MPK249 MacBook Pro M1 Pro 2021

Hello! I recently upgraded my MacBook and am currently sitting on an unusable controller. I noticed that people have been having issues with the USB connection but has anyone tried midi cables to a usb dongle rather than the USB-B cable? I just spent a butt ton of money and don't want to buy a MIDI to USB dongle if that doesn't work also. Seems really weird to me that this is even an issue. Hopefully someone will have some insight on this issue. Thanks guys!

Could you elaborate on the issue in more detail? The MPK249 is USB class compliant, doesn't need drivers, so should be plug and play like any other midi controller (via a suitable USB convertor or cable). In theory a class compliant device shouldn't care what processor your computer uses.

EDIT: There are people who have it working no problem, sounds like you need to use a quality cable or experiment with USB hubs, the issue is likely related to the USB C conversion rather than anything relating to the MPK itself:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253409904

My wife has an M1 macbook, I'll try connecting my MPK249 to it later and see if I can replicate the issue.

Okay just connected my MPK249 to my wife's Macbook Air M1 via a random brand un-powered USB C hub. She doesn't have any audio software on that computer but it's showing up in the Mac's 'MIDI studio' no problem (Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup > Window > Show MIDI Studio) .

It's definitely supported in M1 computers. I doubt you specifically need a USB hub though, a good quality cable should do it, USB C to B (often called a USB C printer cable). But YMMV. Here's the hub I used:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VKMMGTF/

But it's now significantly more expensive than it was 2 years ago, it also interferes with the wifi on my iMac so I only use it with my iPad Pro these days. But it really is just a generic hub, nothing special.

I went and got a usb-b to usb-c cable. That didn’t work. I guess I’ll try to buy a powered hub. I even did a clean install on the computer. It is the newest 16” MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip so I don’t know if that’ll make a difference between the regular M1 chip. It’s just so frustrating because the MPK225 worked on it so I don’t really understand why the MPK249 wouldn’t.

Just so everyone knows who sees this post, I was able to get the MPK249 working with my MacBook Pro M1 Pro on Monterey with a powered usb 2.0 hub I got on Amazon. I’ve seen some people saying they do and don’t get this to work so I’ll include a link to the one I got working. Hope this helps someone as frustrated as I was. Thanks guys!

StarTech.com 4 Port Compact Black Hub

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000T9S4CI?re ... b_ap_share

There was a firmware update Jan '23 which addresses problems connecting to Mac M1/M2 computers via USB.
They specifically say a workaround is to use a powered USB hub between the MPK & Mac, but the update does away with the need.
https://support.akaipro.com/en/support/ ... patibility

Yes I can confirm that this works fine now, mpk249 just plugs directly into an m1 MacBook usb c port

I am still having this problem in December 2023. I recently bought on M1 (new) laptop, and am trying to connect it to my old MPK247 from 2017.

My computer doesn't recognize that anything is plugged into USB, so I can't even proceed with the firmware update. I checked this via both System Information (nothing connected to USB) and Audio MIDI setup (nothing).

I have tried:
- MIDI to USB-C cable + separate power supply for the keyboard
- USB cord + USB-to-USBC converter + separate power supply for keyboard

In both cases, the laptop was plugged into power. I tried restarting, unplugging and replugging the keyboard to the laptop, and clicking "File > Refresh Information" on System Information.

(To be clear, the keyboard itself turns on since I have it connected to a power supply. It just doesn't connect to the laptop)

I guess the next step is to try a powered USB hub?? But it's not even clear what kind to get. I've already made two Amazon purchases trying to get this connected.

Does anyone have any advice? I would greatly appreciate it. It's good to know that others have struggled with this! Thanks

You didn't mention anything about updating the MPK firmware, so I'm assuming you didn't do that? Check the link previously in this thread, it should resolve it for you.

ocotillo wrote:I am still having this problem in December 2023. I recently bought on M1 (new) laptop, and am trying to connect it to my old MPK247 from 2017.

My computer doesn't recognize that anything is plugged into USB, so I can't even proceed with the firmware update. I checked this via both System Information (nothing connected to USB) and Audio MIDI setup (nothing).

I have tried:
- MIDI to USB-C cable + separate power supply for the keyboard
- USB cord + USB-to-USBC converter + separate power supply for keyboard

In both cases, the laptop was plugged into power. I tried restarting, unplugging and replugging the keyboard to the laptop, and clicking "File > Refresh Information" on System Information.

(To be clear, the keyboard itself turns on since I have it connected to a power supply. It just doesn't connect to the laptop)

I guess the next step is to try a powered USB hub?? But it's not even clear what kind to get. I've already made two Amazon purchases trying to get this connected.

Does anyone have any advice? I would greatly appreciate it. It's good to know that others have struggled with this! Thanks

Thanks for your reply! Doesn't the computer have to recognize that something is plugged into USB in order for the firmware update to work though? I read somewhere to only do the firmware update if your computer lists the keyboard under "System Information > USB". The instructions for the firmware update also say that M1 users will still need a powered USB hub, so I'm so confused by everyone calling it a workaround to avoid the powered USB hub.

The update instructions state that if you are performing the firmware update on an M1 computer you must use a powered USB hub to (temporarily) get the Mac to recognise an MPK running the old firmware, so you'll need to get one of those. In all fairness you'll need one of these anyway given the lack of ports on Macs these days. Ugreen and Anker do reasonably priced USB C hubs.

Once you've updated the firmware, you'll not need the hub for the MPK, as the new firmware is permanently stored in the MPK, so it now connects to M1 computers directly.

Alternatively if you don't want to buy a USB hub, find someone with an intel mac or Windows machine and perform the firmware update on their computer.

hey everyone, i'm using a mpk261 with a macbook pro m2. i've also had to update the firmware via a workaround - i used an old intel mac. since then, i can use my mpk via an active usb hub.

however, during my last live show using mainstage, the mpk stopped working. i had another midi controller connected via bluetooth which still worked. i unplugged and reconnected the mpk yet still nothing.

now back at home with the same setup, everything works as it should.

the powered usb hub i am using is this one:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0BRXQ ... UTF8&psc=1

connected to the hub are my NI komplete audio 6 and 2 samsung portable ssd t7 drives.

possible sources of failure i see are:
- the daw / mainstage itself
- the powered usb hub
- some disturbance between the connected gear going into the hub


so now i am considering going from the hub setup straight into my mac, which means i need a printer to usb-c cable for the mpk. are there any recommendations?

thanks for any help / suggestions

The Hit wrote:so now i am considering going from the hub setup straight into my mac

by this i mean plugging the mpk straight into my mac / going away from the hub setup regarding the mpk.

The Hit wrote:so now i am considering going from the hub setup straight into my mac, which means i need a printer to usb-c cable for the mpk. are there any recommendations?

Use the cheapest cable you find with the extremities you need !

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:

The Hit wrote:so now i am considering going from the hub setup straight into my mac, which means i need a printer to usb-c cable for the mpk. are there any recommendations?

Use the cheapest cable you find with the extremities you need !

alright, thank you