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Any way to turn off the thumb rest "feature"?

R

robotmonkey

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 24, 2010
419
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This is the 5th macbook pro I have gone through... ALL of the ones at best buy have had some sort of scratch out of the box. However, the one on this one is barley noticeable so I have been dealing with it. However, I just noticed that the very bottom of the trackpad, maybe as much as a quarter of an inch, is unresponsive when you start in that area, but seems to work if you start anywhere else in the trackpad and then go into that area. Anyone else have that issue??? Anybody know a remedy??? Apple seriously needs to up their quality, every MBP I have had so far has had something wrong with it and I have had this one for two weeks so there is no way they would buy that it came like that.
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
piwi said:
it's normal and very handy. It's for those of us who owned older MBP that had a physical click just under the trackpad, like that http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Macbook_pro_trackpad.jpg
Some of us (me included) took the habit of letting our thumb rest on there, so this is done to avoid accidental moves and clicking.
Click to expand...

this is what i do- my thumb (which i use to click) is always resting on the bottom of the trackpad- it would be very annoying if this caused the arrow to move.
 
i fretted about this for a while too. Then I went to the Apple store and all the display models did the same thing. lol
 
robotmonkey said:
This is the 5th macbook pro I have gone through... ALL of the ones at best buy have had some sort of scratch out of the box. However, the one on this one is barley noticeable so I have been dealing with it. However, I just noticed that the very bottom of the trackpad, maybe as much as a quarter of an inch, is unresponsive when you start in that area, but seems to work if you start anywhere else in the trackpad and then go into that area. Anyone else have that issue??? Anybody know a remedy??? Apple seriously needs to up their quality, every MBP I have had so far has had something wrong with it and I have had this one for two weeks so there is no way they would buy that it came like that.
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...

My mb does this too. Don't worry about it

My thread I had on this very issue;)
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/899449/
 
toffa813 said:
Haven't noticed this until now. May drive me crazy now that I know about it.:mad:
Click to expand...

HAHAHA I'm sorry

I guess it's a useful feature for people that wanna rest their thumb down there....I just don't see the point and I want the option to turn it off
 
i havent noticed any annoyances with mine yet

anyone else using the "tap to click" feature...?

since having it on the HP notebook i use at work i cant do without it
 
Any way to turn off the thumb rest "feature"?

I can not stand the "feature" :apple: was kind enough to add to their trackpads that makes it so you can't start at the bottom of the trackpad. I have been trying to deal with it, but i can't. Half of the time when i need to move up I start there. Does anybody know of a program I can get that'll modify this?
 
The entire trackpad should work as a track pad. Anywhere from the bottom too about 4/5 of the way up you should be able to click it as a button. I am not sure what exactly you are calling the thumb rest feature....
 
I already created a thread about this and found that every macbook has this same issue... or "feature" I guess.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/935565/

Try starting in the very bottom of your track pad, like only the first 1/8 or 1/4 inch. You will notice that it will not register any movement. However, if you start somewhere else and go into that area, you will find it does work. This is a "feature" apple put in so people can rest their thumbs there without accidently moving the pointer. Some like this cause they're used to having a button there, but I HATE IT. I know that there are many ways to modify the trackpad, I just don't know if there is a way to modify it so the bottom works even if you start there.
 
I think the reason is because your thumb in not facing down when you are touching the trackpad its not registering any movement.

If you rest you thumb face down at the bottom. When you start moving your thumb up it will recognize your thumb and move the mouse.
 
emiljan said:
I think the reason is because your thumb in not facing down when you are touching the trackpad its not registering any movement.

If you rest you thumb face down at the bottom. When you start moving your thumb up it will recognize your thumb and move the mouse.
Click to expand...

I agree with this because if you try it with any other finger it works perfectly fine.
 
PinkLuxe said:
I agree with this because if you try it with any other finger it works perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

Nope, any skin will not work for what looks like 1/4 of an inch. Look at the link that goes to my previous thread, you will see that this exists on all macbook pro's (and I guess the new unibody macbook too, but idk for sure). I am talking about the large, glass, buttonless trackpad.
 
To me that is a good feature. I like to rest my thumb there and it was a concern that was making me weary of upgrading to a newer MBP. So this is good news.
 
robotmonkey said:
I already created a thread about this and found that every macbook has this same issue... or "feature" I guess.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/935565/

Try starting in the very bottom of your track pad, like only the first 1/8 or 1/4 inch. You will notice that it will not register any movement. However, if you start somewhere else and go into that area, you will find it does work. This is a "feature" apple put in so people can rest their thumbs there without accidently moving the pointer. Some like this cause they're used to having a button there, but I HATE IT. I know that there are many ways to modify the trackpad, I just don't know if there is a way to modify it so the bottom works even if you start there.
Click to expand...
I thought it was so that you could do a (physical) click and drag operation without the trackpad sensing it as a scroll or a zoom gesture. Come to think of it I use it as a thumb rest (because I can then click immediately with my thumb if needed).
 
spencer elliott said:
i havent noticed any annoyances with mine yet

anyone else using the "tap to click" feature...?

since having it on the HP notebook i use at work i cant do without it
Click to expand...

I use the tap to click feature as well. It is much quieter and easier to do than clicking the trackpad. Plus, my friend's mbp had some issues with the click, apparently it was just normal wear and tear. So the less I can click mine, the better.
 
Corsairkid said:
I use the tap to click feature as well. It is much quieter and easier to do than clicking the trackpad. Plus, my friend's mbp had some issues with the click, apparently it was just normal wear and tear. So the less I can click mine, the better.
Click to expand...

Tap to click is the FIRST think I disable on any new computer, or if I'm doing tech support on a friend's computer. It's annoying; it's too easy to accidentally tap and open something. Thank God you can turn it off.
 
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