/s read 277MB/s write

Got the exact same speeds on both my base $1999 14" and souped up 16" with the M1 Max 32c/32GB/2TB

 

[Rashy]

Please, Apple remove this outdated redundant technology, please!

Please, remove this outdated troll, please!

You don't decide what is redundant or not needed, period.
SD cards are still very popular for:

• Photo & Video
• GoPros & Drones
• Audio recorders
• Synthesizer, Drummachines, Grooveboxes
• DJ Multiplayer and Workstations
• Game consoles
• Receivers/Recorders/TVs
• Several smartphones

A Pro device rather have HDMI + SDXC (which 90% of all users and reviewers approve) than another (fourth) TB dongle-port. Unbelievable that a malfunction has to lead to the same nonsense trolling offtopic again. Yes, of course I hope they gonna fix it.

 

[Fomalhaut]

View attachment 1927711

This is from my Sony Tough card UHSii

Advertised for 150MB/s read 277MB/s write

Got the exact same speeds on both my base $1999 14" and souped up 16" with the M1 Max 32c/32GB/2TB

Thanks. Did you also test with an SD-card dongle, or on different (non-Apple Silicon) machines?

 

[smithdr]

Just to add to the database of which SD cards will work on the 2021 MBP. Just tried a Sony Tough V90 64 GB. Seem to work fine.

 

[-griffy-]

Anyone done testing with Monterey 12.1 out now? Someone earlier in the thread said the 12.1 beta had fixed the issue for them. I haven't made it a point to test my cards yet after the update, but I will probably get around to it this weekend.

 

[paalb]

Anyone done testing with Monterey 12.1 out now? Someone earlier in the thread said the 12.1 beta had fixed the issue for them. I haven't made it a point to test my cards yet after the update, but I will probably get around to it this weekend.

I have and the result was negative. Same problem.

 

[smithdr]

Just to add to the database of which SD cards will work on the 2021 MBP. Just tried a Sony Tough V90 64 GB. Seem to work fine.

As a follow-up to my post. The Sony Tough V90 64 GB was tested under Monterey 12.1. Worked fine. Hope this helps.

Don

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm wondering if some of the problems with SD cards (and Macs) could be due to "mechanical irregularities" between the cards and Apple's "slots".

There are quite a few small contacts that need to be mated to get the card "recognized".
I'm thinking that if even one contact "doesn't make it"... the card will not be "seen"...