Pinch zoom on MacBook Pro unreliable with macOS Monterey

This is incredible. I cannot believe so many others are also experiencing the issue, meanwhile Apple turns a blind eye to the problem. 13-inch 2017 MacBook Air on Monterey 12.1, been having this problem since Catalina. In my case, toggling the gesture on and off in the settings doesn't work. I have yet to try killing the Dock process, though. I have noticed that occasionally the problem fixes itself in a few minutes. It is still jarring to have this glitch happen in the middle of my work, and a software patch to this would be appreciated very much.

Apple, please fix.

(UPDATE: Neither killing nor force killing Dock fixes the problem for me.)

Apple seems to be in low-level denial about this. I spent over 3 hours with 4 different service advisors on the phone today trying to get help with this problem for my 2018 i5 Mac Mini, as well as a few other problems that have sprung up with Monterey. Finally it got sent to the engineering team to look at. No lie though, two of the service advisors were in complete denial about the problem. One of them kept telling me it works for him on his machine, so he doesn't think it's an issue with Monterey. Another tried telling me I needed to buy the newest trackpad for it to work properly, and that my hardware isn't working (despite everything else about the trackpad working, and having no issues with this until the update). So based on my advisor experience, I'd say it's 50/50 Apple ever fixes this, as there seems to be a mix of goodhearted genuine intrigue muddled with Apple-Is-Infalible zealotry.

Hello everyone,

I have the same problem for my MacBook Pro 13' 2017 i5 with Mac OS Monterey 12.1: the zoom with finger pinch does not work properly in all cases.

I have noticed zoom malfunctions when using a web browser (safari, Edge), and when handling pdf files (the "Preview" App, pdf reader in Edge or Safari, etc).

I hope a solution from Apple.

I am having the same issue on M1 Max (16"). I just had pinch-to-zoom and twist-to-rotate completely freeze in all windows for about 1 minute. Then it unstuck itself and started working normally. Not exactly what I hoped for after upgrading from a 7 year old laptop to a brand new expensive macbook. Pretty disappointed.

I'm having the same problem with pinch to zoom being unreliable on a 2020 M1 MacBook Air since upgrading to OS Monterey in December. The recent upgrade to Monterey 12.1 has not addressed the issue. Trackpad pinch to zoom is unreliable across a range of apps including Safari, Preview, Word.

This is clearly a known issue, given the number of reports online and on this page about the issue, very disappointing Apple hasn't addressed this yet.

Just noticed the same issue on my MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) (macOS Monterey, ver. 12.1). Ever since the Monterey update, this has apparently been a common issue/glitch whether I'm on a browser or an app. Why has this issue not been fixed yet?

i don't think it has anything to do with better touch tool - i don't have that & i still have had the problem for months & months now as have other. it's an apple OS problem. why apple won't fix it, nobody knows.

I observe the same problem today with my brand new Magic Trackpad 2.

It seems that the pinch movement works more often when a bigger part of my thumb lies down on the trackpad as I do the gesture, but not always.

I just bought my new MacBook Pro 16 M1 Pro with Monterey, before I had Intel version.

And now I've faced in safari that zoom on trackpad works strange, with some freezes at begin :-(

On my new Macbook Pro M1 Max, it literally depends on the size of the fingers touching the trackpad.

And here I am, losing my mind over this because I paid 3.700 euros for this laptop... and Apple does literally nothing about this. And many other issues with Monterey and M1s.

Hey muhndo,

I agree that this may be an issue that it looks like they will drag their feet to acknowledge since it wasn't fixed in their latest update. The gasket around the screen issue sounds like a problem specific to your machine since I personally haven't encountered that issue with mine. Also, I haven't cleaned my screen too frequently since I started using the thin paper that was protecting the screen the first time you open the laptop. I basically lay that paper on top of the keyboard before closing the laptop so it prevents it from getting the screen dirty or transferring the oil from my fingers on the keyboard onto the screen.

Add me to the list of people having this problem. Brand new 16" Macbook Pro m1 max with Monterey 12.1. Very annoying when using Unity, and even Chrome. Trying to zoom in, it sticks. Also scrolling left/right in the finder seems to lag in the column view.

Have this problem on TWO Macbook Pros M1 Pro 16" !!! Among other gesture issues!!! THIS IS STRAIGHT UP EMBARASSING APPLE. SO MANY MONTHS PASSED AND STILL NO FIX. I LITERALLY CAN NOT DO MY WORK BECAUSE OF THIS TRASH.