New MacBook trackpad sparks flurry of complaints

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 4 Nov 2008 at 10:48

Apple forums are filling with complaints from people who claim the glass-covered trackpad on their MacBook is failing to register their clicks.

"Every 50 clicks, my trackpad will stop responding for five to clicks," reports one poster. "Generally this will resolve itself given a few seconds, and is not directly dependent on number of times the trackpad is clicked while unresponsive."

Another user reports: "This click problem is driving me insane. I don't even attempt to use this machine unless I'm at a desk using a mouse. On the couch, I use my old Macbook Pro. They better fix this."

The new MacBook replaces the customary mouse button with a single trackpad which the user must press down to click. The change has met with a mixed reception, with our own reviewer claiming to "soon hanker after a standard laptop trackpad and discrete buttons."

At the moment it's unclear whether the problem is a hardware or software issue, though one disgruntled user claims to have heard back after emailing Steve Jobs about the issue. As reported on Softpedia the user was contacted by a company representative, who informed him that Apple was "researching the clicking issue," but that "it has no resolution of it."

We were awaiting comment from Apple at the time of going to press.

Click here to read self-confessed Apple fanboy Matthew Sparkes' opinion on the MacBook trackpad