A month with the Magic Trackpad

By Philip Morton on 6 September 2010

When Apple announced the Magic Trackpad in late July, it was one of their more intriguing new products. At first glance, it’s much the same as the trackpad found on MacBooks; you can move the cursor around, click, swipe and use all of the other gestures you’d expect. Yet how this works on a practical, day to day basis is not apparent.

On the Apple website and in their stores, the Magic Trackpad is shown next to a keyboard instead of a mouse. This might seem like an obvious setup, but are they seriously positioning it as a replacement for such a tried and tested device? I don’t think so.

One of the understated features of the Magic Trackpad is that you can use it as well as a mouse. This is the same setup that you get when using a mouse with a MacBook; you end up with the best of both worlds. Pointing and clicking feels more natural with a mouse, but scrolling is vastly superior on a trackpad.

When I bought my Magic Trackpad a month ago, I tried using it either side of the keyboard, but ended up placing it in front of the keyboard. There’s a gap between your hands that like on a laptop, provides a perfect void for a trackpad to fill.

Since I’ve started using it, I’ve noticed that for tasks when I only briefly need to move the cursor, I’ll opt for the trackpad since it’s closer to the keyboard. For tasks that require constant moving and clicking, I prefer the mouse.

Trackpads were invented as a substitute for the mouse when space is at a premium. It’s easy to assume that whenever a mouse can be used, it trumps any other pointing device, but a good trackpad can be superior at a number of tasks. While the Magic Trackpad won’t replace my mouse, it’s become an excellent complement to it.

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