Resting palms on white MacBook clicks cursor; drives user nuts

[bLiss]

Has anyone experienced this? After doing a thread search I could only find people talking about cracks in the palmrest, which I have thankfully -not- experienced.

Basically the way I'd naturally rest my palms while I type is making for a really annoying experience. Say I'm typing anything (a URL, an IM, etc) and my palms will make a silent "click" happen and before I know it I've accidentally deleted everything I just typed or I've changed windows and made something happen unintended. I'm holding my palms in the air right now as I type

Btw: model is 2Ghz core 2 duo from summer 2007

 

[Molopo]

turn off tap to click. otherwise, learn to type better.

 

[Molopo]

In his post he says that "the way I'd naturally rest my palms while I type is making for a really annoying experience". From this, I figured that because of his poor/unusual typing posture, his hand brushes against the trackpad. This registers as a click, so whatever he was typing gets highlighted and he deletes it. I believe there is an option to turn off accidental clicks on the white MB, and since the TC hasn't bothered to update with more information about his problem, I'll continue to assume that he has that option turned off. Hence.

 

[tubbymac]

This problem is fixed in the new aluminum notebooks. On the glass trackpads you can rest your palms on the pad while you type, slide your palms around, or even tap your palms and the mouse won't move or even click. No idea if a similar fix is available for your whitebook, but if it really bugs you, try out the new glass trackpads at the Apple store and see if they work with your palm positions.

 

[bLiss]

Wow, I didn't expect such a uh.. misunderstanding.

Let me clarify. I don't have tap-to-click turned on, and on top of that I do have the feature turned on to ignore accidental trackpad taps. It seems like pressing down on the palmrests is "helping" the actual button get pressed. So if I'm alone in this I think I just have a crummy MacBook and maybe a new chassis would fix the issue. If not, I would say objectively that the quality of the physical product rivals that of a V-Tech "my first laptop" from Toys-R-Us. I've used the new aluminum MacBooks and found them to be much more substantial.

 

[bLiss]

This problem is fixed in the new aluminum notebooks. On the glass trackpads you can rest your palms on the pad while you type, slide your palms around, or even tap your palms and the mouse won't move or even click. No idea if a similar fix is available for your whitebook, but if it really bugs you, try out the new glass trackpads at the Apple store and see if they work with your palm positions.

That is good news so - would I be correct in assuming from your post that this is a known "problem" of the white/black MacBooks? Or just a rare fluke.

 

[tubbymac]

That is good news so - would I be correct in assuming from your post that this is a known "problem" of the white/black MacBooks? Or just a rare fluke.

Not sure if it's a known problem or if it's just how the older trackpads worked. On my other notebooks, which include Sony, HP, IBM, and Asus, they all exhibit the same behavior. When you try to rest your palms on their trackpads the mouse will move and will sometimes accidentally click if you have tap to click turned on.

 

[snessiram]

@bLiss: Do you mean that if you press your palm and/or fingers next to the trackpad (not the actual pad), it still registers a click? In that case I think there's something wrong with your palmrest/trackpad/sensor and I would suggest calling Apple care.

 

[ikermalli]

It's a fluke, well... I think, never heard of this or have this

 

[bLiss]

@bLiss: Do you mean that if you press your palm and/or fingers next to the trackpad (not the actual pad), it still registers a click? In that case I think there's something wrong with your palmrest/trackpad/sensor and I would suggest calling Apple care.

Precisely. I just tested it right now and it seems like I need both palms to press on either side on the trackpad, not just one. If I move the mouse ahead of time with my finger, I can seriously change tabs in Firefox or open an app from the dock by pressing both ends of the palmrest.

 

[AdhamL]

My wife's MacBook is having exactly the same problem - applying pressure to the chassis on either side of the trackpad causes a click to be sensed. Sadly we're out of warranty time, so if no one has a suggestion here, we may just have to pop for another new laptop (just got a new MBP myself).

 

[qsoundrich]

My button clicks twice when I press it down most of the time. I have a cracked palmrest as well.

 

[Macwick]

Has anyone experienced this? After doing a thread search I could only find people talking about cracks in the palmrest, which I have thankfully -not- experienced.

Basically the way I'd naturally rest my palms while I type is making for a really annoying experience. Say I'm typing anything (a URL, an IM, etc) and my palms will make a silent "click" happen and before I know it I've accidentally deleted everything I just typed or I've changed windows and made something happen unintended. I'm holding my palms in the air right now as I type

Btw: model is 2Ghz core 2 duo from summer 2007

I have this EXACT same problem. I noticed it when I carry my white macbook holding only one side of the case. Sometimes it will cause the mouse to click on something. I've confirmed that by simply pressing on the right side of the case, the mouse button is clicked.

I purchased my laptop in August. Do you think Apple will fix this issue under warranty? They've already replaced the screen because the left corner was so dark.....

 

[bLiss]

I have this EXACT same problem. I noticed it when I carry my white macbook holding only one side of the case. Sometimes it will cause the mouse to click on something. I've confirmed that by simply pressing on the right side of the case, the mouse button is clicked.

I purchased my laptop in August. Do you think Apple will fix this issue under warranty? They've already replaced the screen because the left corner was so dark.....

I hope they do fix it for you. Maybe you can complain the case isn't sturdy enough or something. Sadly I guess I am not alone, but I don't have a warranty like you do so I might have to just sell this off and get a AluBook

 

[Macwick]

I hope they do fix it for you. Maybe you can complain the case isn't sturdy enough or something. Sadly I guess I am not alone, but I don't have a warranty like you do so I might have to just sell this off and get a AluBook

Yeah maybe they'll just swap it out for an alubook for me, hah. It really does have the build quality of a toy. I'm not surprised the mouse button is being clicked - when you press down on the case it gives a quarter inch or so. Also if you look around the sides of the macbook you can see that the top of the case is not evenly attached to the rest of the case. grrr....

 

[mtslights]

Bulging Battery

In case anyone searches for a solution and finds this old thread, the problem for me turned out to be a bulging battery. The batteries can swell over time and start to press on the back of the trackpad.
To test, remove your battery and run the MacBook off of just the power adapter and see if it still happens.

 

[philwags]

In case anyone searches for a solution and finds this old thread, the problem for me turned out to be a bulging battery. The batteries can swell over time and start to press on the back of the trackpad.
To test, remove your battery and run the MacBook off of just the power adapter and see if it still happens.

Same here. No real noticeable bulge in the battery (by eye anyway) but after removing it the problem is gone. (17" MBP).

Upon further review I am missing both rubber feet from the bottom of the case and the battery has wear marks in the corners closest to the front of the laptop - not a lot of swelling but enough to be an issue. A couple of stick on rubber feet solved the issue for me (too cheap to toss the battery while it still works.)