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Force Touch Impressions a Few Months Later, what is the Verdict?

M

MacGekko

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
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When Apple first unveiled Force Touch in March I sampled a Macbook Pro at Best Buy and did not like the tracpad at all but I was not able to tweak the settings and now that the 2014 Macbook Pro 15 in. is out of stock I'm thinking about getting the 2015 one.

I figure no matter what I will learn to get used to it but I wanted to know what some of your impressions were a few months after owning one, especially from the users who initially did not like it. Also what is the optimal setting if you want to mimic the traditional tracpad as much as possible?

Thank you.
 
GordonGekko999 said:
When Apple first unveiled Force Touch in March I sampled a Macbook Pro at Best Buy and did not like the tracpad at all but I was not able to tweak the settings and now that the 2014 Macbook Pro 15 in. is out of stock I'm thinking about getting the 2015 one.

I figure no matter what I will learn to get used to it but I wanted to know what some of your impressions were a few months after owning one, especially from the users who initially did not like it. Also what is the optimal setting if you want to mimic the traditional tracpad as much as possible?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Totally love it.
 
My impression is that firm resembles a rmbp 15" pressure and the middle one is more like a mba.
 
Force touch has been really good for me so far. I set it to the highest haptic feedback so it feels as much like a deep press button as possible. I also really like the 2nd press down for some functions which is ingenious. I'm hoping to see this tech on iPhones and iPads soon. It's really fantastic tech that is stable and will have a lot less issues than a mechanical hinge. I can also see replacing buttons with this tech too.
 
I love it and could not se going back to the old style. The hinge-less design makes drag and drop a total breeze.
 
I liked the old one and I like the new force touch. In fact it feels the same to me in day to day use. I don't understand those who say they "hate" the new or the old when comparing. It's a touch pad, you drag.... click.....drag....... life continues
 
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Love the new design. Every other touchpad feels outdated in comparison. Consistent pressure to click even at the extreme edges of the pad, no need to use tap-to-click, and much easier to drag and drop as you don't end up in a region of the pad where you can't click.
 
I too, love the Force touch trackpad. After using it for over a month, my fingers have adjusted to the lighter touch. Last week I was updating my wife's 2012 MacBook Air, and the old mechanical track pad felt like going from a 15-speed racer to one of those old, heavy paper route bikes.

The experience of pressing harder on the trackpad to increase the thickness of a line -- as I drew it -- hooked me for good! (This works in the Preview app and Pixelmator).
 
I have my 13" rMBP with the Force Touch trackpad, and the aluminum MB (before they were made into MBPs.) Clicking is a lot nicer on the rMBP, since you can click near the top of the pad with the same effort as near the bottom.

I'm definitely sold.
 
It's very good, had no issues and quite like that you can tweak it in settings.
 
I love it.

Took an hour or so to properly get used to, after that, no dramas.

I still have my 15" 2011 machine. I went back to that the other day to retrieve some data and test some stuff. So i'd been using the force touch pad for a couple of weeks and then went back.

Impression? Force touch is way better. less effort to click, click works anywhere on the pad. Those are two big wins with direction comparison after using both for extended periods. I was really worried when i heard apple was messing with the trackpad, and was hoping it would be "as good" as the old touchpad. I'm super happy that it feels way better.

My opinion, yours may vary, etc.

edit:
mine is on maximum force, i was initially disappointed that it didn't feel as stiff as the old touchpad on that setting, but considering maybe dropping that down a bit now i am used to it.
 
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I would also echo that the FT Trackpad is superb...

I too was concerned after hearing a variety of tech podcasters whining about it...

...turns out they are just sticks in the mud sometimes and simply don't like changes.

This change is a good one - Just for the "click anywhere" part alone.
 
Thank you, due to travel issues I have not been able to try out the new trackpads at Best Buy, I will be heading there in a few days. However I was able to try a 2014 Macbook Pro trackpad and moving from a 2008 I find the physical click very loud and annoying. Now I understand why many are giving the new trackpad glowing reviews.

And since the price is basically the same it makes no sense for me to buy the older version at this point but I will test the new trackpad out with the various settings just to be sure.
 
I've had my 15" rMBP since Late June. So just over half a month.

I quite like the trackpad. It doesn't feel worse or better, it just feels different, it clicks a little lighter (normal click). But it doesn't feel worse and I adapted to it within the first day. I have zero complaints, it works perfectly every time I use it and feels great.

The force touch thing, clicking harder to get that 2nd tactile response is neat, but none of the Apps I use have support for it or use it in a way that I'd benefit from. So for me not that important. The main thing is, the trackpad to me feels great and I wouldn't ask Apple to switch back to the previous trackpad, this ones just as good.
 
Yeah there isn't a whole lot that takes advantage of the secondary force click yet, although in Safari you can force click a word to get the definition, or a link to pull up a preview both of which are awesome. The main benefit is the consistency of response which is fully worth it alone.
 
So far, been happy with it, using on a daily basis. Only disconcerting thing is if you try clicking when the Mac is off. I would say it is as big an upgrade as the original button-less trackpad was back in 2008.
 
zhenya said:
Yeah there isn't a whole lot that takes advantage of the secondary force click yet, although in Safari you can force click a word to get the definition, or a link to pull up a preview both of which are awesome. The main benefit is the consistency of response which is fully worth it alone.
Click to expand...

I have to say again that I totally agree with this. Even if you do nothing with it other than what you'd do with the prior trackpad, the new hardware blows the old version away completely. I am now almost completely unable to use the Lenova ThinkPads that we have around the office without a mouse. :D
 
I've tried FT multiple times. At first I was amazed, but the couple of last times my first impressions have faded away. I think it has to do with the fact that FT tries fooling you into thinking that your finger is actually moving when you push down.

Unfortunately Apple's move to FT has greatly impacted me. In the beginning it worked, but now my index finger keeps calling Apple's bluff. I have to raise my finger after clicking, to avoid getting a mind freeze. I can feel how synthetic it is in comparison to the traditional touchpad. It feels as if I'm pushing down on a screen.

My issue with FT is mainly after a click. I don't know how much pressure to let go when trying to exit click mode. Of course there is the haptic feedback, but it doesn't help. The traditional TP had a springboard. When I let go, it simply pushed my finger up. That's what FT never will be able to synthesize, and we're all missing out on it.

Also the sound it produces is easily outperformed by regular background noise, while the traditional TP is louder.
 
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Amazing.

Would take force touchpad over a 10% cpu/gpu improvement that i wouldn't be able to detect in real life.
 
bigpizza said:
I've tried FT multiple times. At first I was amazed, but the couple of last times my first impressions have faded away. I think it has to do with the fact that FT tries fooling you into thinking that your finger is actually moving when you push down.

Unfortunately Apple's move to FT has greatly impacted me. In the beginning it worked, but now my index finger keeps calling Apple's bluff. I have to raise my finger after clicking, to avoid getting a mind freeze. I can feel how synthetic it is in comparison to the traditional touchpad. It feels as if I'm pushing down on a screen.

My issue with FT is mainly after a click. I don't know how much pressure to let go when trying to exit click mode. Of course there is the haptic feedback, but it doesn't help. The traditional TP had a springboard. When I let go, it simply pushed my finger up. That's what FT never will be able to synthesize, and we're all missing out on it.

Also the sound it produces is easily outperformed by regular background noise, while the traditional TP is louder.
Click to expand...
But your finger is moving, isn't it? When I tried them out at the Apple Store, the trackpads still definitely move up and down. Less so perhaps than the old ones but they definitely still move. It isn't the movement that provides the click feel, but I'd disagree it feels like touching a screen.
 
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