M1 chip MacBook Pro trackpad not functioning (mouse cannot move)

I had exactly the same problem - and also had a problem with my password not being recognised, even though it was correct. I spent two hours on the phone to apple support (and spoke to three different people), who didn't know how to resolve the problem as they hadn't heard of anyone else with this issue. I also spent 5 hours reinstalling BigSur, which made no difference. I was told I would have to purchase an external hard drive to transfer data to, wipe the machine, then reinstall everything. Feeling very frustrated, and not wishing to fork out money for something that wasn't my fault, I did a bit of research (macforum was good) and this seems to work (I haven't had a frozen cursor for a couple of weeks now)...

1. When you open the mac, wait a few seconds before typing in your password.
2. Let the mac load the desktop fully before attempting to move the cursor or touch the trackpad - I wait about 5 or 6 seconds. (The cursor is always at the top left of the screen on opening)

I hope this is useful - it's a bit annoying this is an issue (and not just for me, it seems), bearing in the mind it's a brand new machine and expensive...!

Happened twice with me when at starting up, I found the problem to be the Touch Bar, when start up will appear first the controls on the right of Touch Bar, if I try to move the cursor will freeze, but if I wait few seconds to load the left controls on the Touch Bar, that will no happen, so I guess it is a software bug.

Greetings, DannieTan98.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. Being able to reliably use your built-in trackpad is important, so we can understand why you’d want a resolution. 

First, test it out in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode

Then, isolate the issue further by testing it in another user account: Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac - Apple Support

If the issue continues, consider answering the following question. 

• How exactly is it not working?
• Which macOS are you using?
• Has the Mac had any impacts?

All the best. 

After struggling with this issue for weeks, I found that changing the Trackpad Click setting to Firm appears to have resolved all of my issues with the cursor getting stuck or jumping around.

I assume this is a software issue with M1 MacBooks and that the Trackpad may be too sensitive. The firm setting seems to remove the Force/double click and that seems to resolve the issue. Please note I am on the latest OS.

Go to Settings - Trackpad - Click set to Firm on slider.

This may not work for everyone or fix every Trackpad issue but hope this helps others.

Nothing will fix the computer. I went through every incarnation listed here. Calls, chats, reinstalls, 3 on site appointments. There’s something wrong with hardware in at least some of the m1 airs. I showed them this thread and they kind of ignored it. I lost more in a week of doing this than the computer cost by not being able to work. Finally was able to exchange it. I was afraid of the air and upgraded to pro even if I felt like a shmuck. Apple of course offered no assistance or compensation for their lemon. Was charged full price for upgrade.

My experience with this is that the problem vastly reduced after I reinstalled Big Sur to the latest version - not just updated, but reinstalled. It did not go away totally, it is acceptable now although irritating but very infrequent.

Note, the memory variable reset system is different on an M1. The Apple phone people told me this eventually, the first few I asked didn't know of the changed system.

The new method is :-

Shut it down, then restart but hold the fingerprint key down until an options screen is displayed. Then follow your nose to reset via that method.

Sorry I can't remember the specific terminology, but I hope the method is clear enough to follow.

Agreed. This is not acceptable.

I don't know if my problem has been fixed or not (I haven't had any issues yet today, but that doesn't mean anything because it's random.) but I might have a temporary fix for you.

After 4-5 calls to Apple Support, I finally had someone tell me to turn off any trackpad features I'm not using, such as three-finger-drag to bring up Mission Control. Just turn off anything you don't do a lot with your trackpad. So far, I haven't had any trackpad glitches since I did that.

If that turns out to be the fix, my theory is that the trackpad gets confused about what I'm trying to do (maybe if my palm grazes it while I'm also using multiple fingers), or maybe there's something in the code that's incompatible, so as the trackpad is trying to follow one instruction, it tries to do something else at the same time and it resolves the paradox by shutting down or glitching as we've all experienced....

Apple, this has not been a good experience. Don't make me switch to another manufacturer. Thing is, I love apple products, but it's not acceptable to buy a new computer and have to hard-restart it twice every day since it arrived.

May sound rare, but a moment before to the trackpad failed, this had a stain, and I tried to clean it with my hand, a moment after, the trackpad failed.

I this moment I was very scared because my MacBook Pro is new and I waited so much to get it.

I restarted it, I shutdowned it .... and I charged it... and nothing.

So, I remembered, with my old MacBook of 2012 was doing the same and I fixed with a cloth clean and isopropyl alcohol.

I moistened the cloth and cleaned the trackpad.

and instantly it worked!!!

so, I hope that it worked as to me.

and instantly it worked!!!

so, I hope that worked as to me.

I hope this is helpful.

the recommendation to clean the trackpad with rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth fixed the problem for me.

Before cleaning the trackpad the computer was basically unusable. It worked out of the box for about a week and then the keyboard and trackpad started locking up. Restarting did seem to work for about 5 to 10 minutes but then it would lock up again.

As soon as I cleaned the trackpad with rubbing alcohol the computer started working again and has been working without a problem for 3 days now.

It seems like a random fix but easy enough.

I’d love to hear if this works for anyone else.

Just had the same issue. Closed the MacBook Pro for 1 minute, came back and trackpad was working fine. MacBook Pro 16gb Ram 512gb, 2 months old, first time having this problem.

Apple replaced the keyboard and trackpad under warranty. They couldn’t really tell what’s the cause. Has been almost one month and so far no issues.

My touchpad is working properly now after latest update for developer! (11.3)

Thanks Apple!

Note:

Sometimes my Mac M1 (16gb) temperature increases significantly if i runs multiple applications like Simulator, Docker, < 20 Chrome tabs. I'm not sure if it affects the battery significantly after a few months with current workload

Nevertheless, you can install free software below to monitor the temperature

Monitor Temperature / Usage (Cpu, Memory, Network)

free: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/10451/menumeters

istatistica (6$) https://www.imagetasks.com/istatistica/

Hey, I encountered the same problem today on my Macbook Pro M1 (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD), just after it booted the pointer and trackpad were working fine, but after a few seconds the pointer was stuck although I could still move through the options.

I used the power button to force shutdown and restart, things are working fine for now. But this ain't acceptable!

I talked with Apple Care chat and the only recommendation was to reinstall the OS, thinking it is a software issue.

My trackpad will freeze intermittently and I have to power cycle reboot.

2020 MacBookPro 13-inch, M1, 8Gb RAM, 256GB storage. OS 11.2.3

Hi guys,

I must say that after upgrading from Mac OS 11.2 all my issues were gone, even the unresponsive trackpad issue.

My M1 MacBook Pro have been nothing but good to me for a long time now.

All fine,

Anders