Use the ESP32 Development Kit on Macbook Pro 2017

When I tried to use my ESP32 Development Kit ordered by AZ-Delivery on my Macbook Pro 2017, it did not work. The macOS did not show the serial port of the DevKit.

Searching Google for this issue indicates that I am not the only one having this problem.

I’ve found the following articles talking about this issue:

As you can read from the above it links it seems to be reasoned by the CP2102 UART bridge.

Until now the only really working solution that I found is that using the right USB cable works.

For me, it works directly on the USB-C Ports of the Macbook, if I use the following USB-C to Micro-USB cable from CableMatters: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00UUBRX0Y/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_uSI-CbVTYCTWE

Cable Matters® USB 2.0 Micro-B Kabel A Type C (USB-C)

Any other USB-C to USB-A adapter with another USB-A to Micro-USB cable did not work for me.
There is just one other device I found that made it working with the Macbook as well.

The following USB-C Docking Station with every USB-A to Micro-USB cable worked for me as well: i-tec USB 3.0 / USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 Dual Display Docking Station

i-tec USB 3.0 / USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 Dual Display Docking Station
i-tec USB 3.0 / USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 Dual Display Docking Station

Happy making!

2 thoughts to “Use the ESP32 Development Kit on Macbook Pro 2017”

  1. I had a similiar issue with a 2015 MBP with MacOS 10.14.5
    After spending an hour on google without any progress on my problem I found out that MacOS did not finalize the installation of the driver and I had to confirm the driver installation in the security settings. Unfortunately, MacOS didnt notify me I had to confirm the driver installation during installation process (or I missed it)

    1. Same for me: According to the comment a Github (https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/issues/1084#issuecomment-363294312) I installed the drivers from https://www.silabs.com/products/development-tools/software/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers. I did not get a notification either, but you should be able to retrigger the request in the security center by reloading the driver kernel extension. See https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/issues/1084#issuecomment-425542458

      Now the ESP is working with the following USB hub: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0772GJ25R/

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