Why is there no Magic Trackpad alternative

[Numtsi]

Hey there,
I love my Trackpad for the Mac. But I'm still wondering:
There is no serious cheap, good or expensive alternative for the Mac.
There is no serious Windows/Linux/Universal version of a real Trackpad.

Is there really absolutely no serious alternative for the Mac or any other OS Device?
If so, why? Patents?
I mean, today there a so many good Windows Laptops with good built-in trackpads. There must be a good alternative somewhere!

I'm really curious about this Device monopoly Apple has (at least I think so).

 

[Basic75]

A simple $8 mouse works well for anything but serious gaming. And people are used to mice and have accumulated a couple of them in their homes and offices. I'm guessing there is no market for desktop trackpads. Why would people want to pay more to use one?

 

[Numtsi]

A simple $8 mouse works well for anything but serious gaming. And people are used to mice and have accumulated a couple of them in their homes and offices. I'm guessing there is no market for desktop trackpads. Why would people want to pay more to use one?

That was not the question. The question is, why is there no alternative at all? Even no simple 8$ version
I mean, everything is getting copied by someone. Mouses, keyboards, cables, headphones, everything. Why not the Magic Trackpad?

 

[Basic75]

That was not the question. The question is, why is there no alternative at all? Even no simple 8$ version
I mean, everything is getting copied by someone. Mouses, keyboards, cables, headphones, everything. Why not the Magic Trackpad?

I thought I was clear, my guess is that only very few people want to buy such devices, and so nobody makes them. I doubt that a good one could be made as cheap as these mice. Perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[Slartibart]

*ehem* there are clones… actually plenty… even in “different” colors…

as far as a quick search reveals, they sell for 20-50+$, some offers require a minimum of 5 to order. You can get additionally 1. generation clones, as well as magic mouse ones. Time to up your google-fu, I presume? 😁

 

[salamanderjuice]

There is even non-clone trackpads. Just search trackpad on Amazon and you'll see trackpads. Most trackpads suck and Windows isn't as reliant on trackpad gestures as Mac users and Mac users are probably just going to get the Apple option anyways.

 

[Numtsi]

There is even non-clone trackpads. Just search trackpad on Amazon and you'll see trackpads. Most trackpads suck and Windows isn't as reliant on trackpad gestures as Mac users and Mac users are probably just going to get the Apple option anyways.

Hm, strange, I've searched on amazon.de (not .com) and I found literally nothing 🤨

 

[Numtsi]

*ehem* there are clones… actually plenty… even in “different” colors…

View attachment 2249052

as far as a quick search reveals, they sell for 20-50+$, some offers require a minimum of 5 to order. You can get additionally 1. generation clones, as well as magic mouse ones. Time to up your google-fu, I presume? 😁

Well, I guess you're right 😅
Are they any good? Are they Mac-only?

 

[Slartibart]

Well, I guess you're right 😅
Are they any good? Are they Mac-only?

There are not Mac-only, but I do not know about native multi-finger gesture support under e.g. Windows or Linux.
In regard to whether they are good - I worked for a public school (notoriously low budget, the association of the pupils parents basically financed this) where we ordered quite a bunch of them. There seem to be (at least?) 3 different basic “models”, one that is almost a 1:1 clone of the Apple product design, and 2 others with some differences. You can get a specific “model” differently “branded”, but they seem to be VERY similar. 😄

They work as advertised, some integrate fully with macOS/iPadOS battery info overlay, all support multi-finger gestures. We actually did some test by putting them in a box allowing use through some cutouts and let people guess which is not the Apple MT.
For what I can say, people were hard pressed to find a difference, at least in 2 of the “model“-lines. At the end we ordered the cheaper one of the 2, because the school environment IMHO has to be categorized as “rough”, YMMV 😀
In general it’s like with pencils for the ipad - there are some available nowadays which charge wirelessly, support pressure and tilt (but no double-tap), even the difference in the material of the tips seems minuscule - and they sell for ⅓ of the Apple Pencil 2.

To be clear: there are differences, for example these trackpads might have some rough spot on an edge, the pencils - AFAIK - are lighter and come with an inductive on/of switch. For what’s worth, the “finish” is simply different. And I am not referring to blatant counterfeit products, these products are VERY similar function-wise, not necessarily in hardware design.

Oh, and circling back to trackpads, is this price for real?!? 🤣

 

[salamanderjuice]

There are not Mac-only, but I do not know about native multi-finger gesture support under e.g. Windows or Linux.
In regard to whether they are good - I worked for a public school (notoriously low budget, the association of the pupils parents basically financed this) where we ordered quite a bunch of them. There seem to be (at least?) 3 different basic “models”, one that is almost a 1:1 clone of the Apple product design, and 2 others with some differences. You can get a specific “model” differently “branded”, but they seem to be VERY similar. 😄

They work as advertised, some integrate fully with macOS/iPadOS battery info overlay, all support multi-finger gestures. We actually did some test by putting them in a box allowing use through some cutouts and let people guess which is not the Apple MT.
For what I can say, people were hard pressed to find a difference, at least in 2 of the “model“-lines. At the end we ordered the cheaper one of the 2, because the school environment IMHO has to be categorized as “rough”, YMMV 😀
In general it’s like with pencils for the ipad - there are some available nowadays which charge wirelessly, support pressure and tilt (but no double-tap), even the difference in the material of the tips seems minuscule - and they sell for ⅓ of the Apple Pencil 2.

To be clear: there are differences, for example these trackpads might have some rough spot on an edge, the pencils - AFAIK - are lighter and come with an inductive on/of switch. For what’s worth, the “finish” is simply different. And I am not referring to blatant counterfeit products, these products are VERY similar function-wise, not necessarily in hardware design.

Oh, and circling back to trackpads, is this price for real?!? 🤣

I think that Logitech trackpad has long since been discontinued and that's the price for new old stock. Reviews from when it came out in 2012 had the MSRP at $80 which was competitive with the Magic Trackpad that didn't even have a rechargeable battery.

 

[Bananasaurus]

Another alternative is the Jelly Comb trackpad, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere either. It's just not something that's in-demand enough for people to buy it outside the Apple ecosystem.