Mac Trackpad Problems

Hey everybody, I have a Unibody MacBook (Spring 2008) and i'm having some major difficulties with this trackpad. It seems to have a huge problem "hanging onto" items I want to move. I have simply given up on trying to drag anything to where I want it. Take for example in Mail, I'll try to move a message from one folder to another and i'll click on the message and it randomly release it into different folder. It will only sometimes "pick" up the message and when it does it randomly "drops" the messege where ever the mouse is. This also happens with windows, it'll sometime take me 5-6 tries to move a window from one side of my screen to the other because the trackpad it will simply not grab the window to move it, and when it does it just "drops" the window a few centimeters from where I grabbed it. And highlighting text is completely impossible since it requires some form of precision.

Now this is not user error as what it might seem from the rather large trackpad. I have tried every conceivable option, from moving my hands completely off the computer while I try to do things with my trackpad.

Does this seem like a hardware issue or a software issue, and does this mean I need to get it checked out by an Apple store.

Thanks everybody for the help

P.S. If you could enlighten me with some more technical lingo than "drag and drop" for what all of this is called it would be much appreciated

 

I think you mean Spring 2009

Anyways, It could be a hardware problem or a driver problem. Just call Apple and see what they say.

 

what happens if you press down really hard when doing it?

I know some like mine have faulty buttons under the trackpad that loosen up and stop working as a click even if its a bit past the actual 'click'... pressing really hard keeps the actual button engaged.

I havent seen it on a 2009 model, but Apple should be able to fix it under warranty. If you do have a 2008 Unibody, I rigged mine to work buy just sticking a bit of foam taped in on top of the battery, pressing up just right on the screw hole under the trackpad, at its lower side, giving it slight extra pressure and making it work perfectly... I'd get Apple to fix it, but its worked fine like this for many months, and I don;t want to be without the computer for a week just to get that fixed.

 

Thanks guys for the help..I've called Apple about this, and went through about 2 hours of doing this and that, and concluded that it was a hardware issue. I'm having them send me a box to get it fixed.

 

There are video tutorials on the apple site that show you how to use the trackpad.. Have a look at those and see if they help you out..