2020 macbook air trackpad sticking (dust)

[thisusernamehere009]

I have a macbook air 2020 and the trackpad is very sticky due to dust
I live in Colorado and small sand makes it inside from strong wind. Its inevitable. I keep my laptop closed when Im not using it and I using compressed air to clean it.

But its not enough

How can I clean my trackpad? It seems to be a much tigher space than my older macbook pro. Toothbrushes, toothpicks. I tried those. Nothing is working.

Advice?

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

To my knowledge the trackpads don’t have any moving parts that move (minus the magic keyboard) and are all haptic/force feedback. Additionally, I lived in CO for 8yrs as an IT manager and don’t know anyone that had issues with laptops due to sand so it could be something else you are experiencing.

 

[jdb8167]

I have a macbook air 2020 and the trackpad is very sticky due to dust
I live in Colorado and small sand makes it inside from strong wind. Its inevitable. I keep my laptop closed when Im not using it and I using compressed air to clean it.

But its not enough

How can I clean my trackpad? It seems to be a much tigher space than my older macbook pro. Toothbrushes, toothpicks. I tried those. Nothing is working.

Advice?

The MacBook Air trackpad has no moving parts. It is touch sensitive with haptic feed back. It can’t get sticky.

 

[NotApplicable]

The MacBook Air trackpad has no moving parts. It is touch sensitive with haptic feed back. It can’t get sticky.

I wonder if OP means that the surface is getting a sticky residue or something? It simultaneously doesn’t make much sense (given the dust comments) yet makes more sense than the alternative

 

[aircat]

I wonder if a recent update made changes? I've been having trackpad issues recently myself (2020 Air as well), beginning some time over the summer. I also figured that this was a mechanical issue like dust or something: the trackpad felt sticky and hard to control well: both too sensitive and not sensitive enough. I also wondered if I was interfering by leaning with my palm (etc)... Hard to pinpoint.

I recently fiddled with the settings and the "stickiness" stopped. What I mean by "stickiness": sometimes it felt like I had to press harder to select something--I especially noticed this trying to select multiple files in Finder and drag and drop them. I could select the files, but then I wasn't able to drag them. This had not been an issue before.

So, I changed a couple of settings, and turned on Tap to Click, set Click to "Firm." Now, selecting and dragging files works. (tbh, these particular settings don't seem related, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ?)

It's better, but I'm still not completely happy with the experience of the trackpad. FYI, I hadn't made any changes to trackpad settings before this started to happen--thus wondering if an update changed things.

 

[Don MC]

And old MBP of mine did something similar when the battery started swelling underneath the trackpad. Perhaps check that out?

 

[jdb8167]

I wonder if a recent update made changes? I've been having trackpad issues recently myself (2020 Air as well), beginning some time over the summer. I also figured that this was a mechanical issue like dust or something: the trackpad felt sticky and hard to control well: both too sensitive and not sensitive enough. I also wondered if I was interfering by leaning with my palm (etc)... Hard to pinpoint.

I recently fiddled with the settings and the "stickiness" stopped. What I mean by "stickiness": sometimes it felt like I had to press harder to select something--I especially noticed this trying to select multiple files in Finder and drag and drop them. I could select the files, but then I wasn't able to drag them. This had not been an issue before.

So, I changed a couple of settings, and turned on Tap to Click, set Click to "Firm." Now, selecting and dragging files works. (tbh, these particular settings don't seem related, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ?)

It's better, but I'm still not completely happy with the experience of the trackpad. FYI, I hadn't made any changes to trackpad settings before this started to happen--thus wondering if an update changed things.

The trackpad works by capacitance. Your body can give different levels of capacitance because of sweat or dryness or even humidity. It is likely to be the cause of any notable change.

 

[aircat]

And old MBP of mine did something similar when the battery started swelling underneath the trackpad. Perhaps check that out?

Thanks, Don MC. Yikes. I don’t see obvious signs of swelling, and did experience battery-caused swelling with watch, so have a sense of what this can look like. I’ll keep this in mind, but suspect it’s …

The trackpad works by capacitance. Your body can give different levels of capacitance because of sweat or dryness or even humidity. It is likely to be the cause of any notable change.

… summer conditions and sweaty fingers and palms. Yeps. Thanks, jdb8167. <sweaty palm icon>

Btw, that the click feels realistically mechanical/physical is astonishing.

 

[Don MC]

Thanks, Don MC. Yikes. I don’t see obvious signs of swelling, and did experience battery-caused swelling with watch, so have a sense of what this can look like. I’ll keep this in mind, but suspect it’s …

One other symptom is when the computer starts rocking on the table (one foot off the ground), when it previously has been standing solid with all four feet on the table. It is a sign of the bottom plate being pushed out.

 

[jdb8167]

Btw, that the click feels realistically mechanical/physical is astonishing.

Yup. I didn’t believe it myself until I tried pressing on it through a thick towel. Solid as a rock. Pretty unnerving the first time you try it.