Reviews for Magic Trackpad

After purchasing the new magic mouse I thought it would be a replacement for my new MBP multi-touch trackpad, but it didn't allow all of the same features. This is a great addition to my bluetooth keyboard & compliments my Waycom pad for photo work. I'm not sure if it's really 'worth' the upgrade over the magic mouse, but it is nice to have such a large gesture-based surface, much like the iPad. Props to Apple for thinking outside the box on this one, although the possibility & 'idea' of this technology could have happened a few years ago.

A very good complement to my Apple wired aluminium keyboard. Feels very natural to use, and somehow improves speed of computer use -- it just seems quicker to move my right hand to point at the trackpad than it does to grab a mouse. Enjoying the new style of interaction with the mouse pointer very much after having fine-tuned the settings for my own speed. Feels very precise and nice to have multi-touch on my iMac.

Loses one star for the somewhat convoluted installation process, which is not very well documented in the enclosed leaflet and necessitated a visit to the Apple Support knowledge base. Essentially, what you have to do to install the trackpad is to first pair it with your computer via Bluetooth Preferences, then run Software Update, which then downloads and installs a Trackpad driver and requires a restart. Only then does the trackpad appear in Preferences. This seems rather complicated compared to most peripherals installs, and surely Apple could have come up with something more straightforward.

The diagrams of the various multitouch gestures on the back of the packaging are a nice touch and will prove to be a good aide-memoire.

Overall a very nice piece of kit that sits nicely with the aluminium keyboard. As it is the same depth as the keyboard, the trackpad surface is massive and allows for precise, fast pointing, and the inertial scrolling is a delight.

Recommended.

does everything I had hoped it would, to finally release me from the confines of the mouse. A great piece of kit. Make sure you do the software update to get multitouch gestures.

I'm a road warrior and have only worked from a laptop going on 16 years. I finally made room on my desk at home for a monitor so bought Apple keyboard and trackpad. Easy transition when I get the opportunity and no noise of a mouse being dragged across your desk. All the gestures like on the MBP.

As you would expect from Apple, this is an elegant, physically well executed product. Being able to use the gestures when my MacBook Pro is in "desktop" mode is great. But if you've been using a mouse, Magic or otherwise, be prepared to adjust. First, keep your fingers away from this thing unless you're actually using it! Really easy to accidentally tap, with unpredictable and infuriating results. And without "tap to click enabled" there's no point in having this thing. And Apple needs to provide a way to adjust the tap sensitivity. Way, way too sensitive. Otherwise, pretty cool.

Love the idea of the trackpad and all of the control, but I think they designed it wrong.

Your hand and forearm shouldn't cramp after just a little use. The pad is elevated with the battery compartment underneath causing your hand to have to lift up to make gestures or scroll. Just the thing that brings on Carpel tunnel.

They should have designed it lying flat with the battery compartment on top. I flipped it over and felt more comfortable. Obviously it doesn't work that way, but maybe they should redo it to do so.

Works great otherwise, but kinda of a bummer, was really looking forward to using it alot.

I have been waiting for Apple to build this product. I have always loved my touch-pad on my MacBookPro. Works great, even when navigating across a 30 inch second monitor and my 24 inch iMac. It is a natural extension of the wireless keyboard. I had been using the Magic Mouse with MagicPerfs, this beats it hands down, no need to move your arm all over a mouse pad. I gave it a full workout in PS5, excellent precision control and the ability to pinch and zoom an image is awesome.

Great stuff!

For those complaining about single-click/single-tap, dragging, and tracking issues, please check System Preferences under Trackpad. Every one of those issues can be addressed using the correct settings.

The instruction book leaves out two very important steps that you may need before you can do anything else. First you will have to turn on the Bluetooth in System Preferences. After that you will need to run the Software Update so that the trackpad icon will show up. These should have been the first instructions in the manual. I hope that by writing this review I have saved someone the aggravation that I went through.

I was hesitant to purchase a Magic Trackpad because I already had a Magic mouse, but for those of you who have a Magic Mouse, multitouch is second nature to said mouse (and with Lion [I have a dev. preview], it makes for a better experience to have a logical method of multitouch input). So I hustled on down to the Apple store and picked up a Magic Trackpad as well as the battery charger for my keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. I have to say, I have yet to be let down! The clicking actions feel thick and smooth, and tracking is a breeze with such a large surface. My only complaint is that if you go from using this to, say, a MacBook Pro's trackpad, you will notice your finger drag off the specified surface. Otherwise, highly recommend for anyone with intensive mouse use due to the ergonomically correct design of the Magic Trackpad.