Apple ’s $ 69 Magic Trackpad ( ) is a standalone , Bluetooth trackpad that uses the same meth surface as the trackpad on Apple ’s MacBook Pro laptops . If you ’re a Mac laptop computer substance abuser who has become comfortable with multi - touch trackpad gestures , the Magic Trackpad will have some serious charm . But if you ’ve fetch a large video display , you may find that it ’s heavy to cover that ground with just a trackpad .
Familiar design
Designed to complement Apple ’s Wireless Keyboard , the Magic Trackpad uses the same aluminium - torso design — and is almost the accurate same height , profundity , and inclining — as the Wireless Keyboard . ( The trackpad is ever - so - slightly deeper from front to back . ) As with the Wireless Keyboard , the back sharpness is raised about half an column inch to accommodate a cylindrical bombardment compartment that holds two AA batteries . You ’ll also find the same power push on the right - manus side and the same ass - exclude cover for the electric battery compartment on the odd - hand side . golosh feet on the bottom of the trackpad keep it from slide around your desk . ( For a closer look , see our Magic Trackpad slideshow . )
The Magic Trackpad is also a practiced match for Apple ’s current wired keyboards : The thicknesses and inclinations are nearly identical , so when you line up the front edge of the trackpad with either of Apple ’s wired keyboards , the top surface coordinate almost absolutely , although the trackpad ’s battery compartment of course extends beyond the rear border of the wired keyboard .
One spot the Magic Trackpaddoesn’tsit especially well is on your circle with a keyboard . If you ’re using Apple ’s Wireless Keyboard with , say , a Mac miniskirt in your household amusement system of rules , you ’ll likely wish for a version of the keyboard with the trackpad for good attached . I distrust it wo n’t be long before an enterprising third political party announce a convenient tray that concord the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad together .
Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, side by side
Appleclaimsthe Magic Trackpad is almost 80 percent larger than the large MacBook Pro trackpad , make the Magic Trackpad the largest trackpad the caller has ever made . The actual trackpad surface is just about 5.2 column inch full by 4.3 inches thick ; the entire gimmick , include the battery compartment , is 5.2 inches deep .
My favorite Magic Trackpad purpose feature is the feet . The feet ? Yes , the feet . While the Magic Trackpad may not appear to support physical “ clicking , ” it indeed does : The two nubby , rubber foot on the bottom , along the front edge , really have a buttonbuilt into them . When you press down on the trackpad aerofoil , thefeet“click , ” present you the same tactile sense as you get with Apple ’s current MacBook trackpads . Very clever , and a welcome Apple skin senses — no pun destine — for those who hate sense of touch - tapping .
The Magic Trackpad ship with two AA alkaline batteries . However Apple now also deal its own Apple Battery Charger , complete with six rechargeable batteries — enough to power a Wireless Keyboard , Magic Trackpad , and Magic Mouse at the same time . Apple has n’t published an official battery life for the Magic Trackpad — the company has said only that the Magic Trackpad goes into a power - keep open mode when not being used so as to carry barrage life — but after two days of solid utilization , the battery indicator in Trackpad preferences still reads100 % .
Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, side by side
Despite its large size , the Magic Trackpad does n’t function as a drawing off tablet out of the boxwood . However , Ten One Design says that its $ 25Inkletutility will tally that functionality to the Magic Trackpad shortly . If you ’re attend for an input equipment that acts as both a Multi - Touch trackpad and a drawing tablet right out of the box , you should debate Wacom ’s Bamboo Fun and Bamboo Pen & Touch . There ’s also a Bamboo Touch mannikin that lack tablet feature , making it an interesting alternative to the Magic Trackpad for those who choose dedicated buttons — the Bamboo Touch has four large ones .
Gestures on the desktop
The Magic Trackpad — which works with both desktop and laptop computer Macs — requires the Magic Trackpad and Multi - Touch Trackpad Update , useable via Software Update ordirect download , for full functionality . The download is just shy of 80 mebibyte and requires a restart of your Mac . ( In my examination , the update did n’t come along in Software Update for desktop Macs unless the Magic Trackpad was already paired with the Mac . )
After geminate the Magic Trackpad with your Mac — the process is quick and promiscuous — and installing the require software update , you configure the trackpad ’s gestures using the Trackpad pane of System Preferences , just as you would the trackpad on a MacBook . ( This pane also displays the Magic Trackpad ’s bombardment layer and provides a helpful television demonstration of gestures . ) For most gestures , your choices are just whether or not the motion is enable , although a few give you more option . For example , you could choose whether or not to use one of the trackpad ’s bottom corners as a right - click , and if so , which turning point .
The useable gesture — also helpfully expose on the back of the Magic Trackpad ’s box — are identical to those you may use on a MacBook : besides moving the pointer , you may click , aright - click , two-fold - click , click - drag , two - finger scroll , two - finger rotate , two - finger tweak and zoom , two - digit screen soar , three - finger swipe , and four - finger swipe .
The updated Trackpad pane of System Preferences
If you ’ve used a late MacBook or MacBook Pro , the Magic Trackpad ’s surgical procedure is straight off familiar — the trackpad sense and occasion essentially identically to its laptop counterparts . Which is both good and bad : On the just side , you get Apple ’s Multi - Touch applied science , and if you ’re a laptop user , you could now transition seamlessly between working at your desk and on the go — you do n’t need to wobble your genius and muscle remembering between different input devices . On the down side , a trackpad generally is n’t as precise as a mouse , or even a good tablet or trackball , so if you ’re doing point oeuvre , you may still desire to keep a mouse around . ( Apple enjoin Macworld that many Apple employees expend both a Magic Trackpad and a computer mouse . )
It ’s also worth noting that if your Mac has an exceptionally large blind , or if you have multiple displays link up , the Magic Trackpad require a bit more effort than a shiner , and especially a trackball , when moving the cursor across that surface area . With a black eye or trackball , you could “ fling ” the cursor across the projection screen , or even across multiple screens , to entree detail that are n’t currently near the cursor . But a trackpad moves the pointer only when you ’re actually slither your finger across the trackpad ’s surface , so the Magic Trackpad often want multiple drags to get from one side of a large desktop to the other .
The fresh trackpad software system alsoadds a couple new gesture options , both to the Magic Trackpad and to most recent Apple laptops . The first is that you’re able to now prefer for scrolling with inactivity , which gives your scroll documents and windows a bit of practical momentum — when you lift your fingers off the trackpad while swiping , alternatively of the scroll movement coming now to a halt , it gradually slow down until it eventually stops . This is a bully feature I ’ve been spout about for years — first when it debuted with Logitech ’s Precision Scroll Wheel and by and by when Smart Scroll made it usable to all input devices . I ’d love to see similar inertia when propel the cursor , which would help with the consequence I noted in the previous paragraph .
The other new choice is that the three - digit gesture , which previously could be used only to navigate — to release pages , flip through photos , or flip Safari pill , for representative — can now rather be used as a relief for click - retarding force . ( This option is n’t available on the MacBook Air and on Early 2008 MacBook Pro model . ) Using this unexampled gesture takes some practice , but I often found it to be more convenient than the traditional click - drag approach . However , the three - finger click - drag is not very utilitarian if you need to move an item across a magnanimous belt of CRT screen literal demesne — as presently as you lift your fingers to reposition them , you “ drop ” whatever item you ’re dragging . I also regularly wished I could somehow habituate both the newfangled click - pull and the original three - finger - swipe gestures at the same sentence — whichever I activated , I needs found myself in a post where I wished I could use the other .
If Apple ’s gestures are n’t enough for you , you ’re not out of fate . The latest alpha interlingual rendition of the third - party trackpad utilityBetterTouchToolprovides livelihood for the Magic Trackpad , break you many more possible gestures , and get you specify custom actions to any of those gestures . The similar utilities MagicPrefs andJitouchwere not yet compatible at the prison term we posted this article , although I mistrust their developers will be update the software system soon to lick with the Magic Trackpad .
Macworld’s buying advice
If you ’re a big fan of the Multi - Touch trackpads on Apple ’s current laptop computer models , and you ’ve ever think to yourself , “ I wish Apple would make a trackpad for my screen background Mac , ” the Magic Trackpad is for you . It feed you the same clickable , spyglass surface , with the same Multi - Touch gestures , as those laptop trackpads in a wireless desktop model — with the summate bonus of nearly twice the trackpad area . The only real caveat is that if you ’ve got an exceptionally large exhibit , or multiple display , you may incur the Magic Trackpad requires more effort to cross that screen domain than a trackball or mouse . On the other hand , if you ’re the eccentric of MacBook user who prefers a shiner or trackball over the built - in trackpad — say , for reasons of biotechnology or preciseness movement — the Magic Trackpad in all likelihood wo n’t win you over . It ’s the same trackpad , just bigger .
