new macbook trackpad too big?

[maflynn]

There was no reason to make it bigger for this model alone. I can only think they had something else planned in the future. My guess was always eventual Pencil support.

With WWDC coming up fairly shortly, we may very well find out then

 

[iRabbit]

Considering they filed a patent for the Apple Pencil (a new version) to work with a trackpad, it's an interesting thought...

 

[jerryk]

I hope Apple does not try to use the track-pad with the pencil. The pencil is great on the iPad Pros and is very useful, I use mine quite often. But a lot of that is tied to drawing directly on the screen, sort of "you see what you draw without lifting your head". Wacom found this out and created the Cintiq family of screens with pen support, which are pricey, but so nice.

 

[iRabbit]

I hope Apple does not try to use the track-pad with the pencil. The pencil is great on the iPad Pros and is very useful, I use mine quite often. But a lot of that is tied to drawing directly on the screen, sort of "you see what you draw without lifting your head". Wacom found this out and created the Cintiq family of screens with pen support, which are pricey, but so nice.

I think it's all a matter of whether they could feasibly implement it correctly. For some photo retouching, it might be interesting. For document signatures. For annotations. I could see it useful, but again, it would have to be a fairly slick solution... not half-butted. LOL

 

[irontiger82]

I think the track pad is fine as it. I been using it with ease. Had to get used to the way it depresses from the previous gen without force touch. I sometimes depress to much when I don't want to. Esp. when moving files to a different folder.

 

[jackoatmon]

There was no reason to make it bigger for this model alone.

Well, the reason is actually not that unusual if you think about everything else they changed with this device.

The touch bar, new screen tech, GPU options, form factor and look are all very clearly aimed at creative professionals rather than say, tech or engineering professionals. So the big track pad is totally great for people when in Adobe CC or FCPX (self-inclusive). It's just annoying any other time hahaha. Over the months I've altered my typing style to compensate and I'm relatively happy now. But if I had my druthers it would just be a weeee bit smaller to leave a space between the pad and keyboard (or between the pad and the bottom of the device) for all us carpal tunnel people to rest our thumbs...

 

[JesperA]

You could always go bigger (But yeah, i like the current one and its size and i hate touch screen buttons, i "need" a physical keyboard)

Edit: the GIF does not seem to work when embedded https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/1400/c5a06e51014667.58dfa1f16cd01.gif

 

[turbineseaplane]

You could always go bigger (But yeah, i like the current one and its size and i hate touch screen buttons, i "need" a physical keyboard)

Edit: the GIF does not seem to work when embedded https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/1400/c5a06e51014667.58dfa1f16cd01.gif

Unless they work out something super magical in terms of the key feel, I will literally never buy one of those…

I can't think of a worse typing experience than ALL on flat glass. No way to orient yourself without looking… Just huge steps backwards for anyone who knows how to type.

 

[t.portis]

how will this change the typing experience when using the new macbooks? will my hands get in the way of the trackpad and cause accidental misclicks?

I absolutely love the new larger trackpad. When I switch back to one of the other MacBooks I have access to without it, those seem too small. I have zero issues with accidental clicking, not even one time. I consider it another reason to upgrade.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

The "misclicks" seem to only happen if you have tap-to-click enabled.

 

[zone23]

I have not had any issues typing with the bigger track pad, but I'm not an author.

 

[/V\acpower]

I hope Apple does not try to use the track-pad with the pencil. The pencil is great on the iPad Pros and is very useful, I use mine quite often. But a lot of that is tied to drawing directly on the screen, sort of "you see what you draw without lifting your head". Wacom found this out and created the Cintiq family of screens with pen support, which are pricey, but so nice.

Honestly, as an "amateur digital artist" who is used to Wacom Intuos (where you draw on a tablet and not the screen) , you get used to it very very fast. Your hand get used to the relative position of your pen vs the screen.

 

[mainoffender]

The trackpad is huge and is definitely getting in the way - no question about it. I've had 2012 rMBP for 5 years and when the rMBP16 came out I knew I was getting one regardless. Ordered top of the line, waited over a month, had to travel abroad to get it. Whenever I type or tap to click, there's a 10% chance that the cursor will move or twitch uncontrollably and that the tap I produced will be completely ignored by the trackpad. This is super frustrating. I've talked to two online support managers (both told me to notify tech support as soon as they heard the problem I was having), Apple genius in NYC, I was actually able to reproduce this at the Apple Store in Cupertino while a genius was watching. Both said we had to wait for the software patch that would fix it. If it proved to be hardware (which is less than 1% chance as per them), we would obviously be eligible for replacement. End of saga.

 

[danang]

how will this change the typing experience when using the new macbooks? will my hands get in the way of the trackpad and cause accidental misclicks?

I am using magic trackpad 2 which is so big, and mis clicks happen all the time

 

[unagimiyagi]

seven months in, and I can 100% say that the trackpad is a regression. I type very well and very fast and I still get errant clicks and touches registered. I never once had a problem with it on my older MacBook pro. There's just a certain hesitation that you have to accept with the 2016 MacBook pro. Will apple have the guts to make the trackpad smaller the next time? I hope so.

I don't have the 2016 15" mbp to compare with, but I suspect that the 15", with its comically large touchpad, may pose no problems. Why? Because your palms and thumbs are always in contact with the touchpad, so it doesn't get confused. But with the 13", it's right in that gray zone where the OS isn't sure if you really intended to move the cursor or if it was just an errant thumb, etc.

 

[t.portis]

seven months in, and I can 100% say that the trackpad is a regression. I type very well and very fast and I still get errant clicks and touches registered. I never once had a problem with it on my older MacBook pro. There's just a certain hesitation that you have to accept with the 2016 MacBook pro. Will apple have the guts to make the trackpad smaller the next time? I hope so.

I don't have the 2016 15" mbp to compare with, but I suspect that the 15", with its comically large touchpad, may pose no problems. Why? Because your palms and thumbs are always in contact with the touchpad, so it doesn't get confused. But with the 13", it's right in that gray zone where the OS isn't sure if you really intended to move the cursor or if it was just an errant thumb, etc.

I think this is another personal preference thing. Personally, I really love the big trackpad and consider it a feature. I don't get errant touches or clicks. My employer provides me with a 2015 MacBook Pro and that trackpad looks small to me now.

 

[Playfoot]

I think this is another personal preference thing. Personally, I really love the big trackpad and consider it a feature. I don't get errant touches or clicks. My employer provides me with a 2015 MacBook Pro and that trackpad looks small to me now.

For me, about the only way I am able to avoid constant mis-click, phantom moving cursors and a myriad of other issues with the aircraft carrier sized track pad is to return to the days of high school typing class and keep my palms raised . . . However, stop typing, set your hands down, and the cursor often tracks to a different location from whence you stopped. Chaos ensues . . . .

Just my experience. Not a happy experience.

 

[WillNN]

I suspect they will have thought of that and enable you to rest the base of your hand on the trackpad whilst typing without activating any activity from the trackpad. No evidence of this yet of course, but I bet they have.

One would be reasonable to trust that the world's best computer maker would have thought of this..... I find while I'm typing the slightest movement causes the cursor to jump several lines. It's a real problem. I wonder if they even test any of this stuff. Am I going to have to cover the 'new and improved large track pad' on my $4000 computer?
[doublepost=1498171662][/doublepost]

The trackpad is indeed too big. I have no idea why they made it so big, I don't think it adds anything on top of the previous size trackpad which was good enough.

Unlike many people, I do not have palm rejection or unwanted pointer movement issues.

I do have other issues though: when typing, I rest my palms on the laptop and because of the trackpad size, they partially cover the trackpad. I can feel the ridge which is unpleasant. This is a minor thing.

The bigger issue is the frequent failure to process 3-finger swipe and drag-and-drop. No idea what causes this. It worked perfectly on my 13" Air, but on the new 15" Pro, I have to very consciously do these movements, since they don't always register, and it's alarming that even if I do them slowly and deliberately, sometimes the laptop simply doesn't perform the functions, sometimes repeatedly. It's frustrating.

I don't think feeling the 'ridge' is a minor thing. It bothered me for years on the 2011 MBP. It's subtle but over time that crisp corner ridge is really uncomfortable. I've found that when I prop up the back of the MacBook Pro 15" I'm less likely to find my wrists on that mean ridge, and my palms or the base of my thumbs, are less likely to trigger the Random-Effects feature of the track pad. ($4000 Apple meet .29 stick from Home Depot. I would have loved Steve Jobs screaming at me because I sullied his perfect design with a stick. Jony Ive I think would have just filed the information)
Two possible work arounds. A stick of wood velcro'd to the bottom of the MBP (This is my travel solution to the MBP 2011 overheating) and a wrist rest. The ridge thing seems minor, but you'll notice it with most glass table tops. I threw together a quick desk top mock up of plywood with solid wood edging. I didn't ease the edge and it was really annoying. A few passes with a block plane and it is a completely different experience. With the MBP grinding down the edge isn't an option. but a smooth curved stick of wood that is just above the 'ridge edge' is noticeably more comfortable.
So you get that I'm talking about two sticks of wood here?

 

[daedalux]

Doesn't get in the way of typing at all. Those who say they aren't buying because the trackpad will get way of typing are just admitting their own ignorance. It's designed extremely well. It works extremely well. Try one out and see for yourself.

I get errant clicks - not often but it happens. I expect Apple will address this in a smart way. Or should I say I hope.......

 

[lockerc18]

Unless they work out something super magical in terms of the key feel, I will literally never buy one of those…

I can't think of a worse typing experience than ALL on flat glass. No way to orient yourself without looking… Just huge steps backwards for anyone who knows how to type.

I'm a touch typist. In fact, my high school, though many many years ago, required that I take 2 semesters of secretarial typing before I could take a programming class. I guess that was so we could be better at using the key punch machines.

Anyway, I really like this idea for the keyboard. I've wanted a 2-in-1 Mac for a long time, and Apple has refused to offer one. I have a Yoga, which is very nice, but I don't much care for Windows 10. But this dynamic keyboard idea is pretty close to that. Apple would have some work to do to give it the physical markers and feel that you want, and I'd want that too. But we already have a flat glass typing surface on the iPads. I've never used a 12.9 model, but I've read where it works pretty well in landscape mode for data entry. I did get a 10.5 inch iPad (which I returned for cost reasons) and the soft keyboard in that was OK. Not the same as a physical keyboard, but not unusable, either. So, I can see this idea working for a lot of people, especially if it's a general purpose graphics thing which you could tune to whatever size or content you wanted. Imagine being able to resize the touchpad area to different sizes. How cool would that be? Sure, it would be good for drawing, too, and all kinds of other uses, like supporting soft code pages. I'd love to see a prototype model.

 

[dlim1027]

I think it's excessively large, but I haven't run into palm rejection errors. My only gripe with it, other than its size, is that there should be more space between the trackpad and the keyboard.

 

[bsc]

Has she tried to adjust the sensitivity in the track pad settings?

There is no such setting.
[doublepost=1504883709][/doublepost]

For me, about the only way I am able to avoid constant mis-click, phantom moving cursors and a myriad of other issues with the aircraft carrier sized track pad is to return to the days of high school typing class and keep my palms raised . . . However, stop typing, set your hands down, and the cursor often tracks to a different location from whence you stopped. Chaos ensues . . . .

Just my experience. Not a happy experience.

I think this issue depends in part on where your laptop sits in relation to where you sit. If you sit up higher than the Mac this seems less likely to happen but if you're lower (so your hands tend to hit the trackpad) then it occurs more frequently. None of this should matter. A laptop should be able to be used pretty much anywhere. I imagine that in a plane the random clicks will be a big issue. I never had this problem with my Macbook Pro 2013.

 

[andy9l]

I can't think of a worse typing experience than ALL on flat glass. No way to orient yourself without looking… Just huge steps backwards for anyone who knows how to type.

Hit the nail on the head with your last comment. Unfortunately we are now old generations who will need to get used to things we're not used to. I'm only 26, and I'm still willing to accept that.

Things will change. And that render is very likely the next step for what we currently refer to as "laptops". It's a massive step forward in terms of functionality and the overall user experience.

Younger kids are entirely used to these 'dynamic keyboards on glass' from their iPads and iPhones. It must be alien for a young child to use the traditional keyboards we're so used to - they must look so incredibly dated and inefficient. And they are.

 

[c0ppo]

It must be alien for a young child to use the traditional keyboards we're so used to - they must look so incredibly dated and inefficient. And they are.

That has nothing to do with age. And especially of being inefficient. I find it easy to type on iOS/Android, since there is autocorrect, swipes, etc. But try doing that while programming... Good luck.

You need tactile feedback for actual work. iOS is a toy compared to MacOS/Win/Linux. I can't rest my fingers on a touch bar, and hitting the esc key by accident is 'great'. But then again, when I need to hit it, I often miss. That is the only reason I'm not using MBP anymore.

And if they ever ditch the tactile keyboard all together, well, I will be the first to abandon apple for good

 

[andy9l]

That has nothing to do with age. And especially of being inefficient. I find it easy to type on iOS/Android, since there is autocorrect, swipes, etc. But try doing that while programming... Good luck.

Why would it be any different to the keyboards we have today when programming? The keyboard would display a keyboard suitable for programming - QWERTY, if that's deemed most efficient.

You need tactile feedback for actual work. iOS is a toy compared to MacOS/Win/Linux. I can't rest my fingers on a touch bar, and hitting the esc key by accident is 'great'. But then again, when I need to hit it, I often miss. That is the only reason I'm not using MBP anymore.

Again, you're older than a child. You're used to things. A child who never experienced mechanical keyboards will NOT need feedback. They won't recognise or expect it.

Don't be stuck in your ways and 'things you know'. I've bought a Touch Bar MBP very recently, and after getting over initial frustrations and giving it a bit of time, I now prefer it over the physical keys of my rMB. I still make mistakes and bounce Siri, but less and less. Soon I will be used to the change and will laugh at how clumsy I once was.

It's called change.

We had feedback on physical phone keyboards only a few years ago. Now, us iOS users don't. I can't say I've ever missed it or even thought about it until writing this post.