My MBP has been moving on its own since yesterday. It will move between desktops and click and right-click links.
I have already reset my PRAM.
Can someone help me solve this?
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)
How old is the battery? Older batteries can swell can disrupt trackpad and keyboard, even physically break the trackpad or case-edge.
Another potential source of trouble is another pointing device that is connected, but not currently in use. Sometimes they continue to send signals without you.
I got this in August 2012 and there was a service battery alert about a year after. I brought my MBP in about two weeks ago to get the hard drive replaced for $250 and the Apple employee did not tell me that there was anything wrong with it.
OK. Swelling battery is fairly obvious so if Genius Bar said nothing, probably nothing to report.
You have 90 day warranty on repairs. Seems a good time to ask Apple to review the system again.
I don't have anything connected to my MBP. I tried to connect my mouse to it but it didn't read but it's because of the battery on the mouse itself.
There are several possible causes for the behavior. Please take each of the following steps that you haven't already tried until it's resolved. Some may not apply in your case.
1. Follow the instructions in this support article, and also this one, if applicable. A damaged or defective AC adapter could be the cause, even if it's the right kind.
2. Press down all four corners of the trackpad at once and release. If there's any effect, it's likely to be temporary, and in that case the unit must be serviced or replaced.
3. Disconnect or power off each Bluetooth or USB pointing device, one at a time, testing as you go. You may be able to identify one that's malfunctioning. By a "pointing device," I mean a peripheral that moves the cursor, such as a trackpad, mouse, trackball, or graphics tablet. A plain keyboard is not a pointing device. If you have a desktop model without a built-in trackpad, at least one external pointing device must be active at all times.
4. If your model has an infrared receiver for use with an Apple Remote, disable it.
5. This step applies if you're using a portable Mac with a built-in trackpad, and you also use an external mouse or trackpad. Open the the Accessibility pane in System Preferences and select Mouse & Trackpad from the menu on the left. Check the box marked
Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present
Credit for this observation to ASC member PattMK.
6. Reset the System Management Controller.
7. If you're using a Bluetooth trackpad or mouse, investigate potential sources of interference, including USB 3 devices.
8. A swollen battery in a portable computer can impinge on the trackpad from below and cause erratic behavior. If you have trouble clicking the trackpad, this is likely the reason. The battery must be replaced without delay.
9. A defective peripheral device or a damaged cable can cause the built-in trackpad of a MacBook to behave erratically. If you're using any wired peripherals, disconnect them one at a time and test.
10. There's also a report of erratic cursor movements caused by an external display that was connected but not turned on.
11. If you use Handoff, disable it in the General pane of System Preferences.
12. If AirPlay mirroring to a TV is on, turn it off.
13. If none of the above applies, or if you have another reason to think that your computer is being remotely controlled, remove it from the network by turning off Wi-Fi (or your Wi-Fi access point), disconnecting from a Bluetooth network link, and unplugging the Ethernet cable or USB modem, whichever is applicable. If the cursor movements stop at once, you should suspect an intrusion.
14. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine and/or external trackpad tested.
I believe I tried everything but I really needed my computer to do schoolwork so I put it in recovery mode and everything seems to work fine. The mouse isn't acting up. Do you think if I do a time machine backup it could fix this? I booked an appointment at the Genius Bar for Friday so I may just bring it in anyways
edit: spoke too soon. It just started to zoom in back and forth on my webpage
Update: I dont know if anyone else is having this issue in the future.
brought it into the Apple Store and the guy brought it to the back room to have the trackpad screws loosened. Came back and tried it, was still lagging and moving on its own. Plugged a hard wired mouse and it was still acting up. Brought it to the back room to have the trackpad disabled since I don't want to pay for the replacement. (Already spent $250 2 weeks ago to replace the hard drive. Another $100 to fix trackpad isnt worth it to me). he came back and said that there's an issue with the software and it is affecting the keyboard.. So now my keyboard doesn't work, trackpad is disabled. told me that I would need to reformat the hard drive again. Going back tomorrow since the time machine backup would take 43 hours at the Apple Store and the guy said it would take long to back up my files manually as well. Came home and did time machine back up, after 6 hours it said about 19 hours remaining. Ejected my hard drive and gave up.
Linc,
Thank you for that - a very comprehensive list. I've had the same problem and your 5th suggestion has provided a temporary fix for when i'm using an external mouse.
In terms of a long term fix, here's a question:
I fitted a solid state drive a few months ago (and moved the old hard drive to the DVD drive bay). Haven't had any issues except that the SSD (to teh left of the trackpad) seems to get quite hot. I'm wondering if this heat could be the issue, as the problem gets worse as the machine warms up?
Any thoughts on this?
And if so, would teh heat be exacerbating a problem with teh trackpad (so a new trackpad would fix it anyway) or will i get the same problem?
Appreciate your help
Mike
If nothing works try this. Sys Pref/Accessibility/Mouse & Trackpad/ check 'ignore built-in trackpad when mouse is present'
MBP trackpad moves on its own
