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2018 Macbook Pro 15" Trackpad issue

A

\\'as

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 25, 2018
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Recently bought a 2018 Macbook Pro 15" and noticed that clicking the bottom right hand corner of the trackpad did not work. Everywhere else on the trackpad works fine. Issue is intermittent, not working more often that it does.
I returned the unit to an iStore, they confirmed the issue and sent me a replacement, but I am experiencing the same issue on the new unit.
Is this a know issue with Macbook Pro's?
 
\\'as said:
Recently bought a 2018 Macbook Pro 15" and noticed that clicking the bottom right hand corner of the trackpad did not work. Everywhere else on the trackpad works fine. Issue is intermittent, not working more often that it does.
I returned the unit to an iStore, they confirmed the issue and sent me a replacement, but I am experiencing the same issue on the new unit.
Is this a know issue with Macbook Pro's?
Click to expand...

Yah. Happens to me. It’s only the very corner. Apparently it doesn’t register there. Very strange. I don’t think it’s defective but it’s definitely Anouilh as hell. I’m kind of pissed cuz sometimes I click and it doesn’t do jack ****. And I hit it like 5 times cuz even when trackpad does work I don’t always feel the haptics when listening to music (odd I know) so I assume I didn’t feel it right. Anyway. I’m living with it. Have too much **** on my computer to wait for another BTO model for such a small issue. Plus I just thought it was a design flaw and not a broken part
 
Only the corner or along edge? it's quite probably part of the palm rejection stuff.

it definitely is very particular about when it will accept clicks right along the left/right edges of trackpad.
 
iMacDragon said:
Only the corner or along edge? it's quite probably part of the palm rejection stuff.

it definitely is very particular about when it will accept clicks right along the left/right edges of trackpad.
Click to expand...

Only along the edge and only on the right hand side. Roughly the bottom 1/3rd of the trackpad.
 
I'm pretty sure this is to do with palm rejection/prevention of accidental clicks., it also frequently won't allow start of cursor movement in these areas, but moving into them from elsewhere on trackpad works reliably.
 
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The Reasonable One said:
Yah. Happens to me. It’s only the very corner. Apparently it doesn’t register there. Very strange. I don’t think it’s defective but it’s definitely Anouilh as hell. I’m kind of pissed cuz sometimes I click and it doesn’t do jack ****. And I hit it like 5 times cuz even when trackpad does work I don’t always feel the haptics when listening to music (odd I know) so I assume I didn’t feel it right. Anyway. I’m living with it. Have too much **** on my computer to wait for another BTO model for such a small issue. Plus I just thought it was a design flaw and not a broken part
Click to expand...

Find it weird that it is intermittent though.
 
The palm rejection has some kind of algorithm where it decides when to accept input at edges or not.. hence the intermittent 'feel', admittedly it's rarely ever bothered me as I tend to always click closer to center.
 
iMacDragon said:
The palm rejection has some kind of algorithm where it decides when to accept input at edges or not.. hence the intermittent 'feel', admittedly it's rarely ever bothered me as I tend to always click closer to center.
Click to expand...

The fact that it does sometimes work, seems to agree with this theory.
 
iMacDragon said:
There is no physical/mechanical click, it's all haptics.
Click to expand...

Wonder if this can then be fixed via software/firmware or is this a electronic issue related to that section of the trackpad specifically.
 
\\'as said:
Wonder if this can then be fixed via software/firmware or is this a electronic issue related to that section of the trackpad specifically.
Click to expand...

The section of the trackpad is not going to electrically be any different, it'll be a 100% purely software driven thing, but Apple are probably unlikely to give us the option to enable/disable rejection.
 
Only have this issue on the right hand. Maybe the algorithm is right hand biased? ;)
 
iMacDragon said:
I definitely notice it on both sides, but the region does seem larger on right.
Click to expand...

This was discussed in another thread and appears to be palm rejection software. If you hit any key on the keyboard then try the areas they do not respond. The right side is a larger area than the left. Confirmed on my 2017 15".
 
I just returned my brand new Macbook Pro 2018 15" at the Apple store this afternoon. I had the same problem; a dead spot (to the click only) 2/3 dawn on the right side of the trackpad - that's about the area I setup for right-click. While I was there, I asked to take a look at another 15" from the floor - same problem happened. So it's either a design flaw or a software bug. If the trackpad is truly non-mechanical, then hopefully there will be a fix for it, but I am skeptical. A couple days ago, I contacted Apple support online to try to see if there was a solution for it - nothing worked. The following day, an Apple engineer contacted me and asked me to call him to talk about the issue. He asked me to run some diagnostics and I sent it to him. I was supposed to hear from them on Wednesday. I am not sure what I want to do now. I thought about waiting for a hopefully a 2019 release but most likely won't happen. I will decide after I talk to the engineer again. I might even live with the issue. This is very frustrating but I might have to learn how to live with it if I want to re-order the same computer.
 
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I think that is likely very normal behavior and, as mentioned above, part of the palm rejection technology. I wouldn't worry about it all.
 
internetrando said:
I think that is likely very normal behavior and, as mentioned above, part of the palm rejection technology. I wouldn't worry about it all.
Click to expand...
I am not exactly sure what you mean when you say it's part of the palm rejection. It occurs without laying your palm on computer; just pressing a finger directly on that spot won't click. If what you mean is that this is a side effect of the palm rejection technology, then it's not acceptable. Also, why would it happen only on that spot?

BTW, you have the same configuration I purchased. Don't you think that even after Apple released the thermal fix, the computer was still running too hot sometimes? There were times I feared my computer was going to fry. I then installed Macs Fan Control. I am seriously debating keeping my Macbook Pro 2014 for another year ...
 
Semantics, but yes, an artifact of the palm rejection technology. My trackpad doesn't register many clicks along either the extreme left of extreme right of the trackpad. I never noticed it because, quite frankly, I don't try to click in those areas. I have rather enjoyed the trackpad and have been very happy with it so far; same as I was with my Late 2016's.

I did not own my computer prior to the thermal fix, but I am aware of the issue that existed. I have not had any major heat concerns, nor have I had much in the way of audible fan noise at this point. I will also say that I haven't been the easiest on this laptop either, putting it directly to work out of the box. Today I have been working on a large photo edit and export, which includes 2,500+ photos from RAW to JPEG. It has been taxing the system for a few hours (including the Vega 20 the entire time) and nothing remarkable heat wise. The fans do spool up from time to time and run for maybe two but they aren't really needing to kick it up like they did on my Late 2016. I have also done some video gaming and never had much in the way of fan noise or heat concerns.

Mine has stayed remarkably cool in my experience - particularly when compared to my Late 2016. That sucker got HOT, had several fan failures to boot. That laptop got so hot I could feel the heat coming out of the keyboard. I had legitimate concerns that thing was going to catch fire from time to time when I was taxing it. It has been a world of difference with this laptop so far.

In all fairness, I haven't been monitoring temps or manually controlling the fans either. So far, so good.
 
It is the palm rejection doing it's job. Here's how to validate the issue is the palm rejection. Start with your finger lifted off the trackpad surface press straight down onto the trackpad surface along the left and right edges. The trackpad should not register a click. Now if you place your finger on the trackpad ~1 cm from the edge then slide towards the edge. The trackpad should register a click if you press down at the edge. The intermittent issue some are experiencing may be due to their fingers ever so slightly moving laterally towards the edge when they press down (as opposed to pressing straight down). The trackpad doesn't need to see much motion towards the edge to register a click. They may also be resting their finger in place anticipating the next click which will cause this issue. If you mouse to the edge then rest a click will be registered when the trackpad is pressed, but if you place your finger straight down, pause, then press a click will not be registered.

While I don't work for Apple this makes a lot of sense to me. Since the trackpad is so large people tend to place part of their palms on the trackpad surface. In order to prevent false taps and gestures the edges do not register a click if the trackpad senses that pressure is applied along the edge from directly above or sliding from the edge towards the center of the trackpad. Conversely, if you are mousing on the trackpad surface and it senses your finger approaching the edge the trackpad assumes that the motion is most likely your finger and not your palm so it will register a click even at the most outer edges.

My suggestion would be to try adjusting your hand position and touch the trackpad closer to the center. I doubt that Apple will change the behavior of the palm rejection as it would seem to cause a lot of headaches for everyone if they did.
 
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New Macbook Air seems to function the exact same way, so I also doubt that Apple will be making significant changes to the current behavior.
 
greenmeanie said:
Whats the point of the bigger trackpad if they take the sides away?
Click to expand...
I agree. I was perfectly happy with the size of the old trackpad. I'm still not convinced it has anything to do with palm rejection. Why is it always in the same spot; 2/3 dawn on the sides? It makes no sense to me because moving a mouse with finger that reaches that area works just fine - just the click and haptic feedback don't work. If it was palm rejection, swiping the finger in that area to move the mouse should not work also.

/beating the dead horse
 
I routinely activate the trackpad with my palms on either side of the trackpad. Would adhesive pads on either side of the trackpad help with this?
 
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