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by y0y 2958 days ago
The Apple touchpad is by far the best trackpad I've ever used on any laptop. By such a wide margin it's ridiculous. I never accidentally press it with my palm or have any other issues with it.

I agree fully that the keyboards are hot garbage, though. I can type well on them, they're just painful over time due to the harshness you mention.
2 comments
oldcynic 2958 days ago
It used to be, not any more.

The 2016 made it so large that it was constantly reacting whilst typing. It was infuriating. I've almost never managed that on the 2015 or earlier models even though I would sometimes touch the touchpad whilst typing. I sold the '16 because of the broken keyboard - but the stupid touchpad and touchbar contributed to my hating the whole machine. Now on a 2015 again.

Even though Apple touchpads were the best I've always preferred a trackpoint to any touchpad, and their keyboards are leagues ahead of anything Apple. Mind even Thinkpad keyboards used to be better. Someone needs to figure out how to fit a Thinkpad keyboard and trackpoint into a Macbook Pro :)

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sedachv 2958 days ago
> I never accidentally press it with my palm or have any other issues with it.

There seem to be two kinds of typists: ones that rest their palms, and ones that hover their palms. If you hover, you will never encounter these issues. I rest my palms to the degree that any touchpad that is not recessed gets unintentional input. I also believe, based on personal experience, that the ergonomics of a pointing device are in general inversely proportional to the amount of hand/arm movement, so larger touchpads are going to be less ergonomic than smaller ones (a corollary is that touchpad gestures will give you RSI). Having three buttons for a pointing device is essential. Macbooks fail on all counts on these criteria. The closest to ideal touchpads that I have encountered are on the T4x/T6x series Thinkpads - 2" large and deeply recessed. Unfortunately they only have two buttons.

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y0y 2957 days ago
I rest my palms. No issues.

Smaller touchpads have always been more uncomfortable and harder to use for me.

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