How the Magic Trackpad Revolutionised My Desk Setup
Surprisingly a great experience!
I’ve never been a fan of trackpads, especially on older laptops where they just felt small and extremely uncomfortable to use. Then I got a MacBook and that changed everything.
I got my first MacBook around 7 years ago when I was at university, it was a mid-2012 MacBook Pro which I purchased second-hand to help with my degree.
It was also the device that changed my view of Mac devices forever. A lot has changed since that MacBook had its days. For example, I remember upgrading the memory and mechanical hard drive to a solid-state drive.
But the thing that remains the same, if not better, is the quality of the trackpads.
As someone who was brought up with Windows, especially Windows laptops both at school, university, and work. The one thing that they all had in common was bad trackpads.
I am not saying that all the trackpads found on Windows laptops are bad, the point I am trying to make is that I was used to using poor-quality trackpads which fed my hate for them.
But after using the trackpad on my old MacBook, I always wanted to get one to use alongside my main mouse and keyboard, and I think that it revolutionised my desk setup. Here’s why…
How I use the Magic Trackpad
The main thing I like about Apple’s approach to trackpads is that they make them incredibly smooth to use. If we combine that with gesture, control, we have a really nice way of controlling your device.
However, I am not convinced that that alone is enough to make the trackpad the primary way of controlling my device.
I mean, I’m a massive fan of the Logitech MX Master series of mice, and I seriously think that Logitech knows how to make a good mouse. My main mouse for the last couple of years has been the Logitech MX Master 3, and I’m not ready to give it up any time soon.
It’s just such a good mouse, with its side-scroll wheel, comfortable design and programable keys.
You’re probably wondering where the Magic TrackPad fits into all this.
I use the Logitech MX Master 3 as my main device for controlling my MacBook and as a right-handed person, I keep it to the right of my keyboard.
On the other hand, I use the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 as my secondary device which I keep to the left of my keyboard and I think it works incredibly well.
The main purpose of me using the Magic Trackpad is for any tasks I feel work better on the trackpad, such as scrolling and gesture navigation, which somehow feels more natural to me. Whereas the Logitech MX Master 3 is used as a default pointing device.
Why the Magic Trackpad?
What a good question!
To be truthfully honest, I wasn’t planning to buy the Magic Trackpad, but I was visiting my local CeX store, and they had a few of them at a reasonable price, second-hand. So I decided to buy one to see if I could work with the Apple MagicTrackpad being my secondary device.
I was in for a pleasant surprise!
On a side note, CeX are not a sponsor of this blog post nor do they know I’m writing this. As a tech enthusiast, I tend to visit many tech stores, even the ones that sell second-hand tech.
The Trackpad I went with was the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 and I purchased it for around £65, which considering the fact that the model was released in 2015 and a new one costs around £129, I think is an okay deal.
My only complaint about the Magic Trackpad 2 is that it still has a lightning charging connection, but I can live with that.
Final Thoughts
To summarise this article, I think that the Apple Magic Trackpad is an ideal device to use as a secondary device to control your Mac.
Before purchasing the Magic Trackpad, I would often use the trackpad on my M1 MacBook Air while it was connected to my other two monitors, which works extremely well with the help of a Display Link docking station.
I would use the trackpad on the MacBook as a secondary device in the same way I use the Magic Trackpad, with the Logitech MX Master 3 being my primary pointing device.
However, there are times when I prefer to either use a mechanical keyboard or an external keyboard. The Magic Trackpad works incredibly well in those scenarios.
Lastly, I know that I’ve primarily been talking about Apple in this article and that the trackpads I have experience with on Windows laptops aren’t great, but manufacturers are getting better. I mean, I love the trackpad on the Dell Latitude 5340, it feels incredibly smooth and has gesture control.
What are your thoughts on using an external trackpad with gesture control as a secondary pointing device? Let us know in the comments!