How to satisfy the current requirement of external SSD

[volzkzg]

I just bought an NMVe M.2 SSD enclosure and Samsung 970 EVO SSD, when I plug it into my Macbook Pro (2018), in system report, it tells me that this port can only provide 500 mA for this devices, and the requirement of this devices is 896 mA.

BTW, this device is USB-C and the cable is also USB-C.

How can I solve this problem? Is there exist a USB cable that can get power from two USB ports?

 

[Stephen.R]

I've seen exactly the sane problem with both a 2018 MBP15 and a 2018 Mac mini. The ports should be able to provide more power (USB 3.1 specifies 900mA), so why it shows only 500 for some things is beyond me.

 

[volzkzg]

I've seen exactly the sane problem with both a 2018 MBP15 and a 2018 Mac mini. The ports should be able to provide more power (USB 3.1 specifies 900mA), so why it shows only 500 for some things is beyond me.

Yesterday I gave this as feedback to the Mac team, they haven't replied yet. (Maybe they will not)

So is everything fine with your USB devices which require more than 500mA current? I am just afraid that this will be harmful to our USB devices.

 

[Clix Pix]

I use a Samsung X5 external SSD plugged into any of the ports on my 15" 2018 MBP without any issues. Is your MBP a 13" or 15"? I seem to recall that there was something about some of the ports in the 13" not being as powerful as on the 15"...... ? The ports on one side did not provide full Thunderbolt 3 capability. I think that was an issue with the 2016 and 2017 13" MBPs, not sure if it has since been corrected for the 2018 and 2019 models.

 

[volzkzg]

I use a Samsung X5 external SSD plugged into any of the ports on my 15" 2018 MBP without any issues. Is your MBP a 13" or 15"? I seem to recall that there was something about some of the ports in the 13" not being as powerful as on the 15"...... ? The ports on one side did not provide full Thunderbolt 3 capability. I think that was an issue with the 2016 and 2017 13" MBPs, not sure if it has since been corrected for the 2018 and 2019 models.

Yes, it's a MBP 13'', do you mean it's a hardware issue and it can not be changed by software update?

 

[Clix Pix]

I would check with Apple to see if the 2018 13" MBP has the issue of the ports not providing full Thunderbolt 3 capability -- if so, that is the answer to your problem, you would need to plug in the external SSD on the side which offers full Thunderbolt 3 capability. I doubt that this could be remedied by a software or firmware update, but I am not ll that knowledgeable. Ask someone at Apple......

ETA: OK, I just did some googling and found the answer. Your 13" 2018 MBP has four full-capacity ports. It was only the 2016 and 2017 machines which had the problem of only two ports being at full speed, full capacity.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/19/2018-13-in-rmbp-touch-bar-full-speed-thunderbolt-3/

So it seems that this is not the issue for your machine, then. I would try plugging in a Samsung X5 and see if that external NVME SSD works for you. Prices have come down quite a bit now on those.

 

[jerryk]

See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204377 for Apple suggestions


I assume you have tried the external power supply/charger plugged in to a second USB-C port. It will provide additional power to the computer and any peripherals.

Another idea is to try the Apple Power cable to your device. UBS-C cables are not all the same, but usually that only shows up when you try to get more 60W of power.

You might also see on Amazon if anyone else has had this problem with the particular enclosure. Some of them are kind of flaky.

 

[volzkzg]

I would check with Apple to see if the 2018 13" MBP has the issue of the ports not providing full Thunderbolt 3 capability -- if so, that is the answer to your problem, you would need to plug in the external SSD on the side which offers full Thunderbolt 3 capability. I doubt that this could be remedied by a software or firmware update, but I am not ll that knowledgeable. Ask someone at Apple......

ETA: OK, I just did some googling and found the answer. Your 13" 2018 MBP has four full-capacity ports. It was only the 2016 and 2017 machines which had the problem of only two ports being at full speed, full capacity.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/19/2018-13-in-rmbp-touch-bar-full-speed-thunderbolt-3/

So it seems that this is not the issue for your machine, then. I would try plugging in a Samsung X5 and see if that external NVME SSD works for you. Prices have come down quite a bit now on those.

Thank you Clix for your research. Currently I don't have a Samsung X5, however there is an Samsung t5 in hand, I have checked the current statistics, it have the same result as my own DIY SSD. The Samsung t5 and my own ssd are both use the USB 3.1, I guess Apple might restrict the power output to 500 mA for all USBs.

I will try to find an SSD that uses the thunderbolt 3 port like Samsung X5, or I will try to buy a thunderbolt 3 enclosure to see if it's the control variable.
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See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204377 for Apple suggestions


I assume you have tried the external power supply/charger plugged in to a second USB-C port. It will provide additional power to the computer and any peripherals.

Another idea is to try the Apple Power cable to your device. UBS-C cables are not all the same, but usually that only shows up when you try to get more 60W of power.

You might also see on Amazon if anyone else has had this problem with the particular enclosure. Some of them are kind of flaky.

Yes, I have tried both plugging the external power and using Apple power cable to connect my own ssd and Macbook Pro, they don't work. The SSD enclosure I use is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N48N5GR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, I think they don't have the same question currently, will ask the seller to give some help.

Thanks for your kindly suggestions!

 

[Clix Pix]

The T5 is USB-C based, but not Thunderbolt. It is quite versatile, as I can use it with both my older 2015 MBP and the newer 2018 one. The X5 is Thunderbolt 3 only and works just fine with my 2018 MBP but not with my older machine......

I suspect part of your problem is due to the enclosure you're trying to use..... It is sometimes just worth the money to go ahead and buy something which is already designed to be a full-fledged external Thunderbolt 3 drive rather than trying to cobble together some sort of combination of enclosure and a drive meant to be an internal SSD in the first place.....

 

[volzkzg]

The T5 is USB-C based, but not Thunderbolt. It is quite versatile, as I can use it with both my older 2015 MBP and the newer 2018 one. The X5 is Thunderbolt 3 only and works just fine with my 2018 MBP but not with my older machine......

I suspect part of your problem is due to the enclosure you're trying to use..... It is sometimes just worth the money to go ahead and buy something which is already designed to be a full-fledged external Thunderbolt 3 drive rather than trying to cobble together some sort of combination of enclosure and a drive meant to be an internal SSD in the first place.....

Do you mean your T5 can get the required current in both 2015 and 2018 MBP?

Yeah I agree with your point, I may consider returning these two and buying an X5 instead.

 

[Clix Pix]

To clarify: the Samsung T5 is USB-C only; that is, it's not Thunderbolt even though it uses the same sort of connector (USB-C). When I use the device with my older MBP I swap out cables and use a cable with a USB-A connector on one end. The device works very well in both the 2015 and the 2018 MBPs. I have no idea about how much current each requires, as it has not ever been an issue. I just plug the thing in with the appropriate cable and do whatever it is I need to do and it works. I have been using T5s for a couple of years now, since they first came out, and prior to that I used the T1 and T3 respectively.

The X5 is a different animal from the T5 altogether, and is faster and really effective in a machine with Thunderbolt 3 connectors. It does get hot, even with its included heat sink, but its speed is remarkable. This device is not backwards-compatible, though, so I cannot use it in my older MBP, only the 2018 MBP. That is not an issue for me since I do have the T5s which work well for that purpose.

I would give the Samsung X5 a try, see how it does with your machine and what you want to accomplish......

 

[rodrigofcanova]

I had the same problem with the USB-C ports on my iMac 2017 with the SSD T5 and a USB 3.1 Hub. My question: would the problem be only in the USB 3.1 architecture or would it also occur if it used the Thunderbolt 3 architecture? Did someone use a Samsung x5 on machines with this problem to be able to tell how the experience was?