My crippled Macbook Pro 13

[Miso]

One year ago I bought new Macbook pro 13 (with the new keyboard)
It had some bugs and problems but it in general it was ok.

But some time ago I updated my MacBook to Big Sur and my MacBook became crippled.
Here is the list of problems. I googled each of them but did not find any solution.

1) My mac has 2TB of storage. But after my SSD sized reduced. When I go to About This Mac -> Storage it shows that I only have 1 TB SSD total. I did all the following software updates but it did not help.

2) I have a problem with SD cards. When I connect the SD card (via card reader) to my mac - it does not see it. I need to reboot my computer for it to see the SSD card. It happens ALL the time. It never sees the SSD card from the first try.

3) When I connect my external HDD to MacBook I have a problem. When I try to eject it - it does not allow to do it. It says that some processes are using the HDD and I have to stop them before ejecting the HDD. I always have to reboot my mac in order to safely eject this HDD. It ejects it only after the reboot. There are no processes that are using the mac (at least I did not launch them) It happens even If I connect the completely empty HDD to my mac. There are no files on it to use. I tested this with different external HDDs and the situation is the same.

4) When I finally eject the external HDD - the disk continues to work. It stops working when I physically take it out of the port.

5) Do you know the sound when something finished downloading? I hear this sound every 30-40 seconds when I am using Chrome. I am not downloading anything. Even if there are no tabs open - I still hear this sound all the time. I turned off the notifications in Chrome but this did not help.

Please help me!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

-Is it a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) or MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)?
-What version of OS X/macOS is it running?
-Did you create any manual partitions on the SSD by chance?

1) What does it say if you go to  > About This Mac > System Report... > Storage?
2) What brand/model is the SD card? How is it formatted?
3) What brand/model is the external drive? What size? How much data is used/free? How is it formatted?
4) Have you tried ejecting it in Disk Utility instead of Finder?
5) Do you have any third-party Chrome Extensions installed? There could be one/some that are borderline malware.

C

 

[Miso]

I found the inactive disk in my Disky utility. I runned a first aid but it did not help.

Answering your question about > About This Mac > System Report... > Storage?. I see that the total amount of my space is 1TB, even though my mac has 2 tb.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

In  > About This Mac > System Report... > Storage, what does it say under Physical Drive > Device Name? It should be something like APPLE SSD AP1024Q - which is a 1 TB version.

C

 

[Miso]

OK, thanks.

In  > About This Mac > System Report... > Storage, what does it say under Physical Drive > Device Name? It should be something like APPLE SSD AP1024Q - which is a 1 TB version.

C

This is what I see here.

---
Recently I went to the apple service and told them about this problem. I was not able to give away my mac to them because I did not back up the files. The technician checked the MacBook and said that I just have to reinstall my mac os.
I reinstalled my macOS using recovery but it did not help. I still have only one tb.

 

[Miso]

Maybe the reinstall did not help me because I did not erase the disks? I kept all the data.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

From your recent screenshot, under Physical Drive > Device Name, an Apple SSD AP1024N is actually a 1 TB SSD model.

Apple SSD AP1024

The Apple SSD AP1024Q 1 TB in my M1 Mac mini is basically the same device, but a different revision:

-Are you sure you purchased a 2 TB SSD?
-Where did you purchase the MBP and was it new?
-Have you had any repairs since you purchased it?

C

 

[Miso]

OK, thanks.

From your recent screenshot, under Physical Drive > Device Name, an Apple SSD AP1024N is actually a 1 TB SSD model.

Apple SSD AP1024

The Apple SSD AP1024Q 1 TB in my M1 Mac mini is basically the same device, but a different revision:
View attachment 3954
-Are you sure you purchased a 2 TB SSD?
-Where did you purchase the MBP and was it new?
-Have you had any repairs since you purchased it?

C

Yes, of course I have 2tb drive.

I bought this MacBook pro in authorised apple reseller (biggest in my country) last summer. I used it for 6 months without updating the OS and I had 2 TB. I work with the videos, so I used 1.2 of storage all the time.

Yes, mac was completely new and I did not have any repairs. It happened after I updated my OS to Big Sur

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

Strange that an OS upgrade would change the reported device name. I haven't ever heard of that, as that is built-in to the SSD and cannot be changed.

You may be correct...you may need to backup the data and completely erase the drive and reinstall. Or, backup the data and work with the Apple service you recently visited.

C

 

[Miso]

I went to the apple service, they told me to reinstall my OS. I did it, but choose the option when the data is saved - this did not help. Mac is still crippled and the SSD is still missing.

I used to have problems with externals HDDs too. I had to restart my macbook every time when I wanted to eject the disk, otherwise it did was not allowing to do it, saying that the disk is used by Finder (even though it wasn't). So I had to restart my mac every single time.

But now even this does not help...
This is what I see even after few restarts:

It does not eject.. I tried so many times. The disk is still spinning ( I heaer it). What should I do in this situation? How can I safely eject it if it does not allow?

P.S
Now I hate macs... I want to change it to a Windows PC now, this type of computer simply does not work properly. I never had that kind of issues with my windows PCs in the past. Why people are using these computers? Only because of the cool design?

 

[Miso]

I went to the apple service, they told me to reinstall my OS. I did it, but choose the option when the data is saved - this did not help. Mac is still crippled and the SSD is still missing.

I used to have problems with externals HDDs too. I had to restart my macbook every time when I wanted to eject the disk, otherwise it did was not allowing to do it, saying that the disk is used by Finder (even though it wasn't). So I had to restart my mac every single time.

But now even this does not help...
This is what I see even after few restarts:

It does not eject.. I tried so many times. The disk is still spinning ( I heaer it). What should I do in this situation? How can I safely eject it if it does not allow?

P.S
Now I hate macs... I want to change it to a Windows PC now, this type of computer simply does not work properly. I never had that kind of issues with my windows PCs in the past. Why people are using these computers? Only because of the cool design?

 

[Nukeban]

Yes, mac was completely new and I did not have any repairs. It happened after I updated my OS to Big Sur

Someday there should be a prominent thread discussing the pros and cons of updating OSX. How, when, why, if etc.