derickhonig
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Trackpad made useless

Hi, I have a 17' Macbook Pro. Recently upgraded system to Mavericks 10.9.5.The trackpad is basically useless now (slow, jittery and unresponsive - with a mind of it's own), but a wireless mouse works fine. What happened and how to fix it?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Apr 10, 2015 8:17 AM

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derickhonig

Q: Trackpad made useless

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  • Helpful answers

  • by mario49,

    mario49 mario49 Apr 13, 2015 8:39 AM in response to derickhonig
    Community Specialists
    Apr 13, 2015 8:39 AM in response to derickhonig

    Hi derickhonig,

     

    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. Based on what you stated, it sounds like the trackpad is erratic and unresponsive. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.

     

    Trackpad or Magic Trackpad is jumpy or erratic - Apple Support

     

    Cheers,

    Mario

  • by derickhonig,

    derickhonig derickhonig Apr 13, 2015 5:49 PM in response to mario49
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2015 5:49 PM in response to mario49

    Hi Mario, thank you for your reply, but none of these pieces of action were helpful.

    My machine is clean and kept clean, I use only the supplied power cord.

    I know my gestures

    This machine with Mountain Lion and earlier Mavericks has been a flawless workhorse.

     

    I've tried Safe Mode, the problem persists.

    It's really as simple as that the trackpad does not really 'control' the pointer very well at all.

    Often, for about 30 seconds at start up or out of sleep mode, it works just fine and then, almost as if a different system process starts, it goes wonky.

    The pointer moves slow, inconsistent, strangely, and will do swipe gestures when not swiping. It will magnify the window without the proper gesture.

    It's like it is 'misinterpreting' the gesture.

     

    The thousands of messages on on these forums about this type of problem seem to suggest that Mavericks causes this problem on some of the older machines. Is it not somewhat obvious that there are some issues with the relationship between the trackpad and with both Mavericks, and Yosemite OS.

    ?? because I don't see a lot of those other messages with a green check??

    What do you think?

    thanks, Derick

  • by mario49,

    mario49 mario49 Apr 14, 2015 2:45 PM in response to derickhonig
    Community Specialists
    Apr 14, 2015 2:45 PM in response to derickhonig

    Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Apr 15, 2015 10:59 AM in response to derickhonig
    Level 9 (73,966 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 15, 2015 10:59 AM in response to derickhonig
    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

     

    Isolating an issue by using another user account


    If you still have the problem, if you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing. Use 2nd link if not near an Apple Store or aren’t in the US.       Hardware Repair - Keeping Confidential Data Safe

     

     

    Genius Bar Reservation US


     

    Authorized Service Provider