Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

When will Apple use 2 button trackpads?

cleanup said:
I decided to enable the trackpad options and give them a try.

Single click with the trackpad is quite a bit slower than clicking with the mouse... Clicking the mouse button provides immediate response while with trackpad clicking you have to wait a moment. Seems a bit silly to me, but probably necessary since it has to make sure your finger has lifted off the trackpad before it can perform the command.

I also accidentally clicked on the "INDENT" option in the forum post toolbar while trying to scroll down before making this post. :rolleyes:

Guess I'm not a trackpad kind of guy. Bring on the secondary click button, Apple!
Click to expand...

System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse: Uncheck "Clicking". Check "Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click"

Using the trackpad optimally is like playing slap bass. Always keep two fingers hovering or pressing on the pad, dependent on what you're doing, but hit the button with side of your thumb, possibly at the joint, not the tip.

What's great about this is that it helps you keep up your bass technique even when you're not by the instrument.

That pause you spoke of is part of what makes that "Clicking" option so terrible. I don't have the patience for that, and more importantly, it elminates the ability to script actions on Mouse Down.
 
I hope that they never do, the two fingers on the trackpad and clicking works great. If they ever do though I hope that they just make it sensetive to where you click and that it can be turned off, I always end up accedentally right clicking on PC notebooks, since I like to press the button in the middle.
 
I prefer a one click button. It is its primary function. I do occasionally right-click, but not as often as I just primary click.

On my old HP laptop, although it had a right click 2 finger tap function, it wasn't very reliable, thus using the button to right-click was slow and annoying.

Mac's trackpad's are very advanced. It took me a week or so to get used to it, but now I love it and couldn't imagine using a laptop without it.
 
Never give up the dream

As a recent convert back to mac from a 8 year ride with windows, I don't think one should ever be without a right click. Is it so hard to use 2 fingers instead of 1 when you're using a computer...
 
as a recent switcher, I thought this would be a big problem for me too, but after using the two finger method, I love it.

Scrolling is awesome, and so is the two finger "right click".

I can't believe that people who've actually tried to use it don't love it.
 
shipdestroyer said:
Two fingers on trackpad + button click is wonderful. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Click to expand...

I'd prefer being able to left and right-click at the same time, but there's no way I'd want to put more buttons underneath, because I don't think that would work with the human hand for simultaneous mousing, clicking, and right-clicking. As such, using keys with the left hand as a mirror of right-clicking is preferable.

The only place I see this happening right now, however, is in games. That's probably where this is most important, but there's no reason it shouldn't spread to other areas for the sake of productivity and simplicity.

Even Apple's "real" mouse doesn't let you left- and right-click at the same time.
 
aserafin said:
As a recent convert back to mac from a 8 year ride with windows, I don't think one should ever be without a right click. Is it so hard to use 2 fingers instead of 1 when you're using a computer...
Click to expand...


How hard can it be? If you have a hard time with 2 fingers then it must be pretty difficult to single click too...


Anyway, I hate Windows laptops because they also have a right click button. Seems like every time I try to left click I hit the right click.... <.< And usually the buttons are WAY too small and bulky. I think the current single click is perfect. You have three different ways to right click. You don't need four. (CTRL Click, Two finger tap, and two finger on track and click with button.)

So if you do not like there being no right click go get a small little mouse that can travel easily. ;)
 
JPT said:
So if you do not like there being no right click go get a small little mouse that can travel easily. ;)
Click to expand...

I tried using those, but they could never last me until lunch time. I started breeding them to keep up with my stomach. :D
 
iKwick7 said:
Try it before you put it down. I say it's way faster to tap the trackpad than it is to move your finger down to a button. Just give it a try.

And yes, I believe you have to turn it on in preferences.
Click to expand...

Yeah and when you click on something you need your finger on the track pad to point at what you are clicking on, so all you are doing is touching a second finger for less than a second...I personally love this feature, and the fact that scrolling track pad works on a mac better than any other computer I have used...
 
Hopefully never. I love the two finger right click and scroll. I'm thinking PC makers should instead extend the one button trackpad to PC notebooks. :cool:
 
BlackMax said:
Hopefully never. I love the two finger right click and scroll. I'm thinking PC makers should instead extend the one button trackpad to PC notebooks. :cool:
Click to expand...

Chances of that happening = 0%.

Now I understand the two-fingers-on-track-pad-click thing. That is handy. But it's only handy because I'm missing a dedicated right click button, which I would prefer. That's just me though.

At least now I don't have to reach for the single Ctrl key on my MacBook. thanks guys. :)
 
As a life long Mac user I would not be offended if they added a right-click button function. I use tapping becouse I'm forced to, not out of choice. The number one reason I hear people don't want to switch is lack of right-click function. People are convinced that because they can't see the button that Mac's cannot right-click. I have heard this reason given more times than I can believe and I do all I can to not point at these people and laugh. But if all it took to get them to switch was adding one little button then I'm for it. The more Mac users the better.
 
As others have suggested, I find right-click button on windows laptops to get in the way far too often, causing me to right-click when I intended a simple left-click. Maybe my fingers are too fat, but I think Apple has hit the nail on the head with their implementation of right-clicking on their laptops - it's elegant and doesn't get in the way. Of course, it took them long enough...
 
Kyle? said:
As others have suggested, I find right-click button on windows laptops to get in the way far too often, causing me to right-click when I intended a simple left-click. Maybe my fingers are too fat, but I think Apple has hit the nail on the head with their implementation of right-clicking on their laptops - it's elegant and doesn't get in the way. Of course, it took them long enough...
Click to expand...

Yep- let's keep it one button. Two is hardly necessary.
 
I also hope that Apple will never use 2 button trackpads, the right click button just gets in the way. If I want a right click, I'll do a two fingered click, it achieves the same end result and gets in the way A LOT less.
 
personally I think that the 2 finger tapping (or tapping in general) is a very inefficient way to click anything. I just keep my index and middle finger right by the trackpad so I can just hit my thumb on the button and either lift or set down my middle finger to switch clicks. For me, this is much nicer that having separate(sp?) buttons (no moving my thumb around. But I still prefer using my bluetooth mouse over the trackpad anyways.
 
Jessy said:
System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse: Uncheck "Clicking". Check "Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click".
Click to expand...

I've been using this feature with iScroll 2 since even before Apple offered it. It is, hands-down, the best way to use a trackpad.

Also, I'd like to point out the inherent confusion of having two buttons. Whenever I do computer work (quite often), and am instructing someone, they inevitably ask: "Which button?"

There is no clear instruction on when you should right-click and when you should not. If you saw a word with a red underline, why would you right-click? And why is that different than a left-click? Ordinary users run into this problem fairly often.
 
Whats wrong with placing two fingers on the trackpad and clicking? it is much neater this way anyway, and therer is nothing wrong with Apple's "Multi-touch" method.
 
cleanup said:
Why? What harm does an available right click do you? :confused:
Click to expand...

I agree with the OP on this one. However, I dont think apple will be doing that ever or anytime soon anyway. They like to be unique and people who value being different also get macs.

As for the mb and mbp's it was frustrating me and I have a wireless optical, but thats only for ps and fce where I really need the precision I have with a mouse anyway. BUT you can set your preferences to be able to right click when you tap the touchpad with two fingers simultaneously which is good enough for me.

To the person I quoted. You lose a lot of speed and efficiency not using the right click. It's like people going to the menu to do things instead of using shortcuts-personally that drives me crazy. You also have the research and look for things more when you don't have a right click. ie. creating a new folder, moving something to the trash (w/o dragging it there)
 
I hate PC laptops with separate left & right-click buttons. It requires more effort for me to make sure my finger is on the right button, as I like roam all over the trackpad. Two-fingered right-click is very natural. I don't know why anyone would prefer separate buttons over two-fingered right-click.
 
i find with a 2 button trackpad i accidentally press the right click button when intending to do the primary function. (i usually turn off tap to click cause it always does stuff that i dont intend to) With just one giant button, you eliminate that issue.

when you say people dont want to learn a "whole new way for something simple"...its just two fingers, and press. Its not a radically difficult way to right click..
 
iKwick7 said:
Umm.... they already do. A 2 finger tap is a right click- and I MUCH prefer this method than on my older Gateway laptop.
Click to expand...

Same.

I'm still using the old school single button mouse from 5+ years ago on my MBP haha.

I hated the Might mouse, when I wanted to right click it didn't and vice versa. Just too much effort being all one unit.

Control and Click is the best I'm getting until I buy a proper mouse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back