Magic trackpad freezes from time to time

I upgraded my 27-inch iMac(Late 2009 model) to OS X 10.9.1. Then I started having a problem with the magic trackpad - it freezes from time to time. I searched the forum and tried multiple things suggested by other users, but the problem still exists today. The only way to let it unfreeze is to click the power button to turn of the screen and click again to turn it back on. But after a while the magic trackpad freezes again. It's very annoying to keep turning on and off. Eventually I have to reboot the machine.


Does anyone experience similar issues? Any ideas of how to fix this for good?

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 4, 2014 3:42 PM

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Posted on Mar 12, 2014 10:18 AM

What do you expect them to sort. The problem is not a bug that can be fixed. It appears to be the result of a conflict on your system during the upgrade. It's happened to a minority of users (myself included) and the only thing you can do to resolve it is a clean install. The same thing happened to a minority of users in Lion and Mountain Lion too. There is no bug to fix, you are just unfortunate enough to have a bad install. It's why most "power" users on the various forums always recommend a clean install rather than an upgrade.

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Mar 12, 2014 10:18 AM in response to davidaw

What do you expect them to sort. The problem is not a bug that can be fixed. It appears to be the result of a conflict on your system during the upgrade. It's happened to a minority of users (myself included) and the only thing you can do to resolve it is a clean install. The same thing happened to a minority of users in Lion and Mountain Lion too. There is no bug to fix, you are just unfortunate enough to have a bad install. It's why most "power" users on the various forums always recommend a clean install rather than an upgrade.

Feb 20, 2014 5:01 AM in response to rs80

I have exact same problem. As do many others. Nothing to do with batteries or trackpad. I have tried many things including new batteries. Also currently have my fathers trackpad too - it does the same thing with both trackpads. When freezing starts, goto preferences (via keyboard) and trackpad, then click the bluetooth button and it works again. However at that point using ANY 3 finger gesture (and sometimes 2 finger) will cause it to freeze immediately. Only cure is a reboot. But it will happen again after a few hours. Only since Mavericks.

Apr 2, 2014 11:31 AM in response to Chas F

I have no idea what the message means. I decided not to do a clean install of Mavericks (it didn't seem right to me, despite 'zerolight's' insistence). There is an Apple post somewhere about bluetooth devices and it suggested turning off Bluetooth for at least 2 minutes and disconnecting all USB devices. I did this, replaced the USB cables and restarted my bluetooth. I found that this worked pretty well. I now get only a very occasional magic trackpad freeze after waking from sleep. I solve it by turning on my bluetooth mouse. This instantly unfreezes the magic trackpad and once I am sure it's working normally I then turn off my bluetooth mouse.

Feb 12, 2014 1:21 AM in response to rs80

You do not say if your intermittent operation is accompanied by the little green power light flickering. This would normally indicate battery problems.


Please check for ...


Corrosion inside the battery compartment.

Batteries below strength.

Batteries soiled by contact with corrosion inside the compartment.

Batteries of the right kind. Do no use dime a dozen batteries; they are probably not consistent in size or power.

Jul 31, 2014 9:41 AM in response to rs80

This issue has been documented for quite some time and I have never found a fix from Apple. They even acknowledge that it can be an issue from time to time.


One thing that will unfreeze your trackpad (but for how long is indeterminate) is to do the following:


- Bring up Spotlight by holding the Command Button and pressing the space bar.

- Type System and when you see System Preferences, arrow down to it under Applications and then press Return.

- Type Mouse and once you see it in the list, arrow down to it and press Return.


That will unfreeze your trackpad.

Apr 2, 2014 7:44 AM in response to zerolight

I have had the problem with my magic track pad for some time. I tried the clean install of Mavericks (quicker and easier that you might think) and even a new Magic Trackpad, but after a week or 2 the problem returned. After the last offence I checked the system log and I wondered if this might give a clue:


"-iMac.local Bluetooth File Exchange[2336]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead."

Can anyone interpret?

Mar 12, 2014 10:07 AM in response to zerolight

Thanks, but no thanks. For the time it takes to do a clean install etc. etc.. I can disconnect and reconnect about a thousand times. Some solutions are worse than the problem. I sometimes use another mouse (wonderful Logitech mouse) whilst the magic trackpad is deciding whether to unfreeze itself. Apple needs to sort this out. Does anyone from Apple read these threads?

Mar 12, 2014 11:41 AM in response to zerolight

Interesting. I, of course, upgraded to OSX Mavericks via the Apple Store. I didn't notice the option to do a clean install. Of course, that's because Apple don't advertise it because it's a lengthy business. However, since then I have been updated to 10.9.2. Once again, I did not notice an option to do a clean install. I haven't noticed any other 'glitch' in any of my systems, applications or anything. It's a mystery to me why an upgrade to Mavericks using the Apple-preferred method should result in just one of my Bluetooth devices playing up like this. Ah well. We'll see.

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Magic trackpad freezes from time to time

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