The Magic Trackpad from Apple is an expensive addition to your Mac. So, before you buy one, think about its pros and cons. Apple’s Magic Track Pad can change the way you use your computer. It has great support for gestures, haptic feedback, and an incredibly long battery life. This accessory works best with a Mac, but it also works well enough on Windows PCs.
We’ll look at the Magic Track Pad in more detail below. We’ll look at what’s good and bad about it and see how it compares to Apple’s Magic Mouse. By the end, you’ll be able to decide for yourselves whether or not you need the Magic Track Pad.
Magic Track Pad Complete Detail for Apple Users
Why Apple’s Magic Track Pad is a Good Thing
Simply put, the Magic Trackpad is fun to use for light work and casual web browsing. You may be used to using a mouse, but you should also try out the Magic Trackpad. This is why.
Better Gesture Support
The Magic Trackpad from Apple is bigger than the Magic Mouse, so it can be used with better gestures. This makes the gestures of swiping easier to understand and almost as natural as using a mouse. Most of these gestures are turned on by default, and you can see the full list by going to Apple Menu > System Settings > Trackpad.
Aside from clicking, the Magic Trackpad has gestures for things like Smart Zoom, Smart Lookup, and App Exposé, which lets you see all of the active windows for the app you are currently using. Then, Swipe between pages is just as interesting. It lets you move to the next page on an app by swiping with two fingers, just like you would on a real book.
Not only do these gestures sound impossible on paper, but they also help users do more in less time. Since the user interface for Windows is different, the Magic Trackpad might not be able to do all these things.
Touch feedback is amazing
Even though the Magic Trackpad looks like a solid piece of glass, its haptic feedback makes it feel like a button is being pressed. Inside the Magic Trackpad is a small motor that moves when you tap it with your finger. Even though the Magic Trackpad doesn’t have any real keys or buttons under the surface, it gives you the same feeling as when you press a real key.
The interesting thing about this is that when you press it, the Magic Trackpad doesn’t even move down. Instead, it tries to make it feel like it is moving down. It does this with the help of Apple’s Taptic Engine, which is the motor that makes the iPhone shake. It’s why most Apple devices have better feedback when you touch them.
It can be used while it’s being charged
The charging port for the Apple Magic Mouse is at the bottom, so you can’t use it while it’s charging. This is a major flaw in the device’s design, and it’s one of the reasons why many people prefer third-party wireless mice to the Magic Mouse. The Magic Trackpad doesn’t have any trouble with this, though.
Instead, the back of the Magic Track Pad has a Lightning port. When the Magic Trackpad’s battery dies, you can quickly connect a Lightning cable and keep using it while it charges. Since it’s small and light, you can take it with you on the Lightning cable. The good thing is that you’ll never be in a situation where you can’t use the Magic Trackpad because its battery is dead.
Force Touch Will Change the Game
Force Touch is another feature of the Magic Trackpad. It uses the internal motor to give you the feeling of two clicks with one hard press. Depending on the app you’re using, Force Touch does something different than a normal tap.
For example, you can use Force Touch in the Finder app to get a quick look at a file, and you can use it in Safari to see what a link looks like. As soon as you find more ways to use the Force Touch feature that is hidden in macOS, you’ll start to appreciate it.
Batteries last a very long time
Apple’s Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse, and even Magic Keyboard are all great because their batteries last for a very long time. All of these things can be used every day for weeks on end.
As we’ve already talked about, you can keep using the Magic Trackpad after the battery dies by plugging in a Lightning cable. The battery lasts about a month on average and takes only about two hours to charge.
Apple’s Magic Trackpad’s Downsides
Even though the Magic Trackpad makes your work easier in a lot of ways, it also has some problems that are easy to see. For example, it’s hard to fully replace a mouse with a Trackpad, which is just one reason why you might not want to buy one.
Expensive
The Apple Magic Trackpad is a very well-made accessory for your Mac, but it can be a turnoff if you don’t want to pay a lot for it. The Magic Mouse is also pricey, but if you buy a Mac desktop, it comes with the computer. The Magic Trackpad, however, is not.
Even though the Force Touch, haptic feedback, and excellent gesture support are all great, you can always do more with a mouse. That is, for most people, a good mouse will always be more accurate, comfortable, and easy to change.
It also doesn’t help that there are a lot of great wireless mice for the Mac that are cheaper than the Magic Trackpad. If you think the gesture support will help you, you might be able to justify the price, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s expensive.
Not Ergonomic
For casual web browsing, which involves a lot of scrolling, the Magic Trackpad is a great choice. But you’re just dragging your fingers across a flat surface. It just doesn’t give your palm the same kind of support that a mouse does.
Since your wrist rests close to the bottom edge of the Magic Trackpad, you’ll start to feel tired after a while. If you do a lot of graphic design, video editing, or anything else that requires a lot of pointing, the Magic Trackpad is not your best option.
Less individualization
Even though the Magic Trackpad lets you change many of its gestures, it’s not as good as a separate mouse. For example, the Logitech MX Master mouse and most other mice also have side buttons. Depending on the app, you can change how these side buttons work so that they can be used as shortcuts.
If you’re a power user, this will be more useful to you than gestures. On top of that, you can’t make your own gestures for the Magic Trackpad the way it was meant to be used. You need to use third-party apps to do this, which shouldn’t be a surprise since this is an Apple device.
Is the Magic Trackpad the Best Option?
If you want more ways to interact with your Mac, the Magic Trackpad can be a great addition to your set-up. You might be able to get more done with the gestures, but you might still find that a traditional mouse gives you more precision and accuracy for some tasks.
If gestures are what make you want to use the Magic Trackpad, don’t forget that you can also use gestures with the Magic Mouse. Even though the mouse gestures may not be as easy to understand, they can still make your work a lot easier.
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