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Featured Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

4

Time Required

                          3 - 5 minutes

Sections

1

  • Magic Trackpad Click Adjustment
  • 4 steps

Flags

2

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Magic Trackpad Click Adjustment
  • Get your Magic Trackpad out and prepare to fix it.
  • Unscrew the battery door by turning the screw counter-clockwise with a flat edge screwdriver, coin, plastic opening tool, or fingernail.
  • Remove the batteries to prevent any short-circuiting while fixing your Magic Trackpad.

Get your Magic Trackpad out and prepare to fix it.

Unscrew the battery door by turning the screw counter-clockwise with a flat edge screwdriver, coin, plastic opening tool, or fingernail.

Remove the batteries to prevent any short-circuiting while fixing your Magic Trackpad.

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Step 2

  • Use a plastic opening tool to separate the adhesive securing the back panel’s left, right, and top edges.
  • Do not pry along the bottom (the edge opposite the battery compartment). There are a bunch of retaining clips that may break if you start from the bottom.
  • Be extremely careful in lifting off the lower panel. The primary CPU/chip on the circuit board (marked in red in the second photo) is affixed to the back panel with a blob of glue. Failure to carefully slice through the glue from the chip/panel can result in the chip being torn from the circuit board, which WILL destroy your trackpad.
  • After slicing through all the adhesive, the lower panel lifts right off.

Use a plastic opening tool to separate the adhesive securing the back panel’s left, right, and top edges.

Do not pry along the bottom (the edge opposite the battery compartment). There are a bunch of retaining clips that may break if you start from the bottom.

Be extremely careful in lifting off the lower panel. The primary CPU/chip on the circuit board (marked in red in the second photo) is affixed to the back panel with a blob of glue. Failure to carefully slice through the glue from the chip/panel can result in the chip being torn from the circuit board, which WILL destroy your trackpad.

After slicing through all the adhesive, the lower panel lifts right off.

Step 3

  • Use a T-6 or T-7 Torx bit to adjust the tightness of the little screw highlighted in red in the bottom-left corner of the device (top-down).
  • If the right click works but the left click doesn’t, you’ll need to turn the screw clockwise.
  • Note: right and left clicks are determined by the Trackpad top, not the view from the bottom as you are adjust the screw.
  • If neither the right click nor left click work, turn it counter-clockwise if there is no movement at all, and clockwise if there is movement but it is too soft to click.

Use a T-6 or T-7 Torx bit to adjust the tightness of the little screw highlighted in red in the bottom-left corner of the device (top-down).

If the right click works but the left click doesn’t, you’ll need to turn the screw clockwise.

Note: right and left clicks are determined by the Trackpad top, not the view from the bottom as you are adjust the screw.

If neither the right click nor left click work, turn it counter-clockwise if there is no movement at all, and clockwise if there is movement but it is too soft to click.

Step 4

  • Reverse the steps to put the plastic back on the bottom of the Magic Trackpad.
  • Your Magic Trackpad should be as good and new and ready to use!

Reverse the steps to put the plastic back on the bottom of the Magic Trackpad.

Your Magic Trackpad should be as good and new and ready to use!

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                                                                      109 other people completed this guide.

Author

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                    jkgarrett17

Member since: 09/28/2010

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Chris Beyer - Apr 26, 2012

Reply

DO NOT DO THIS! My trackpad had the central chip glued STRONGLY to the plastic piece. Pulling off the plastic plate ripped the chip right off. My trackpad is now completely dead. I repeat: DO NOT DO THIS FIX! Your trackpad might not be glued, but I have ruined this thing.

David - Apr 25, 2013

Chris, I just did the same thing to mine and had the same result. I wish I’d read your warning first! Perhaps some heat at the center of the plastic backing would have helped release the adhesive from the chip/backing.

To anyone attempting this fix, if you feel anything in the center of the plastic back cover sticking, do not force it off. It might be possible to get a blade in there to slice through the adhesive, but it really didn’t take much force at all for the chip to break free of the circuit board.

jkgarrett17 - Apr 26, 2012

Reply

I have updated the guide with your warning. I would recommend in the future not pulling anythng apart that could cause ripping. You’ll notice the original instructions recommending cutting through the glue, not ripping it apart. Those recommendations were from a breakdown guide and have worked for multiple users. I myself have repaired trackpads 3-4 times following the above instructions.

I have also updated the difficulty to moderate from easy.

Leo - Jun 27, 2013

Reply

I could not turn the screw in Step 3. It seemed completely locked. However, I did lift up the whole switch plate which put some extra bend into the 2 thin metal “spring hinges”. This restored the click-drag functionality that I was trying to fix.