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trackpad makes clicking noise

A

andrew086

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 31, 2009
242
0
Whenever I tap the right side of the trackpad to move the cursor or scroll, it makes this annoying clicking noise. It doesn't do this on the left side, only the right. Is there something that needs to be tightened? Can I do this myself or do I have to bring it in to an Apple store?

Thanks
 
Tapping? How hard are you tapping?

If you are tapping hard enough for the trackpad to literally "click" (as in depressing the trackpad), then nothing is wrong.

If you are tapping like advertised, (barely touching the trackpad) I don't see how this could be physically causing the "clicking" sound you describe.

As for trying to fix it on your own: Not a good idea.

Alex :apple:
 
It's more of a rattle. Here's a clip of me gently tapping (about as much force as you would need for tap to click or to use two finger scrolling).
 

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  • rattle.wav.zip
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I have that exact same issue. I thought I was just being extra picky or crazy so I have been ignoring it but I almost don't use the tap to click because its an annoying sound and making me rather click then tap.
 
Mine was actually doing the same thing last week and I was getting really annoyed. Almost brought it to an apple repair shop. It has since stopped, though I'm not quite sure how. If anything, there may be hope it stops clicking on its own.
 
it stops for a few minutes if i push down slightly harder on it than would take to click the click button. that makes me think that two layers somewhere have separated.
 
I have the same issue. I tried to use a screw driver to open my macbook pro and cleaned the ashes on the fans then I put them back again. Now it seems doing good..but don't know why:)
 
Same issue here with my MBP 13.3" 2011..

Tapping does produce a mini-click sound as if two layers have seperated.

As one said above, it really makes the MBP feel cheap.
 
I've had this on all three unibody MacBook Pros I've owned. No idea why it happens, but I went to the Genius Bar in 2009 about it and the guy couldn't hear anything. I'd recommend if you do get it looked at to ask them to take it in the back where it's quieter.
 
Here's what you can do, you need a Torx 6 and a Triwing screwdriver.
Take off the bottom of your MBP and you'll see your black battery at the bottom. Use the triwing screwdriver to remove all 3 screws (the screw on the left is underneath a sticker that you'll have to carefully pry up, I don't know if this "voids your warranty" but the AppleCare guy just peeled mine up himself so I hope it's not a problem). Remove the battery using the plastic flap and you'll see the trackpad underneath. There's a round screw on the bottom middle of the trackpad. Tighten or loosen this to your liking. I tighted it all the way then loosened it little by little and tested it out each time until I found a good feel.

Hope this helps.
 
My understanding was that this would only change how hard you had to press to click the physical button -- are you saying this also fixes the problem we're talking about?
 
MBHockey said:
My understanding was that this would only change how hard you had to press to click the physical button -- are you saying this also fixes the problem we're talking about?
Click to expand...

After getting mine back from the Apple Store, I noticed it rattling a little like that. I tighted it up a little and it doesn't do it anymore.
 
So, just to confirm..

This issue is covered by Apple warranty?

Does following the procedure mentioned above void the warranty?
 
Amerabian said:
So, just to confirm..

This issue is covered by Apple warranty?

Does following the procedure mentioned above void the warranty?
Click to expand...

Yes it's covered by Apple warranty and I have no idea if it voids the warranty, you have to peel up part of a sticker that's covering up a screw to get the battery out. But a "genius" would have to do that anyways to service your machine, you could always say you brought it in once and they did that for you.
 
satchow said:
Yes it's covered by Apple warranty and I have no idea if it voids the warranty, you have to peel up part of a sticker that's covering up a screw to get the battery out. But a "genius" would have to do that anyways to service your machine, you could always say you brought it in once and they did that for you.
Click to expand...

It's not like you have to break the sticker to get the battery out, and according to this video it doesn't seem like they could possibly know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42qcvlftmcM

For me, it's mainly a time constraint about bringing it to Apple for something so minor. I would rather just take ten minutes and tighten the screw myself.
 
Finally got a hold of the right set of tools and removed the battery last night. Then I tightened the trackpad star-shaped screw until I was happy with how firm it was. The annoying "click sound" is definitely gone, but sometimes it would seemingly randomly go away without doing anything. I think the real test is to see how long it stays "fixed". If it goes a few days without returning I'd feel confident that it was all caused by a slightly loose trackpad screw.

The battery is not hard to take out. You just need to take out three tri wing screws and one is under a sticker that you just have to bend the most top portion of to get underneath (the tri wing screws are all in a row along the top of the battery). Then you just have to remove the battery cable from the logic board. Once the battery is out you can easily tighten or loosen the trackpad screw to your liking as long as you have the right bit.

I bought the ifixit tool set for $15 and it had all the bits I needed. Thank you for suggesting the cause was a loose trackpad screw. I hope it stays fixed :)
 
Last edited:
So i think it is a combination of that star shaped screw and then the bracket with four screws at the top left of the trackpad's underside (makes sense since it is the right side of the top of the trackpad that feels/sounds loose.)

In fact, i could easily recreate the noise by loosening those screws without changing the tightness of the star-shaped trackpad screw on the bottom. I've opened up the case about 10 times for this. This is the only solution that has worked for more than a couple of days.

The only casualties are my battery screws. One of them is completely stripped and the other two are on their way. I stripped the first one right away when using ifixit's tri-wing. It seems the material the battery screws are made of is quite soft and the metal bit just tore it apart. Unfortunately, ifixit is not willing to replace that screw for me.

They suggested i buy the replacement screw set for $50. I will never deal with them again.
 
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