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My iPhone 7 which I recently bought doesn't charge with my MacBook Pro Retina 2015. It always shows for one second that it recharges but then something like lost connection and then again. and goes on and on, both ports...

Strange thing is that my girlfriend's 6S charges in the same computer flawlessly.

  1. I have tried 5 different cables and bought 1 new one. Same result
  2. In my girlfriends Macbook air it recharges fine, also in other computers it recharges fine...
  3. The iPhone recharges okay from within the AC Charger
  4. I reseted PRAM and SMC, still the same result
  5. Other accessories work fine (Recharging camera, USB port for dock in display)

macOS Sierra, iOS 11 Golden master beta, got Xcode 9 beta installed alongside Xcode 8.

Other thing I thought about is that it could be the Xcode messing around with the USB Port. But I uninstalled it with no luck.

Q: How can I make my iPhone charge (again) using my MacBook Pro?

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  • I had similar problem when I enabled wireless debugging in Xcode 9 yesterday. Restart helped in my case. Maybe reinstall Xcode and disable wireless debugging for this device? Just a guess
    – Mateusz Szlosek
    Commented Sep 15, 2017 at 11:52
  • okay, after update I uninstalled Xcode and deleted lockdown folder insides. I found out new usecase: When I am not signed in, the recharging works fine. unfortunatelly I deleted all the user Launch daemons and it still occurs... At least I know it's something user-related...
    – Dominik Bucher
    Commented Sep 15, 2017 at 17:06
  • Not a duplicate @bmike :)
    – Dominik Bucher
    Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 20:00
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    Are you able to ask on meta for some people to review this? Unless there's an edit to clarify how it's substantially different than the linked question, it won't get a review without an edit. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see why we keep both questions linked and what sort of additional answer might be provided here. Close just points answerers to the main thread for this.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 21:13

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
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Running this in terminal worked for me: (it will ask for your user's password)

sudo killall -STOP -c usbd

This pauses the troublesome process instead of killing it altogether like other answers suggest. The difference is that macOS won't try to reopen it automatically and cause the issue again.

Running sudo killall -CONT usbd will resume the process, should anything require it.

Tested on: iPhone 7 (iOS 11) + MacBook Pro Late 2013 (10.13.6)

Besides software issues, there's a good chance that the cable is at least partially damaged (or not genuine Apple) so it might work for dumb power chargers but not with a MacBook that also relies on the USB data pins.

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  • 3
    Works with iOS 12 (iPhone 6S) and MacBook Pro 2015.
    – Dilip Raj Baral
    Commented Nov 24, 2018 at 9:44
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    Concerning the comment on the cable: I tried at least three almost new original Apple cables. All of them work flawlessly with my other devices (iPhone 5, iPad mini4)
    – n1000
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 8:08
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    It works, but without usbd the phone will charge a lot slower and will stop charging if you let the Mac sleep. I'd try disabling it and reenabling at least once, to see if the problem goes away. Works some of the time for me.
    – Breno Gazzola
    Commented May 7, 2019 at 1:47
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    worked with macBook Mid 2015 + iPhone 8
    – tronc
    Commented Jun 30, 2019 at 9:51
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    MacOS Catalina does not show USBD in activity monitor. But this solution still works (MBP 2015 on Catalina with iPhone 11 Pro Max on iOS 13
    – channae
    Commented Oct 15, 2019 at 5:13
37

Once I force-quit the process "usbd" this problem went away.

Open Activity Monitor -> View -> All Processes -> Search for usbd -> Double click -> Quit -> Force Quit

Here are a couple of manual pages on the usbd process, for more information:

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  • 5
    Please don't delete this. It's the only one that has worked for me. Deleting it would be harmful to the community.
    – csalvato
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 1:25
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    It worked for me too. What a hell usbd does? This a two year lasting bug...
    – Vinícius Ferrão
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 3:57
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    Wow! All this time I had been thinking my Mac's USB port wasn't able to supply enough power to the phone.
    – Dilip Raj Baral
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 14:05
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    I tried but then the phone doesn't charge anymore?
    – MicroMachine
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 0:27
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    THIS WORKED! I tried doing sudo killall -STOP -c usbd but it didn't do the trick. This did. Nice one!
    – Joshua Pinter
    Commented Dec 28, 2018 at 18:01
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This happened to me for the longest time.

How I Fixed It:

Settings > Network For me, there was one titled 'Thunderbolt Bridge' Remove it

(Click the lock and enter your admin password, now you can hit the minus sign - for that connection.)

Then you should be all set.

On a MacBook Pro, Mid 2015 but should be a universal problem.

Maybe it has something to do with XCode like the some of the other people above were saying.

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  • 2
    This did not help me.
    – Arpit Chauhan
    Commented Nov 24, 2019 at 18:53
3

I had this issue with my MacBook Air. I contacted Apple support and they gave me a few successful options. Firstly check that your software is up to date.

If this doesn't work you'll need to Reset the System Management Console.

  1. Shut down the MacBook and plug in the charger. Ensure nothing else is connected to the device.
  2. Press Shift-Control- Alt and the power key simultaneously for 10 seconds and then release.

Youll then need to do a Reset NVRAM.

  1. Turn the MacBook on and instantly press the Command- Alt- P -R keys. (do this before the welcome screen pops up, straight after you've pressed the on key)
  2. Continue to hold the keys until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound again.
  3. Release the keys.

This worked for me so I hope you find this helpful.

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    thanks but I posted already to question I did all the SMC and NVRAM resets... Anyways thanks for contribution:)
    – Dominik Bucher
    Commented Jun 12, 2018 at 23:52
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    If one of these 3 receipes worked, which one is it?
    – athena
    Commented Feb 20, 2019 at 7:40
  • I had this issue, my iPhone X kept toggling between charging and not every 5-20 seconds on my late 2013 MacBook Pro. Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) seemed to fix the issue for me, but then the next day it came back again. For now it looks like the other solution of killing usbd daemon is the only thing that's working for me.
    – thkemp
    Commented Nov 24, 2021 at 14:07
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The problem is caused by cache and directory issues with the startup disk. BOOTING IN SAFE MODE SOLVED IT. Boot in safe mode (hold down shift key immediately you power the macbook, keep holding it until you see the login screen). To confirm that you are in safe mode (safe mode should be written in red at the top right corner of the login screen). Login, plug in your iphone and the problem is solved. To confirm that the problem is solved, leave safe mode by just restarting the macbook normally (without holding shift). Sorry for the late response. THIS IS A 100% FIX

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    "THIS IS A 100% FIX" - nope, it's not. didn't work.
    – tronc
    Commented Jul 1, 2019 at 13:24
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    It might have been a "100% fix" for YOU, but it certainly didn't help me.
    – wickywills
    Commented Dec 12, 2019 at 9:54
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Everyone is focusing on the MacBook, that isn't the issue. The USBD process is just a workaround, but the issue lies in a setting on the iPhone. If you plug your phone in before restoring your backup, the issue will not be there. The quickest way to fix this is to go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset All Settings. This isn't going to delete any of your content, it will however reset all of your settings (Screen Timeout, Notification, Wallpaper, Face/TouchID etc.), which will resolve your issue. From there, go back through and set your Settings the way you like them, and if your issue comes back, it is something you are changing in settings.

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This connection problem was caused b/c the iphone was unable to connect to the itunes on my Macbook Air. I switched from generic cord to apple cord which allowed the connection to last longer before disconnecting. When asked in itunes if I wanted this computer to accept this iphone I selected yes and then I had to confirm on my iphone to trust this computer. Once this was done I had no issues and the connection was never lost again. I can even use the generic iphone cable to connect my iphone to my Macbook Air at this time. The only problem is I had to enter this information quickly before it lost connection. (Apple needs to find away to resolve this issue!) I had no problem connecting iphone to my PC Lapton and connecting to itunes and charging phone. It is only a problem with Mac. I'm using late 2016 macbook air with Macos Mojav 10.14.1. I hope that this helps!

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