5 ms·

Newbie here. Someone that had tryed the Force Touch Trackpad could you share impressions?

tehwebguy 11y ago
Yeah, it's pretty incredible. I preferred to disable the two-level click in System Prefs, then it just felt like a normal macbook air trackpad. It feels so real I turned off the unit in the store just to double check that there was no feedback with the power off (there wasn't)
vardump 11y ago
It's nice. Adjustable click sound in trackpad preferences, so no more CLICK! at night when you use laptop near someone else. Force feedback makes it feel like you're really pressing a button. But nothing I couldn't live without.
- mcphage 11y ago
  > so no more CLICK! at night when you use laptop near someone else > But nothing I couldn't live without. Hmm, less grumbling from the wife when I play Minecraft in bed? "It's not for me, hon--it's for us."
oflannabhra 11y ago
I have the 13" MBP with Force Touch. Hands down the best trackpad I've ever used. Apple continues to dominate in this space. The "Taptic Engine" part of the Force Touch system is imperceptible from hardware "clicks". The ability to have a second level click seems interesting. Turning of the computer and pressing on the trackpad is like a magic trick. While not many apps (and not many portions of the OS, even) are using the "pressure granularity" system of Force Touch, I will reserve judgement on its benefits and usefulness, but it is incredibly well-engineered. Overall, I can see Apple including this across their entire product line, if technically feasible. It is as good as Touch ID.
- cma 11y ago
  Valve almost beat them to it with the steam controller's haptic touchpads. Was there some public research or something in this area that got everyone working on it at once?
  - Alphasite_ 11y ago
    I'd assume for Apple it was the watch that got them into it.
    - cma 11y ago
      Oh right.. weirdly Valve were also planning a bunch of biometric sensors for the Steam controller at first too..
berberous 11y ago
I have only tried it in stores, but I find that even the highest "click" setting feels too shallow to me, and not as satisfying as the old trackpad. I also was not a fan of the very short travel distance on the new Macbook keyboard. That said, I have heard generally uniformly good reviews, so I imagine it's one of those things that after a few weeks you get used to and perhaps even start to prefer.
- vardump 11y ago
  > but I find that even the highest "click" setting feels too shallow to me Oh, that's what I thought at first as well. And then grew to like it. Another notable rMBP 2015 13" feature is pretty nice battery life. I often get 12-15 hours on a single charge, for ssh/remote desktop + browsing use.
  - akhilcacharya 11y ago
    Unless you use Chrome, of course. I generally get around 6-8 while using Chrome, Skype, Spotify, and Atom.
    - shinratdr 11y ago
      That's always been the case, it's a great reason to avoid Chrome on OS X.
      - eropple 11y ago
        Not much of a choice, though. Firefox is stuttery on its best day and Safari lacks stuff like pinned and locked tabs that I can't do without. Which does not make me happy. Google can do better.
deleted 11y ago
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krishicks 11y ago
The biggest selling point for it in my view isn't Force Click but the uniformity of the trackpad. You can press anywhere on the trackpad and it takes exactly the same amount of force to make a click. On the previous mechanical glass trackpads the amount of force required to make a click goes up the closer to the keyboard you press the trackpad. I'm now happy to use my thumb to click the trackpad because I can click it just under the spacebar easily. It's very obvious when going back to the trackpad on my 2013 rMBP, which feels (and sounds) like junk in comparison. On the 2013 rMBP I use the "Tap to click" setting so I don't have to press the awful button. On the 2012 MacBook I don't; it's just not necessary.

Yeah, it's pretty incredible. I preferred to disable the two-level click in System Prefs, then it just felt like a normal macbook air trackpad. It feels so real I turned off the unit in the store just to double check that there was no feedback with the power off (there wasn't)

vardump 11y ago

It's nice. Adjustable click sound in trackpad preferences, so no more CLICK! at night when you use laptop near someone else. Force feedback makes it feel like you're really pressing a button. But nothing I couldn't live without.

mcphage 11y ago
> so no more CLICK! at night when you use laptop near someone else > But nothing I couldn't live without. Hmm, less grumbling from the wife when I play Minecraft in bed? "It's not for me, hon--it's for us."

oflannabhra 11y ago

I have the 13" MBP with Force Touch. Hands down the best trackpad I've ever used. Apple continues to dominate in this space. The "Taptic Engine" part of the Force Touch system is imperceptible from hardware "clicks". The ability to have a second level click seems interesting. Turning of the computer and pressing on the trackpad is like a magic trick. While not many apps (and not many portions of the OS, even) are using the "pressure granularity" system of Force Touch, I will reserve judgement on its benefits and usefulness, but it is incredibly well-engineered. Overall, I can see Apple including this across their entire product line, if technically feasible. It is as good as Touch ID.

cma 11y ago
Valve almost beat them to it with the steam controller's haptic touchpads. Was there some public research or something in this area that got everyone working on it at once?
- Alphasite_ 11y ago
  I'd assume for Apple it was the watch that got them into it.
  - cma 11y ago
    Oh right.. weirdly Valve were also planning a bunch of biometric sensors for the Steam controller at first too..

berberous 11y ago

I have only tried it in stores, but I find that even the highest "click" setting feels too shallow to me, and not as satisfying as the old trackpad. I also was not a fan of the very short travel distance on the new Macbook keyboard. That said, I have heard generally uniformly good reviews, so I imagine it's one of those things that after a few weeks you get used to and perhaps even start to prefer.

vardump 11y ago
> but I find that even the highest "click" setting feels too shallow to me Oh, that's what I thought at first as well. And then grew to like it. Another notable rMBP 2015 13" feature is pretty nice battery life. I often get 12-15 hours on a single charge, for ssh/remote desktop + browsing use.
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  Unless you use Chrome, of course. I generally get around 6-8 while using Chrome, Skype, Spotify, and Atom.
  - shinratdr 11y ago
    That's always been the case, it's a great reason to avoid Chrome on OS X.
    - eropple 11y ago
      Not much of a choice, though. Firefox is stuttery on its best day and Safari lacks stuff like pinned and locked tabs that I can't do without. Which does not make me happy. Google can do better.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

krishicks 11y ago

The biggest selling point for it in my view isn't Force Click but the uniformity of the trackpad. You can press anywhere on the trackpad and it takes exactly the same amount of force to make a click. On the previous mechanical glass trackpads the amount of force required to make a click goes up the closer to the keyboard you press the trackpad. I'm now happy to use my thumb to click the trackpad because I can click it just under the spacebar easily. It's very obvious when going back to the trackpad on my 2013 rMBP, which feels (and sounds) like junk in comparison. On the 2013 rMBP I use the "Tap to click" setting so I don't have to press the awful button. On the 2012 MacBook I don't; it's just not necessary.