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MacBook Air trackpad often registers light taps as clicks

M-5

M-5

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 4, 2008
1,117
119
I have a 2011 11" MacBook Air that I bought brand new from Apple a few months ago. I've never dropped it or had any liquid damage or anything.

Under my settings I don't have the "Tap to click" checked, but I've noticed before (and more so today) that light taps with my finger on the trackpad keep registering as clicks, and it happens when I tap somewhere in the middle of my trackpad, but not always. And it's happened a lot today when I'm scrolling or even if I click once within this paragraph as I'm typing, it sometimes selects the whole word or the paragraph as if it's very sensitive to light touches.

Has this happened to anyone? It should be covered by Apple right? I just hope I can reproduce it at the Genius bar.
 
M-5 said:
I have a 2011 11" MacBook Air that I bought brand new from Apple a few months ago. I've never dropped it or had any liquid damage or anything.

Under my settings I don't have the "Tap to click" checked, but I've noticed before (and more so today) that light taps with my finger on the trackpad keep registering as clicks, and it happens when I tap somewhere in the middle of my trackpad, but not always. And it's happened a lot today when I'm scrolling or even if I click once within this paragraph as I'm typing, it sometimes selects the whole word or the paragraph as if it's very sensitive to light touches.

Has this happened to anyone? It should be covered by Apple right? I just hope I can reproduce it at the Genius bar.
Click to expand...

Defiantly take it to an apple store...not normal.
 
So it stopped doing it today, but I'd still like to take it to an Apple store, but unfortunately the nearest one is a few hours away. So I won't be able to take it until I go back to college in two weeks where there is an Apple store.

It's just that I haven't noticed the problem today, and don't want it to come up later on (especially after my warranty).
 
M-5 said:
I have a 2011 11" MacBook Air that I bought brand new from Apple a few months ago. I've never dropped it or had any liquid damage or anything.

Under my settings I don't have the "Tap to click" checked, but I've noticed before (and more so today) that light taps with my finger on the trackpad keep registering as clicks, and it happens when I tap somewhere in the middle of my trackpad, but not always. And it's happened a lot today when I'm scrolling or even if I click once within this paragraph as I'm typing, it sometimes selects the whole word or the paragraph as if it's very sensitive to light touches.

Has this happened to anyone? It should be covered by Apple right? I just hope I can reproduce it at the Genius bar.
Click to expand...

Problem for me sadly and it looks like a repeatable one. I have a MB Air 13", Lion 10.7, 4Gb. Having adjusted all possible settings including tap to click set to off, a slight hold of a finger on the track pack registers as a click and the pointer drags and selects contents - or moves email folders, items from one pace to another or other very annoying issues. After reading several threads, this is clearly a hardware fault. Will be returning to store for remedy/replacement. Will post back on outcome
 
So I've still been having this issue. I went to the Apple store yesterday, which was pretty far from where I live on-campus and it took me very long to get there because I had to take several metro busses.

I had made my appointment and checked in, and I still had to wait another 20-30 minutes for the Apple genius to see me. I told him about my issue, and he checked my computer and of course when he tried to replicate the issue the computer was only working perfectly. When I began using it though it was working fine, but it did do the issue at least twice, but the Genius kept making excuses and saying that it was possible my fingers or the way I was holding it and that I could be possibly clicking the mouse with my thumb and not know it, but that's just a dumb excuse.

He asked if I used it on my lap, and I said I do sometimes but that I also use it on a table and I still get the issue. He opened it up in the back of the store but found nothing wrong with it and said that it could be some lint that could cause the issue, but there is no lint.

He said he couldn't do anything about it, so now I'm stuck with this $1500+ machine with a very serious flaw that isn't my fault, and there's nothing I can do about it!

I'm so upset right now, and I don't know how I'm going to fix this issue if it's intermittent and probably won't happen next time I take it to an apple store.
 
I notice it happens more often when I have it on a surface that's not perfectly flat, such as on a bed, or on my lap where the weight of the machine isn't balanced out completely evenly.

But it also occurs when it's on my desk if I rest my hand on the palm rest. And it's not like I'm a big guy either, I weigh 130 lbs so I don't have large heavy hands or anything.

I guess I'll have to go back some other time when I have time to make the commute again. I'm going to try to go to the other Apple store in my city this time.
 
Hey guys. I am also having this problem. I'm in Lebanon, too, and I won't be back in America for a while. I am thinking that perhaps it is due to oils or something? As soon as I can get my hand on some windex I'm going to clean it and see if that fixes the problem.

But FYI this just started happening to me too... The only change is that I am now in Lebanon. No drops, no spills, nothing. It is in perfect condition. But it is dusty here so maybe it has something to do with the humidity or the dirt or something...?

Please let me know if you guys find solutions to this problem.

Tim
 
The problem has persisted for me for the last month. I just recorded a video of it occurring last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_mwqIeTBQE


I'll probably have to return to the Apple store again sometime and show them this video, because unfortunately the problem is intermittent and probably won't occur when I return to the Apple store. It is however unacceptable!
 
I had this problem with my 13" 2011 air.
It is a trackpad hardware problem and needs to be replaced.

What you need to do:
Make an appointment and explain the problem in detail.
Mention you did research and found other users having the same problem, resolved by replacing the trackpad panel (yep, the whole inside panel bottom will be replaced).

You are better off replicating the problem by letting your macbook heat up.

So bring your book fully charges and while waiting in the chaos that is the Apple store, play around, play a game and get that book heated.

Also, have a plain text webpage (gamefaqs.com FAQ works great) loaded in safari. Move the cursor up and down the page, and when it highlights text... that demonstrates the problem. Just ask the genius to be patient with you. They can service other customers while you move the mouse waiting for it to kick in.
 
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