Is 16 wireless external numpads the limit?

I want to build a classroom size (30 students) voting system. Therefore I have USB hubs and a bunch of external wireless numpads (LOGILINK ID0120). All of them are visible via (terminal command ioreg -p IOUSB -w0 -l) but only 16 of them work. Why is this? And how to get around?


When I say "they work" I mean:

  1. for example keypresses arrive in my voting system python script.
  2. but also I can write with only 16 of them in a text field.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 26.5

Gepostet am 12. Sept. 2026 16:55

Antworten
Frage gekennzeichnet als Höchstrangige Antwort

Gepostet am 12. Sept. 2026 18:54

The fact that all 30 appear in `ioreg` only tells you that USB sees them. It doesn’t necessarily mean macOS has attached all of them as usable keyboard HID devices.


Since the cutoff is consistently 16, I’d check the HID side next. Run:

`hidutil list`


Apple documents `hidutil` specifically for seeing which HID devices macOS has actually made available.


If only 16 of the numpads appear there as keyboards, I don’t think changing USB hubs will get you past this. The limitation is higher up in the macOS input/HID stack.


For a 30-student voting system, I’d avoid having every keypad act as a normal keyboard. A better approach would be either one controller that collects all 30 inputs and presents them to the Mac as one device, or have your Python application read the individual HID devices directly rather than relying on normal keyboard events. Apple’s HID APIs are designed to let an application discover and communicate with HID devices directly.


`hidutil list` with 16 versus all 30 devices would help narrow down exactly where the limit is occurring.


A friendly note: This is the German-language Apple Support Community. Posting your question in German will make it easier for more members to understand it and offer assistance.

2 Antworten
Frage gekennzeichnet als Höchstrangige Antwort

12. Sept. 2026 18:54 als Antwort auf koppesim

The fact that all 30 appear in `ioreg` only tells you that USB sees them. It doesn’t necessarily mean macOS has attached all of them as usable keyboard HID devices.


Since the cutoff is consistently 16, I’d check the HID side next. Run:

`hidutil list`


Apple documents `hidutil` specifically for seeing which HID devices macOS has actually made available.


If only 16 of the numpads appear there as keyboards, I don’t think changing USB hubs will get you past this. The limitation is higher up in the macOS input/HID stack.


For a 30-student voting system, I’d avoid having every keypad act as a normal keyboard. A better approach would be either one controller that collects all 30 inputs and presents them to the Mac as one device, or have your Python application read the individual HID devices directly rather than relying on normal keyboard events. Apple’s HID APIs are designed to let an application discover and communicate with HID devices directly.


`hidutil list` with 16 versus all 30 devices would help narrow down exactly where the limit is occurring.


A friendly note: This is the German-language Apple Support Community. Posting your question in German will make it easier for more members to understand it and offer assistance.

Is 16 wireless external numpads the limit?

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