lsusb for macOS

A macOS equivalent to the Linux lsusb command that displays USB devices in a formatted table with device names, product IDs, vendor IDs, vendor names, and connection speeds.

Description

This script uses system_profiler to gather USB device information and formats it in a clean, hierarchical table with color-coded speeds for easy identification. It provides a familiar lsusb-like experience for macOS users who are accustomed to the Linux command.

Features

• Color-coded speed indicators
  • 🟢 Green: USB 3.x devices
  • 🟡 Yellow: USB 2.0 devices
  • 🔴 Red: USB 1.x devices
• Hierarchical device tree display with proper indentation
• Apple devices hidden by default (use -A flag to show them)
• Graceful handling of missing device information
• Clean table formatting with proper alignment

Installation

1. Clone this repository or download the lsusb.sh script
2. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x lsusb.sh

3. (Optional) Move to a directory in your PATH for system-wide access:

   sudo mv lsusb.sh /usr/local/bin/lsusb

Usage

./lsusb.sh [-A]

Options

• -A: Show Apple Inc. devices (hidden by default)

Examples

Show all non-Apple USB devices:

./lsusb.sh

Show all USB devices including Apple devices:

./lsusb.sh -A

Requirements

• macOS (any recent version)
• Bash shell
• system_profiler command (included with macOS)

Sample Output

The script displays USB devices in a hierarchical table format with color-coded speeds:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Device                              | Prod ID    | Vend ID    | Vendor Name          | Speed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USB2.1 Hub                          | 0x0610     | 0x05e3     | Genesys Logic, Inc.  | Up to 480 Mb/s
USB2.0 Hub                          | 0x0608     | 0x05e3     | Genesys Logic, Inc.  | Up to 480 Mb/s
USB 2.0 Hub                         | 0x2586     | 0x067b     | Prolific Technology, Inc. | Up to 480 Mb/s
USB Receiver                        | 0xc531     | 0x046d     | Logitech Inc.        | Up to 12 Mb/s
USB 2.0 BILLBOARD                   | 0x0103     | 0x2109     | VIA Labs, Inc.       | Up to 12 Mb/s
USB3.1 Hub                          | 0x0626     | 0x05e3     | Genesys Logic, Inc.  | Up to 5 Gb/s
USB 10/100/1000 LAN                 | 0x8153     | 0x0bda     | Realtek Semiconductor Corp. | Up to 5 Gb/s

License

GNU General Public License v3.0

Copyright (c) 2025 Rob Vella [email protected]

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and pull requests to improve this tool.

Author

Rob Vella - [email protected]