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Macbook Air 13" 2013. It seems like I bent the connector of the USB port on the left side, somehow. It was working fine till a couple days ago, now I tried to plug in a USB pen drive and I couldn’t push it in as far as usual, and it didn’t mount on the desktop. It’s as if there’s something stuck inside the port, but I looked using a flashlight and the port seems unobstructed. No idea what happened. Maybe I had something in my carry bag that pushed up against the port. Apart from replacing the inside board, which has the USB, Magsafe and earphone jacks, is there any procedure anyone could recommend to straighten the USB connector, or check for bent pins? Is there any risk of frying something if I try to straighten the USB port pins or the white connector? The board replacement looks fairly easy, and the part isn’t too expensive (around $20), so that would be a last resort. Thanks. Update (10/21/2017) Okay. Here’s a couple of pics, though not very good quality; sorry but I can’t do any better with my smartphone camera. The part around the USB port looks a bit worse for wear, but it’s always been that way, probably due to carrying it a lot in my bag. As I said, the USB port worked perfectly up until yesterday. I also took 2 pics to show how far a USB pen drive slots into each port. The left port doesn’t let my insert the pen in far enough to mount it.
I think your MagSafe connector needs some cleaning! Take a cotton swab (Q-Tip) slightly damp with isopropyl alcohol so you can clean the cavity and contacts. You’ll likely need to do the cord end as well. As for the USB port… I’m a bit confused the plugged in USB thumb drive appears to be square to the case in both ports (left & right) the top most image does look like the frontward facing edge is inward a tad. But the image is so blurred I’m not sure if I’m seeing this or not. Is that what you see as the issue? Does the port work? Update (10/22/2017) Sorry Matt, The USB port is part of the I/O board assembly and well anchored as well! As you can see here:
More likely you’ll damage it more with pliers. Best just to replace the part: MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013 through Early 2015) I/O Board - Apple P/N 923-0439 and here’s how to do it: MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013 I/O Board Replacement. Look at it this way the right side USB port is part of the main logic board! That would have been a more costly part to replace.
