Macbook pro unibody trackpad issue

Same Problem, started about a week ago and is getting progressively worse. The track pad seems to click normally but when I hold down with my thumb and try to drag a file or select text / multiple files it lets off and ends up messing up documents. It seems like the trackpad is not staying clicked in? This is very frustrating and inconvenient. I'm going to try to make it to a Mac repair store this week and see what they say. I was thinking it may have to do with the humidity. I am working a summer camp up in the NC Mountains and the problem started after a hot weekend of heavy rain. However the problem is still there.

Yeah, this problem is annoying. Mine just acted up today and it'd be nice to get some support from Apple.

Anyway, my work around is to turn on one finger "dragging" option in System Preference under Trackpad. To drag and drop, you'd click on the object twice but make sure you slide your finger in any direction on the second time. This is to lock the object to your finger movement. You'd do the same thing for multiple text selection.

You can get by with this option but at the end of the day I'd still like to fix the problem at the root cause.

I've had my MBP 13" for nearly a year and am experiencing the same issue. I plan to take mine into the Apple Store for some warranty work, as this would seem to qualify as a hardware failure within the warranty period. I think it's a matter of the mechanism just wearing out. It doesn't appear to have very good longevity.

Yeah I've been using that and it's been working so far, seems to slow down regular clicking speed. I checked at a "Mac" repair place but they couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know. When I get back home in two weeks where we have a real Apple store I will have to see what they say. My MacBook is about 2 years old so I don't know how much luck I will have with getting them to repair it but I figure it's worth a shot.

I have the same issue, you can get round the drag and drop with the double tap with finger, but when word processing and selecting bodies of text by click and drag, you need the physical click to work.

Let me know how you get it fixed, I think mine is out of the warranty period.

I'm having similar issues with a brand new (less than 20 days old) 13" MBP. I turned on the activity monitor and began to notice that if I just left the unit alone, Firefox and kernel_task were at the top of my process list when I sorted by CPU%. But as soon as I went to move the cursor using the trackpad, the 'hidd' process went to the top of the list. Once I quit moving it, it went down.

Now I think that hidd has something to do with disk image compression, so why in the world would it ALWAYS jump to the top when you go to move the cursor?

I got mine fixed at the repair store the other day. It's just some mechanical problems due to "wear and tear". They opened it up and rejig the parts underneath the track pad. It took about half an hour to get done. I still have apple care on mine so my cost was covered. I don't know how much it'd cost if I had to pay.

Hi i dont know if this has any bearing on your warranty, so please take caution.
If you life the batter out of your macbook and look there is a small screw. I have found that this needs adjusting from time to time. It takes a very small turn to adjust and is really trial and error.
One will mean the click down travel is greater until you can't click mechanically at all the other will make it less and less until again you can't click at all.

My Macbook is out of warranty, the genius bar told me the trackpad can be replaced for $200. Needless to say I'm not to happy about that. He said the part was $60 but he wouldn't sell it too me. (I've been working on computers for years, I'd rather just replace it myself) I'll also have to check out that screw.

I have been having the same problem with my late 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro and was becoming very frustrated. When I would open Safari it would not let me scroll or it would highlight all the text. Also, it would lock on to an icon or open window and drag it without me being able to release it. If you take your battery out there is a small tri wing screw on the bottom of the trackpad that is used to adjust the pressure settings. If you are experiencing similar issues turn the screw slightly to the left to give the trackpad greater pressure distance. Then reinstall your battery and try using your trackpad. It took me about 3 times to get the right adjustment for the trackpad to be set to work correctly. This is not a complicated task so try this fix before you shell out $200 for a new trackpad replacement.

Hi,
I dont know if this is relevant but i have been looking for a solution to my track pad problem. The track pad works when i tap it but it doesn't work when i press it at the bottom. The reason that i think its a software issue is because sometimes the button starts working on its own. Its frustrating because it does it on its own. I have windows 7 installed and Apple just released a bootcamp update for Windows 7. Does anyone know that by installing this program i might have a chance to fix this issue and/or if there are any other suggestions.

Thanks in Advance

Babar

Hi I've had this issue repeatedly since I got my macbook pro. I've had the trackpad replaced 4 times. So I'm well aquatinted with the issue.

Symptoms:
If inadequate pressure is applied to the trackpad when dragging, the computer registers that the click-drag operation has ended. This leads to all sorts of unexpected behaviour when dragging files, selecting text and moving windows around.

I noticed that if I used the right side of my trackpad, that click-drag operations were still pretty consistent.

Solution:
With the laptop open, turn it on to it's side. Repeatedly click the trackpad with a firm, but not excessive amount of force. Put the laptop on the other side and repeat.

I can't explain why this works. Perhaps some amount of debris or dust has built up under there ? I went from not being able to click-drag without an excessive amount of pressure, back to a normal amount of pressure after doing this.

Let me know if this help!

Luke

Well I'll be darned, the "put it on it's side a click a bunch" method did seem to fix mine. Any idea of this fix is "permanent" or will I be needing to do that all the time? In any case, thanks for the tip.

I prefer this method over the "take the computer into an apple repair centre and leave my computer with them for 3 or 4 days so they can replace the tocase" method. I have no idea how long it will hold. A long time I hope. Glad it worked for you.

This worked great for me. Thanks!