The new Apple Magic Trackpad with USB-C still holds the crown for the best Mac peripheral. It’s the best trackpad in the world and the best input device for macOS.
I was hoping for a little more out of this update, like built-in Touch ID or multi-device pairing. I also wish there were a neutral silver color, not just black and white.
But even without either, it has features that are still unparalleled anywhere else. Force Touch and Apple’s perfected multitouch gestures make the Magic Trackpad the king.
Keep reading or watch our video review.
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Apple Magic Trackpad review
- Big multitouch surface
- Force Touch
- USB-C charging
- Black model is more expensive
Table of contents: Apple Magic Trackpad review
- The best trackpad in the world
- Design
- No Touch ID
- No multi-device pairing
- Should you buy the Apple Magic Trackpad?
The best trackpad in the world
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The Apple Magic Trackpad truly is one of a kind. It’s perfectly smooth and frictionless. Your fingertips don’t feel like they’re being sanded down the longer you use it. macOS is easier to use with its many gestures for navigation, zooming, scrolling and swiping.
The trackpad isn’t a physically clicking button. Removing the physical nature of the button click enables three great features.
You can click anywhere on the surface with an equal amount of force to click. You don’t have to press harder towards the top or on the outer edges.
There’s a regular click, but you can click harder for extra functionality. You can force click on a link to preview a webpage, force click on a word to see its definition, force click on a filename in Finder to rename it and so much more.
Force Touch trackpads also have haptic feedback. For one, you can adjust how hard you need to click — I have mine set to the Light setting. Also, it means the trackpad can click back; when you’re dragging something on your Mac, when something snaps to a guide, you can feel a little tap.
I haven’t been a Mac user for life — I was saddled with a couple crummy PC laptops before I could switch to a Mac full-time. My broad impression is that PC trackpads are a little better these days, but dear god, PC trackpads used to be absolute steaming garbage. A 2010 Sony Vaio I briefly used added friction to the surface with plastic nubs. It felt like it was punishing you.
The Magic Trackpad is the cream of the crop. The platonic ideal trackpad.
Design
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The design of the USB-C Magic Trackpad remains unchanged from the Lightning version before. Compared to the old AA-battery powered version, it’s flatter and significantly wider.
I don’t mind the shallow angle as much as I thought I would; I got used to that within a day. With the increased width, it’s barely under the limit of being too wide. I often find myself adjusting the position of the trackpad on my desk as I fidget throughout the day, and I move it by pinching it between my thumb and pinky. It’s now so wide that I really have to stretch my fingers out to get a solid grip.
The materials all feel immaculate. The fit and finish is just seamless. Even the on-off switch is beautifully machined with a fantastic click action to it.
Pairing it with a Mac is easy; just turn it on and briefly plug it in. And you can plug it in with the nice braided (and color-matching) USB-C cable it comes with; ditch the Lightning cable from your desk.
I do wish it came in a neutral silver color rather than black or white. I opted for black, because I think it best matches the other peripherals on my desk, but I find my eye keeps getting drawn to its large black void.
No Touch ID
I was hoping for a more substantial update than a simple swap of Lightning for USB-C.
For those of us who prefer third-party keyboards, we get left out of the Touch ID fun. It’s incredibly convenient logging in, autofilling passwords and confirming payments with a simple keypress. Without it, you can use a connected Apple Watch, but it’s not as reliable and it’s not as fast.
I was hoping the new Magic Trackpad could integrate Touch ID. It would always be within easy reach, just in the upper right corner, right where your hand already is. It’s not like I find myself swiping around all the way into the furthest corner, anyways.
No multi-device pairing
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
AirPods use intelligent pairing. They can effectively stay paired to multiple devices at once, so that switching between your Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and Mac is seamless. If you have multiple Macs sharing one desk, you might not want two mice, or two keyboards or two trackpads. It can get confusing and crowded.
But alas, all of Apple’s latest peripherals still use vanilla Bluetooth, and don’t take advantage of Apple’s own technology elsewhere.
Apple’s answer to that need is Universal Control, which lets one trackpad control multiple devices — even a Mac and iPad — but that only works if all the devices are next to each other and on the same Apple account. If you have a work laptop and a personal laptop, they’re probably on different Apple accounts. Continuity isn’t true multi-device pairing; the trackpad only stays paired to one Mac, which acts as a relay. Take that Mac away, and your Magic Trackpad won’t be connected to the other one.
Should you buy the Apple Magic Trackpad?
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The Magic Trackpad is the best way to use a Mac, bar none. Apple’s own Magic Mouse lags behind the trackpad in the number and variety of multitouch gestures, owing to its smaller size that can’t easily fit three or more fingers. It may take some getting used to, but you won’t be able to go back.
★★★★☆
Buy from: Amazon
- Big multitouch surface
- Force Touch
- USB-C charging
- Black model is more expensive
Apple did not provide Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out other in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
