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Trackpad actions without touching it ( moves, clicks, ..)

Hello,


Since a couple of weeks I have an odd thing on my macbook pro 13" (mid 2012) running on OSX Mojave.

Sometimes, so not always and very unpredictable when it encounters, the cursor on the screen moves out of itself. When I touch the trackpad it jumps to another place in the screen. When I touch it with 1 finger is acts like when I touch it with 2 or more fingers. Sometimes it swipes screens to the left or right.

When I click on the trackpad, the cursor moves a bit and then clicks on something else.

Very frustrating and not workable like this.

I thought it was the trackpad itself, but the odd thing is that it does not always happen.

It occurs very unpredictable, so my second thought was that is has something to do with software or memory issues. Sometimes with a restart it is ok, but sometimes it occurs immediately after the start-up.


I have an SSD 1TB and 16GB Ram, in combination with the 2,5ghz i5 processor, the MBpro works very fast and fluently, except for this issue. So i would find it strange that it has something to do with memory.


Can anyone help me to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it?


Thanks

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 30, 2022 10:35 AM

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Posted on Jun 30, 2022 10:53 AM

Check the battery now! Trackpad issues like this can be due to a swelling battery. Left alone, the swelling is strong enough to destroy the computer. You cannot wait to check it.


If the battery looks OK, try an SMC reset: How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support






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8 replies

Jun 30, 2022 11:05 AM in response to MichaelVN

Sounds like the Trackpad is bad, or possibly the Battery is swelling & pushing against the Trackpad causing the Trackpad to act oddly. If the laptop still has all four of its feet, does the laptop sit firmly on a flat table or desktop or does the laptop wobble a bit which may indicate a swollen battery.


Trackpad failures can be intermittent. I have replaced a lot of Trackpads on our organization's non-Retina MBPro 2012 models for the same type of intermittent issues. You do need to be careful since I have seen these Trackpad failures result in having files & folders opened "automatically" and have them renamed with no human intervention (same can happen to data within any open documents).


You should have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to provide you with a repair estimate. The 13" non-Retina model still has full Apple hardware support for repairs. The 15" model and the Retina models no longer have hardware support except perhaps for battery replacements.

Jun 30, 2022 11:27 AM in response to MichaelVN

I tend to agree a swelling battery. I just had my 13" mid-2012 Unibody MBP battery replaced at an Apple Store, and was a little bit surprised that they would still do it. But the trackpad had a different problem in that I couldn't effectively do a "click" except pressing really hard in a couple of the corners. It was obviously a slightly swollen battery that was pressing against the trackpad to the point where it wouldn't click. But a replaced battery and the problems went away, although the trackpad isn't perfect.


Not sure what's the issue with yours, but certainly a swollen battery has been known to register unwanted "touch" from the digitizer. However, it may not necessarily be fixed by replacing the battery if the trackpad is permanently damaged.

Jul 4, 2022 12:54 AM in response to y_p_w

Thank you for the answers.


I opened the macbook, but the battery looks ok.

I should mention that I received a couple of months ago a notification that the battery needs maintenance.


So to be sure I ordered a new battery and a new trackpad. I will keep you guys updated on what eventually solved the problem, if the problem is solved after these modifications off coarse.

Jul 4, 2022 4:05 PM in response to y_p_w

y_p_w wrote:

Sounds more like it's a bad digitizer in the trackpad. On iPhones and iPads this is commonly called "ghost touch". If that's your issue, the only solution is to replace the whole trackpad.

That is what I was thinking originally as it is very common on the MBPro 2012 non-Retina models, but had to mention the battery possibility too.

Jul 4, 2022 9:54 PM in response to HWTech

HWTech wrote:

y_p_w wrote:

Sounds more like it's a bad digitizer in the trackpad. On iPhones and iPads this is commonly called "ghost touch". If that's your issue, the only solution is to replace the whole trackpad.
That is what I was thinking originally as it is very common on the MBPro 2012 non-Retina models, but had to mention the battery possibility too.


Apple might possibly still be replacing these in some places. I know California is still within the 7 year "vintage" period where they still provide service and parts. It used to be that they only allowed 5-7 year service/parts through AASPs, but now they do that in Apple Stores. If Apple or an AASP won't do it, I don't believe it's a particularly difficult DIY repair.

Trackpad actions without touching it ( moves, clicks, ..)

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