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MacBook Pro M1 PRO 16" Trackpad issues (pinch-to-zoom, swipe back, force touch) since December on 2 UNITS

R

rptoma

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 24, 2021
17
3
Hello,

I received my MBP 16" M1 Pro in December. I also have another one with the exact same specs from work. Both of them have the same frustrating problem.

Randomly, the pinch-to-zoom and swipe back gestures stop working. Force touch also stops working during that time.

For the very limited time I stayed on macOS 12.0.1 if i recall correctly (probably only a day), I did not encounter this issue. It likely started after updating to 12.1. It makes me think it's a software issue as all other gestures work fine...

This is a video of how swipe back behaves when it doesn't work (it is of course not limited to Safari):

To temporarily fix this I can do one of the following:
- Don't touch anything for ~5 seconds (not even the keyboard) and it starts working again afterwards
- Untick and tick again some Trackpad settings in System Preferences
- Before macOS 12.4 running killall Dock was also working, but since 12.4, it no longer works

I have reported this countless times to Apple, but no fix.

Does anybody else experience this issue? It is driving me crazy, I can't even do my work on a $3300 laptop.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
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I agree with the above. It sounds like you're probably not swiping quite correctly. But also, you should update to the current version of macOS. 12.1 is not the latest.
 
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I’ve been a Mac user for quite some time. I’m pretty sure I know how to swipe back. 🙂 In the post I also said that pinch to zoom and force touch also stop working when this problem occurs. Am I doing those wrong, too?

Also, @chabig, if you read the post, I said that one of the solutions no longer works on 12.4 so I am obviously not on 12.1.
 
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rptoma said:
I’ve been a Mac user for quite some time. I’m pretty sure I know how to swipe back. 🙂 In the post I also said that pinch to zoom and force touch also stop working when this problem occurs. Am I doing those wrong, too?
Click to expand...
I'm not saying it's not an issue, but the what are the odds/probability that two units from different manufacturing dates share the exact same issue? I mean, it can happen, but dang.

That said, Force Touch, when you have the issue, does it give feedback or anything?
 
rptoma said:
Also, @chabig, if you read the post, I said that one of the solutions no longer works on 12.4 so I am obviously not on 12.1.
Click to expand...
You're right. I missed that part. My apologies.

Let's move forward then. Is this your first time with the new large force touch trackpad, or did your previous Macs have it? If you only had one machine with this 'problem' then I would agree that it might be hardware or software. But since it's two machines, that kind of discounts software.

Could it be that your hands are dry? Could it be that you need larger swipes? Have you installed any software that affects or customizes gestures? Anything at all? Have you experimented with some of these settings in System Preferences?

Click force
Tracking speed
Accessibility>Pointer control: double-click speed
Accessibility>Pointer control: scrolling speed

I'm really trying to present ideas for you to try.
 
rptoma said:
I’ve been a Mac user for quite some time. I’m pretty sure I know how to swipe back. 🙂 In the post I also said that pinch to zoom and force touch also stop working when this problem occurs. Am I doing those wrong, too?

Also, @chabig, if you read the post, I said that one of the solutions no longer works on 12.4 so I am obviously not on 12.1.
Click to expand...
Have you also gone to an Apple Store to reproduce the issue?
 
chabig said:
You're right. I missed that part. My apologies.

Let's move forward then. Is this your first time with the new large force touch trackpad, or did your previous Macs have it? If you only had one machine with this 'problem' then I would agree that it might be hardware or software. But since it's two machines, that kind of discounts software.

Could it be that your hands are dry? Could it be that you need larger swipes? Have you installed any software that affects or customizes gestures? Anything at all? Have you experimented with some of these settings in System Preferences?

Click force
Tracking speed
Accessibility>Pointer control: double-click speed
Accessibility>Pointer control: scrolling speed

I'm really trying to present ideas for you to try.
Click to expand...
Please read my post again.

Dry hands have nothing to do with these 3 issues happening at the same time: force touch not working, pinch to zoom not working at all, swipe back not working & stuttering, but all of them working again after not touching anything for 5 seconds.

Is this your first time with the new large force touch trackpad, or did your previous Macs have it?
I have used MacBook Pros ranging from non Retina, to 2 different eras of Intel Retina and now M1 :)
 
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jav6454 said:
Have you also gone to an Apple Store to reproduce the issue?
Click to expand...
The problem is that it would take quite some time to reproduce the issue, as it happens let's say once every 30 minutes of continuous usage.
 
rptoma said:
The problem is that it would take quite some time to reproduce the issue, as it happens let's say once every 30 minutes of continuous usage.
Click to expand...
When the issue happens, does it stay that way until you follow that process or does it "self repair"? If it does stay stuck, you can use that moment to show it.
 
jav6454 said:
When the issue happens, does it stay that way until you follow that process or does it "self repair"? If it does stay stuck, you can use that moment to show it.
Click to expand...
If more than 5 seconds pass without touching the keyboard / trackpad, it "self repairs". So, I'd have to keep using the keyboard or trackpad until I get to the store. 🤣
 
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I've experienced the same issue with the back swipe not working on Chrome, but didn't notice the exact way it would resolve itself. I remember that when it happens, no matter how many times I tried swiping it would also spring back. Also on a 16" M1 Pro.
 
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I just did a quick Google search and found this article: Fix MacBook Trackpad Not Working
Particularly the point "Delete Trackpad PList File from Mac Library" sounds like a possible solution. I hope this helps.
 
themacobserver said:
I just did a quick Google search and found this article: Fix MacBook Trackpad Not Working
Particularly the point "Delete Trackpad PList File from Mac Library" sounds like a possible solution. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Thanks, but I don't know if that article is outdated as I can't find those .plist files anywhere. I have also reinstalled macOS and it didn't solve the issue.
 
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rptoma said:
Thanks, but I don't know if that article is outdated as I can't find those .plist files anywhere. I have also reinstalled macOS and it didn't solve the issue.
Click to expand...
I just checked it myself on an M1 iMac running the latest version of Monterey and it's under \Users\YOUR_USERNAME\Library\Preferences\
 
themacobserver said:
I just checked it myself on an M1 iMac running the latest version of Monterey and it's under \Users\YOUR_USERNAME\Library\Preferences\
Click to expand...
Oh, found it, thanks! I was in the general Library, not for my user. I'll come back with an update.
 
rptoma said:
Hello,

I received my MBP 16" M1 Pro in December. I also have another one with the exact same specs from work. Both of them have the same frustrating problem.

Randomly, the pinch-to-zoom and swipe back gestures stop working. Force touch also stops working during that time.

For the very limited time I stayed on macOS 12.0.1 if i recall correctly (probably only a day), I did not encounter this issue. It likely started after updating to 12.1. It makes me think it's a software issue as all other gestures work fine...

This is a video of how swipe back behaves when it doesn't work (it is of course not limited to Safari):

To temporarily fix this I can do one of the following:
- Don't touch anything for ~5 seconds (not even the keyboard) and it starts working again afterwards
- Untick and tick again some Trackpad settings in System Preferences
- Before macOS 12.4 running killall Dock was also working, but since 12.4, it no longer works

I have reported this countless times to Apple, but no fix.

Does anybody else experience this issue? It is driving me crazy, I can't even do my work on a $3300 laptop.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the solution, but even I am facing this issue on my 2020 March MacBook Air
 
have you done a clean install on these MBP's, or did you transfer settings from an older laptop?
 
you said that you reinstalled MacOS, not that you did a clean install - ie, not restore from backup, but set up as a brand new computer. I'm thinking that if you're importing settings from a previous Macbook, that it's messing things up for you
 
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Misheemee said:
you said that you reinstalled MacOS, not that you did a clean install - ie, not restore from backup, but set up as a brand new computer. I'm thinking that if you're importing settings from a previous Macbook, that it's messing things up for you
Click to expand...
I said I cleanly reinstalled it. So, yes, it was a clean install, "set up as a brand new computer" as you say, on a formatted disk.
 
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