Q: macbook pro retina erratic trackpad issues

well, whatever the case, I think I better think of getting AppleCare and extending my warranty on this MBPR.  For this type of investment, I can't say that I'm completely confident in it's build quality

Well I'll be! Thanks for the tip, this worked like a charm, if only my problems were this easy to fix.

Thank you, mvial.  I've been googling all morning as suddenly my mbpr became possessed.  Resetting PRAM and SMC to putting rice on the trackpad to dry it.  Your passed on solution seems to be working so far.

I was getting coffee when I managed to spill a couple drops. I started freaking out and frantically drying it, nothing was working! Being severely stressed out I decided to take a nap and figure it out after I woke up. As soon as I woke up (3 hours later... lazy I know) I fired up the Mac and it started working! Then I remembered something... my mac was REALLY EFFING HOT when I left the cafe I was working at. It must have been the power supply that messed with my computer... As soon as it cooled off, it was good to go. Hope this helps! I have a customized 15 inch MBP Retina Customized.

Reseting PRAM did nothing.

But remembering that a friend cracked his tracked by carrying the notebook open with a thumb on to and four fingers underneath.

I pressed on the 2 top corners and it seems to aliviate the problem.

I fixed mine! My cursor was moving on it's own ever so slightly, a pixel or two left, a pixel or two right, up, down, little increments.

The fix for me was reboot with command R, choose disk utility, and repair disk. It changed some permissions on a few DSStore files, and the problem is now gone. cheers.

Bless you. 

Out of the country for a few months, no Apple Store around.  Was so frustrated, this was an easy fix.  Thank you!

15" MBP (2011?) not Retina.

I have same issue.  One way to test to see if it is the trackpad hardware is to go in to settings accessability trackpad and click ignore trackpad when mouse is present.  Hook up a mouse and see if the issue still exists.

If you are still under warranty, bring it in and it's 3-5 days for them to replace for you for free. Mine started acting up after 6 months of use and I brought it it. The genius was super cool, he plugged my machine into their cable, saw the trackpad moving on its own like a maniac, tested some stuff (I assumed it was just gathering information and testing hardware), checked for dents/scratches on the machine, and said the top cover, trackpad, and batteries were in one piece and it would normally be a $470ish fee for fixing they'd replace it for me for free because I was still under warranty (I forgot exactly what he said they were going to replace... don't think they are replacing the battery I only had under 10 charges it's usually plugged in).

I was freaked out when mine started acting up, but according to the genius this is "normal" and their machines have that from time to time too. Best of luck!

Just to be clear: My issue was simply resolved by pushing firmly on the top left and right corners of the trackpad.  Eventually there was a sort of "click" and that fixed the issue.

when ever i get the erratic moves and clicks, i turn my laptop upside down and press where the battery is place, it seems to help for a while.

i just to fix the problem my pressing the top corners of the trackpad, now i have to press the whole bottom case. took it to an appre store, they told me i needed to change the whole top case (keyboard, battery and trackpad) with is over 600 usd.

That's absurd.

Perhaps you can upgrade to a newer, faster MBP, transfer your data, sell your old one for parts, and still come under the $600 Apple wants.

I just passed off my 2010 MBP to a family member and got the 2012 which handles my workflow better, and used 2012s are pretty reasonably priced now.  Heck, for $500 you can get a 1TB SSD and a BT trackpad/mouse and get a very fast computer.

Did you push the top corners of the trackpad until you got a click? Good luck!

Okay, check this out:

For three days running I have worked on my 13 in. Retina MacBook Pro at home with no problems.  However, as soon as I move the computer to my office, 5 minutes away from my home, neither the track pad nor an external USB mouse will register a click! I can move the mouse, use the return key function, but not click on anything.

I have rebooted the computer in safe mode, reset the power manager, rebooted holding down the command and R keys, rebooted in Target mode (this works, but the MackBook does not show up as shared on a new iMac or MacPro). I also tried turing of the WiFi before leaving home to see if the network at the office is causing the problem.

Then, when I return home, the computer track pad work perfectly. I have tested this after putting the computer to sleep and testing it after turning it off and then on again.

For a year (the comuter was purchased last December) it has worked fine traveling between the office and work. All of a sudden this glitch cropped up!

This has happened for three consecutive days.

Strange but True.

It didn't work for long, since almost a year ago I fixed a similar problem by putting pressure to the corners of the trackpad thought this time might work as well, I being trying to find the 5 starts screwdriver to open the bottom case and see if its the battery that is getting swollen and its causing all the mess, havent had luck yet. Found a guide step by step on ifixit dot com, I get extreme irritated when the pointer starts going epileptic so I no longer use that computer anymore.

I would suggest you to take it to an apple store and try to get it fixed under warranty, I thought I could fix it my self, thought it was software issue, and now I have to pay for the whole top case to get it fixed, (its $700 for a 15 inch retina) I dunno why apple havent address this issue, it seems to be rather common, and yet the only way to fix it is pretty expensive.