New MacBook trackpad not clicking for some users

Apple CEO Steve Jobs explains the new trackpad design used on Apple's MacBooks, which is apparently causing some early problems.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

The new glass trackpad introduced on the MacBooks unveiled by Apple last month appears to be giving some users fits.

The trackpad on the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros does away with a separate button, turning the whole trackpad into the mouse button. It also supports several new multitouch gestures for rotating pictures or scrolling. But The Register notes that some users are running into problems where the MacBook doesn't register clicks on the trackpad.

Apple's discussion boards are seeing some activity related to this issue. It's not clear whether this is any kind of hardware or software glitch, or whether or not people are actually causing the problem by resting their thumb on the trackpad over the space that previously contained a button. Older MacBooks had a settings option for ignoring accidental trackpad inputs, but that seems to have been removed on newer models to allow for the multifinger gestures.

Either way, a MacBook user reported that he e-mailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs to complain about the issue, and received a phone call from an Apple representative saying that the company was looking into the problems. We weren't able to duplicate the problem on a MacBook lying around the office, but let us know if you're seeing this issue.

[tadbittipsy]

This is most likely a moisture or contact issue. My old track pad even had this problem. With moisture on the pad the control would lock into two finger or accidently click. With the new design, people are just experiencing this more because the button is now the pad. Remember to clean your hands and then wipe them off with a good clean towel before computing you little mac nerdies!!!

[ballmerisanape]

In other news, some guy in Turkey complained that the track pad button on his dell attitude was sticking.

[jonf2]

nah, its legit. My macbook pro does it all the time - you click, hear a click, but the mackbook pro doesn't respond. In my totally informal tests, I find that its more likely to miss the click if I've rested my thumb on the bottom part of the trackpad (where the button would be) as I scroll around with my finger and click with my thumb. If I just use my index finger, and click with it, it has a much better chance of working. I've also found that not having the right click area activated seems to make the mbp register more clicks.

[friday04]

Maybe I'm just so used to doing it on the previous Mac trackpads but I use the "tap to click" option in the trackpad settings. It's a million times easier for me to just tap wherever my finger may be on the trackpad than to try to click a physical button. Tap to click and Dragging and Drag Lock for a very useful experience.

One problem I am facing though is sometimes I drag my finger to start moving the mouse pointer and nothing happens. I have to take my finger off of the trackpad and start again before it registers. I definitely think something is fishy with this glass trackpad. My only hope is that they can update it through software.

[larryboy01]

Yes, this article definitely deserves a headline on cnet news. Must be election day.

[timber2005]

Cnet is generally a tech website. It's not CNN news for Fox, so yeah, kinda makes sense that it'd be headlines on a generally tech centered website.

[Travis Ernst]

The antique touch pads (iBook clamshell) you could do serious damage to the pad after using them for quite some time. Mine became indented slightly in the middle region. I have not had the time to see what I can and can't get the new portables to do, but if it's the same as the iPhone, the finger techniques are pretty easy to grasp, least for the phone.

[ikramerica--2008]

This buttonless trackpad is one reason I will avoid these machines. I hope Apple sees it's error by next year and puts back the button. Otherwise I'll be looking for a refurbished older model when my current MBP breaks.

[ultimatebuster]

that's why you don't buy a mac. unless you want to cool look/

[imacpwr]

On Saturday I happened to go to an Apple store in Switzerland to check out the new Mac Books (oh they look good :) ). Anyway, seeing this story reminded me how I had some difficulty clicking on the track pad and thought maybe I just didn't understand how to use the click function on them. Maybe it wasn't just me having the problems that day...

[aguywithsomeopinions]

It took me a couple of days to get used to the new trackpad, but I think it works great. Good to know that the next time I have a concern with an Apple product I can just email Steve Jobs directly....

[phess11]

I guess I am stupid, but what was wrong with a button! Oh, it worked.

[ddesy]

The removal of the button just doesn't seem right to me.

I have a first generation MacBook, and just about the first thing I did when I got it was to turn off the tap to click feature. I do that on PC laptops too. I have never liked the feature.

Between this and the removal of Firewire from the MacBook, I just don't see myself upgrading.

[zgreenwell]

I'd like to try one of those new trackpads for myself. I think its a good idea that people are having trouble getting used to.

[NYCLaura]

I have a similar problem with my trackpad. It randomly freezes from time-to-time. Sometimes after the computer has been asleep, sometimes in the middle of using it. Usually when this happens, the click functions still work, but in order to actually move the arrow I have to use an external mouse - the trackpad doesn't register any of my finger swipes. The Apple phone helpline is useless - they just tell me to restart the computer several times, and when that doesn't work, they tell me to take the computer back to the store. I am VERY unhappy with this computer.

[joseolopez]

I am currently experiencing the same problem. However, I didn't have this problem at all when I first got my MacBook. I got it around Christmas and it has been working fine. Around May, I had a problem with my hard drive and I had to reformat it and reinstall the OS. Ever since that, I have been having this problem where I click but sometimes it doesn't recognize it. I have found out that the more pressure I put on the trackpad, it will recognize the click. I don't really think this is a hardware issue. I have tried to update the Trackpad firmware (1.0) but it said that it was up to date. I am guessing that this may be a problem with the firmware or something. I hope that Apple fixes this.

[opua]

I have the same problem with a 2.53 macbook pro, what i've narrowed it down to is the trackpad-tap sometimes needs 2 or 3 light taps (the same pressure which worked for my powerbook g4 in tap-click mode) where a trackpad-click works immediately every time. Also there is a slight delay when tapping the trackpad to the action being carried out (less than 0.25s but obvious all the same and annoying to me when i'm trying to do loads of things at once), where again the trackpad-click works with no obvious delay.

I have all the latest updates 10.5.7...

[tim_steele_dotmac]

I'm having the same issue. Initially, it worked great. I actually really like the new form, however, the past few days I've noticed that I often get the click sound without the click action. If I press harder than normal, it appears to work properly. I'm wondering if there is an issue with dirt working it's way under the pad, similar to the SurePress screen on the BlackBerry Storm.

[katalina011]

Ugh, I have this problem ALL THE TIME. I just bought a MacBook in the beginning of May, and I like the glass trackpad, but the screw-up with clicking via taps is driving me nuts. It literally takes about seven tries to get it to click on a link instead of attempting to drag it. I deactivated some of the dragging options already, which seemed to help at first, but now it's making zero difference. And then yesterday I was attempting to right-click via trackpad and it was randomly registering it as a left-click instead. (Like, it would read it wrong one time out of three, and for no apparent reason.)

And it's not that I'm doing anything wrong. I've had laptops for years, and I virtually never used the button on my old one because I find it uncomfortable/awkward to click when you can just do a light tap instead. If I have to deactivate dragging just to be able to click, then the trackpad loses a LOT of its usefulness.

Also, it doesn't seem to read side-to-side motion very well. (Like sideways drags to page through tabs on your browser.) Does anyone else have that problem?

[Senatorwinn]

I have a similar problem when trying to move the cursor left to right when editing an audio file. In cases where I have to get to an exact point to make an edit the cursor just stays there while my finger moves in either direction. I've already tried changing the settings, but none of them seem to affect my issue. It never happened before on my older Mac Powerbook.

[nick58360]

I just received my first Macbook Pro after waiting 3 weeks for it to arrive from being shipped from shanghai to 3rd party shipper in Georgia and back to Guam (apple will not ship to guam). The trackpad is not working out of the box! I am able to scroll, but unable to click and therefore cannot use the computer! Hopefully apple support has a solution without having to pay another $120 to have it shipped to the states and back to me...

[justmeon12]

I have a Macbook Pro (purchased in July 2009) and have this problem with the trackpad. I can single-click (1 finger) but when I use 2 fingers (as in right-click), I get no response. My model number is Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,4

I'm thinking this happened after updating to Snow Leopard. But it might have been after the first update post-snow leopard. I'm not 100% sure unfortunately.