06-17-2009, 06:15 PM

Can somebody tell me the exact steps to figure out what USB I have (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, etc.)? I know you go to Hardware and click USB, but what USB bar under that to I click?

06-17-2009, 06:15 PM

where it says USB bus >
the ones that look like that, check the version

06-17-2009, 06:20 PM

My regular USB ports are 1.5mb/sec. *which us USB1.0*

My high-speed USB port *Built in iSight cam* is 480mb/sec *which is USB2.0*

Then I have another high-speed USB port, but it doesn't say what speed it is, and there is nothing in it. Is there a special USB port that should be on the side of my Mac or anything?

Mac Product Guide: 13-inch MacBook/2.4GHz (black) | Macworld


This is the Mac I have. It says it has 2x USB 2.0 ports, but why does my Mac Specs list say my regular USB ports are 15mb/sec? Or *referring to my above post* do I plug it into the hi-speed port *if somebody can tell me where it is*?

06-17-2009, 06:42 PM

The external USB ports on every computer less than about 6-7 yrs old are USB 2.0

This includes every MacBook and MacBook Pro.

I think the only USB in any of these Mac's that are not USB 2.0 is the internal bus for trackpad/keyboard, infrared and Bluetooth.

06-17-2009, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by bobtomay

The external USB ports on every computer less than about 6-7 yrs old are USB 2.0

This includes every MacBook and MacBook Pro.

I think the only USB in any of these Mac's that are not USB 2.0 is the internal bus for trackpad/keyboard, infrared and Bluetooth.

So the regular USB ports ARE actually 2.0 ports? Also, I saw that my ports said *Version: 2.00*, but why do they say 1.5mb/sec? That's 1.0 USB speed.

06-17-2009, 08:13 PM

If you are clicking on the Apple then on About This Mac and then on More Info then on USB, what you are seeing is the devices you have plugged into the Mac. If the device is USB 1.1 it will show the lower speed even if it's plugged into a USB 2.0 port. The ports on your Intel Mac are all USB 2.0 and capable of 480Mb/sec. Any USB 1.1 device will show either 1.5 Mb/s or 12Mb/s. The Keyboard and Mouse show up as 1.5 Mb/s even when plugged into a USB 2.0 port.

In other words, your ports are 2.0 but a lot of your devices are not. The Mac is fine.

06-17-2009, 09:05 PM

Also, do note that USB 2.0, while rated at 480Mb/s, can not do sustained transfers at that speed. It can burst up to 480Mb/s, but sustained transfers are quite a bit slower.

So, if you're trying to decide on something like an external hard drive and have the option to go with a Firewire drive, even though the Firewire port on your machine is only rated at 400Mb/s, it is capable of sustained transfers at that rate, which will make it faster overall.

06-17-2009, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by cwa107

Also, do note that USB 2.0, while rated at 480Mb/s, can not do sustained transfers at that speed. It can burst up to 480Mb/s, but sustained transfers are quite a bit slower.

A lot slower.

Originally Posted by cwa107

if you're trying to decide on something like an external hard drive and have the option to go with a Firewire drive, even though the Firewire port on your machine is only rated at 400Mb/s, it is capable of sustained transfers at that rate, which will make it faster overall.

In my timed tests FW 400 was up to twice as fast at all transfers over about 100MB in size.

06-17-2009, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by dtravis7

If you are clicking on the Apple then on About This Mac and then on More Info then on USB, what you are seeing is the devices you have plugged into the Mac. If the device is USB 1.1 it will show the lower speed even if it's plugged into a USB 2.0 port. The ports on your Intel Mac are all USB 2.0 and capable of 480Mb/sec. Any USB 1.1 device will show either 1.5 Mb/s or 12Mb/s. The Keyboard and Mouse show up as 1.5 Mb/s even when plugged into a USB 2.0 port.

In other words, your ports are 2.0 but a lot of your devices are not. The Mac is fine.

Thank you. That makes perfect sense.

Thanks to all.

06-17-2009, 11:22 PM

Here are 3 pics to illustrate what I was saying. All on same USB 2.0 Port plugged in to 7-port USB 2.0 Belkin Hub. Zip drive is old USB 1.1 external.


Notice keyboard at 1.5Mb/s.