msomers

Q: Force Touch Trackpad input while typing

Apple claims that OS X ignores trackpad input while typing and has removed the option to enable this. However, I just purchased a 2015 15" Retina MacBook Pro with the Force Touch trackpad and it regularly takes input while typing and the cursor jumps all over the place - I've even watched the cursor move slowly across the screen as I type.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any way to fix it?

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 26, 2015 9:07 AM

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Q: Force Touch Trackpad input while typing

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  • by mikkibarry,

    mikkibarry mikkibarry Apr 29, 2016 5:08 PM in response to dobes918
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 29, 2016 5:08 PM in response to dobes918

    SAME **** PROBLEM!  Resting my wrists on either side of the trackpad causes the cursor to randomly move and re-insert itself in the document, putting letters into the wrong **** place.  APPLE!  This is a BRAND NEW laptop!!!

  • by allovertheplace,

    allovertheplace allovertheplace Apr 30, 2016 11:22 AM in response to mikkibarry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 11:22 AM in response to mikkibarry

    The only reason I started using apple (about 10 years ago) was because I felt "it just works". I gave up access to proper MS Office, Visio, MS Project, etc. and endured the awkwardness of using different laptops for work and home because I was tired of what I felt to be erratic, unreasonable behaviour of windows laptops. Well congratulations Apple, you have now officially caught up with Windows and have become equally annoying...

  • by Mike.Glish,

    Mike.Glish Mike.Glish Apr 30, 2016 12:16 PM in response to allovertheplace
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 12:16 PM in response to allovertheplace

    I hate to admit it but I agree with you.  I got an email from the Apple Community because I have subscribed to this thread.  I clicked on the email entry and Mail crashed.  "Sorry for the inconvenience."  I'll bet something crashes every other day.  My wife's Windows 10 PC is as solid as a rock.

  • by Phasma Nemo,

    Phasma Nemo Phasma Nemo Apr 30, 2016 12:32 PM in response to allovertheplace
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 12:32 PM in response to allovertheplace

    Well,

     

    The main reason why you find it so annoying is because you expect Apple products to "just work", so when they don't, we get mad since we are used to the smooth ride

     

    If you want to try annoying, go and buy Surface Book. You will stop complaining about Apple's minor annoyances pretty quickly.

     

     

    That trackpad problem needs to be fixed. Worst part is, no one is really saying anything about this. How come we only have 5 pages, and the product has been released for almost one year!!!

     

    Did anyone get a confirmation from Apple that this is being worked on?

  • by mikkibarry,

    mikkibarry mikkibarry Apr 30, 2016 3:38 PM in response to Phasma Nemo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 3:38 PM in response to Phasma Nemo

    Frankly, we shouldn't have any annoyances for what we pay for these machines.  A laptop where you can't rest your wrists on either side of the trackpad?  Not ON the trackpad, but on the actual case.  It's a LAPTOP.  It goes on your lap, so where do your wrists go?

     

    Hey Apple, you used to be excellent.  Now you're producing products with known flaws and not fixing them.  What gives?

  • by zfredrickson,

    zfredrickson zfredrickson May 6, 2016 2:54 PM in response to mikkibarry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 6, 2016 2:54 PM in response to mikkibarry

    I'm sure this will get lost at the bottom of the thread, but I've discovered a workaround that seems to be working OK for me so far.

    Go to your Trackpad preferences and change the "Click" to "Firm".

    Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 2.45.50 PM.png

     

    So far this seems to have worked for me.  I typed up this whole post without one wandering mouse click.  I think the problem is that with the new forcetouch trackpads, there is no actual mechanical device to register the click, only a (customizable) amount of force.  I've found that for me, both the "Medium" and "Light" setting lead to accidentally "clicking" the trackpad, thereby activating it when I'm typing.  Setting it to "Firm" seems to have eliminated this issue for me.

     

    Hope this helps someone else that is frustrated by this behavior.

     

    Cheers,

    -Z

  • by mianesva,

    mianesva mianesva May 8, 2016 5:49 PM in response to zfredrickson
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Notebooks
    May 8, 2016 5:49 PM in response to zfredrickson

    My understanding is that for most of us this issue is evident when the "Tap to click" option is turned ON which amplifies the problem.  You have it unchecked in your screen shot which tells me that in your case the problem is that you are not just touching the trackpad while typing, but also pressing on it with sufficient force to trigger a click.... hence, in your case, it is helpful to set it to "Firm".  (I have set mine to "light" to approximate the benefits of "tap to click" while keeping the "tap to click" cleared until they fix this issue....)

  • by dobes918,

    dobes918 dobes918 May 12, 2016 12:16 PM in response to mikkibarry
    Level 4 (1,442 points)
    Notebooks
    May 12, 2016 12:16 PM in response to mikkibarry

    I couldn't take it any more as the only thing that ultimately worked reliably was unchecking tap to click, and I hate having to click all the time -- just couldn't get used to it. So I took my new little Macbook that is perfect in every other way to the Apple Store to have its top case replaced.  Diagnostic tests did not show anything wrong - but the genius saw it skip as I was typing, and they will try to repair it.

     

    Unfortunately, the Apple Store I took it to - Sherway Gardens in Toronto - will take 3-5 days to fix it, even though the part is in stock. This was something of a shock to me, as I need it for work, and in multiple repairs to my Apple computers over the last 10 years, I've had repairs done while I waited in Bratislava, Vienna, New York City, and Boston. This is the first time it's ever been kept -- and I'm really upset.

     

    If they can fix the leaping cursor, though, it will be worth it. I'll post when I get it back.

  • by niugnep,

    niugnep niugnep May 12, 2016 8:35 PM in response to dobes918
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 12, 2016 8:35 PM in response to dobes918

    dobes918 wrote:

     

    I couldn't take it any more as the only thing that ultimately worked reliably was unchecking tap to click, and I hate having to click all the time -- just couldn't get used to it. So I took my new little Macbook that is perfect in every other way to the Apple Store to have its top case replaced.  Diagnostic tests did not show anything wrong - but the genius saw it skip as I was typing, and they will try to repair it.

     

    Unfortunately, the Apple Store I took it to - Sherway Gardens in Toronto - will take 3-5 days to fix it, even though the part is in stock. This was something of a shock to me, as I need it for work, and in multiple repairs to my Apple computers over the last 10 years, I've had repairs done while I waited in Bratislava, Vienna, New York City, and Boston. This is the first time it's ever been kept -- and I'm really upset.

     

    If they can fix the leaping cursor, though, it will be worth it. I'll post when I get it back.

     

    Thanks for the update! I'm very curious if they (oops, it just skipped again so I had to correct it) can fix it and what they will say regardless of if they can fix it or not.

     

    For me while I do prefer tapping over clicking, I wouldn't even mind disabling tap-to-click and clicking except that I would lose double-tap dragging. I simply cannot drag a file across one side of the screen to the other with a single click on the built-in touchpad or the magic trackpad. Nor can I go across multiple monitors or spaces. It's very annoying. With just clicking it always ends up getting stuck somewhere and refusing to move, or dropping accidentally on the wrong thing. At least with typing you can fix it, but with dragging it will mess all sorts of things up.

     

    Anyway, I really hope you get some good news!

  • by malibongwe,

    malibongwe malibongwe May 13, 2016 6:31 AM in response to niugnep
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 13, 2016 6:31 AM in response to niugnep

    I have exactly the same issue with a Macbook 12".  It is soooo annoying.  This is the first Mac that I have this problem with having 'upgraded' from a MBP mid 2012.  Please Apple, fix the issue fast!!

  • by malibongwe,

    malibongwe malibongwe May 13, 2016 6:51 AM in response to dobes918
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 13, 2016 6:51 AM in response to dobes918

    This surely cannot be as a result of 'faulty' hardware on a few new machines? The problem, reading this tread, appears to be common and seems to be a design issue with the new 'Force Touch Trackpads'?

  • by malibongwe,

    malibongwe malibongwe May 13, 2016 6:55 AM in response to zfredrickson
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 13, 2016 6:55 AM in response to zfredrickson

    Wait until you enable "Tap to click" and you will see how frustrating this is even with the 'Click' option set to 'Firm'

  • by dobes918,

    dobes918 dobes918 May 13, 2016 6:55 AM in response to malibongwe
    Level 4 (1,442 points)
    Notebooks
    May 13, 2016 6:55 AM in response to malibongwe

    I am afraid that's true, and for that reason I'm not too hopeful about the outcome of my repair. But, on the other hand, not everyone with these notebooks experiences this. The 'genius' that looked at mine said he has the exact same model as I do and it's never happened to him.

     

    On the other hand, all the models for people to try out in the store have 'tap to click' unchecked.....

  • by Mike.Glish,

    Mike.Glish Mike.Glish May 13, 2016 7:46 AM in response to dobes918
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 13, 2016 7:46 AM in response to dobes918

    Here is my experience.  I took my original MBP to the Apple Store twice.  The first time the Genius said I was holding my hands wrong.  I did my best to contort my hands while typing and still had the issue.  I took it back the second time and they said they would look at it.  I got a call a day later and they said nothing was wrong.  I put my foot down and they wound up replacing the top unit (keyboard and trackpad).  It was much better but I had other issues.  I finally decided I had a lemon.

     

    As it happens, I run IT at my company so I said "get me another one".  The new MBP is much better across the board but it still had trackpad issues (although not as bad).  As this long, long thread makes clear:  The design of the trackpad and its software is very poor.  It misinterprets light touches by the side of your hands and crazy, maddening things happen (or don't happen).  Apple is using this design in the MacBook and the MacBook Pro.  Soon I'm sure it will use it in the MacBook Air.  This issue must be fixed.

     

    I am using BetterTouchTool and have described the configuration I use in another post in this thread.  It hasn't solved the problem entirely but between BTT and a replacement Mac, I feel like I'm using a real Apple product once again, not a piece of junk.

  • by dobes918,

    dobes918 dobes918 May 13, 2016 8:09 AM in response to Mike.Glish
    Level 4 (1,442 points)
    Notebooks
    May 13, 2016 8:09 AM in response to Mike.Glish

    I love the "holding your hands wrong" explanation. I had a 2006 original Macbook for 5 years, then the 2011 11" Air for 4 1/2 (which I am using again while I wait for my Macbook to be fixed) and never had this problem before.  Mac OS X used to have an "ignore accidental trackpad input" setting -- and I think they could use it again on their Force Touch machines. Either that, or I wish they could install a non-Force touch trackpad on my machine!

     

    IMO, the 2011 Air screen, keyboard, and speakers are terrible compared to the 2015 Macbook -- but I'm so happy that the cursor NEVER jumps, no matter how I hold my hands! 

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