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Trackpad late 2013 macbook pro lost its click

For several months I have been troubled by poor trackpad clicking. The tap and mouse movements were fine but the click would come and go.

I searched for an answer but all I found were replacement instructions, attribution to battery swelling, broken trackpads, etc.

I want to establish a failure mode that does not get a lot of attention, at least from my findings: The trackpad clicking action is sporadic sometimes clicking and sometimes not moving at all.

I had some success when I believed the battery had swollen. I would push rather hard on the pad and move around. This would restore the click at times but it rarely lasted through a session of computer use.

I tapped and smacked at times hoping to dislodge anything that might be hanging up the mechanism. I didn't like any of these efforts since it could create other damage.

Finally, I took the coated back sheet off a stack of post its and inserted it around the edge of the trackpad. I worked the plasticized paper around the perimeter moving it in and out in the process. I wiggled it around the corners and "felt" for any obstructions or debris.

The gap is not regular around the pad. The left side has a visible gap (but very small) while the right side had no visible gap. I was still able to get the paper in around the entire pad. The paper collected some debris and the click action was restored. I also used canned air blown into the seam while I worked the paper around.

The paper, as you might expect, gets bent out of shape in this process and needs adjustment. I used scissors to trim the edge of the paper so that I would always have a relatively stiff and unwrinkled edge to slip in.

It's been a day of travel and working with the computer and my trackpad feels like new again.

I had dreaded having to remove the batteries to troubleshoot the trackpad. I read so many warnings and stories about the dangers of lithium batteries. The glue used to hold the batteries in place is way to difficult to work with.

My battery charge cycle count was less than 200. I had bought this from Apple as a refurbished unit and did not get Apple Care. I just recently got the machine back from Apple repair for the screen replacement and had hoped they would have noticed the trackpad problem. In hindsight I should have told them about it.

Click, click, click!!!


PS I am running the latest el capitan beta but this occurred on prior regular installations too.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), Running latest beta

Posted on May 4, 2016 7:23 AM

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Trackpad late 2013 macbook pro lost its click

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