Upgradable Trackpad (pinch,swipe,etc.)

DEAN616 · Jun 7, 2008

I recently bought a macbook. I wanted to wait and see when the new ones were comin out to see if there gonna have the trackpad like the air and the pro with the swipe and pinch etc. I just wanted to know if in the future am i able to upgrade the pad or is it updateable via update/firmware. Sorry for the psp/windows terms, im new to the mac world. Thanks in advance.

Dysfunction · Jun 7, 2008

it's a physically different pad.

lukenn77 · Jun 7, 2008

yeah unfortunately its all about the sensors and technology in the new trackpad that enables it to do those things, so it wont be an update thing im afraid. shame though, looks cool does it!!

DEAN616 · Jun 7, 2008

Is there a way to purchase it and get install a new pad in mine.

Aztech · Jun 7, 2008

Not that iv heard of at the moment, but their are loads of these multi-touch technologies popping up now which are all software powered...

I cant for the life of me understand why the Mac touchpads had to be a physical thing... the pad itself is already psudo multi-touch due to its ability to allow two finger scrolling and right click with two fingers... Iv always thought if it can detect two seperate touches, it must just be a case of telling the Operating System what different gestures mean !

Which is how all the software driven systems work, the software interprets the users gestures and performs the appropriate action...

I was kinda expecting some kinda 3rd party or hacked app to come out for some time, but nothing has appeared yet, but saying that multi-touch is still kinda in its infancy in this style of implementation (but that didnt stop Microsoft Windows 7 jumping on it lol)

lukenn77 · Jun 8, 2008

Aztech said:
Not that iv heard of at the moment, but their are loads of these multi-touch technologies popping up now which are all software powered...

I cant for the life of me understand why the Mac touchpads had to be a physical thing... the pad itself is already psudo multi-touch due to its ability to allow two finger scrolling and right click with two fingers... Iv always thought if it can detect two seperate touches, it must just be a case of telling the Operating System what different gestures mean !

Which is how all the software driven systems work, the software interprets the users gestures and performs the appropriate action...

I was kinda expecting some kinda 3rd party or hacked app to come out for some time, but nothing has appeared yet, but saying that multi-touch is still kinda in its infancy in this style of implementation (but that didnt stop Microsoft Windows 7 jumping on it lol)

hmm, that's very true actually. i didnt think about the two finger scrolling and two finger tap. well then, it seems there may be an update some time in the future, hopefully!! but who knows.

Kash · Jun 8, 2008

Even if the old pads are capable of multi-touch, don't expect an update simply because it's a touted feature on newer models, and thus serves as a selling point. Give the feature to current users and Apple loses an incentive for selling its newer models.

Aztech · Jun 8, 2008

Which is why i said i was expecting a 3rd party hack or patch... Apple are prob never gonna give older model the functionality to do the pinch stuff etc, cus as you say 'they know how to sell stuff... its an edge'

But its not exactly a big edge, considering u cant buy the older models anywhere but ebay and second hand now... so not really a decision making feature lol...

Dysfunction · Jun 8, 2008

Does the current Macbook have the multitouch now? I really haven't been paying attention. I do use the heck out of the multitouch though

Apple Bottom · Jun 9, 2008

Dysfunction said:
Does the current Macbook have the multitouch now? I really haven't been paying attention. I do use the heck out of the multitouch though

No, i dont think they do. Its only on the MB Pro and Air models AFAIK.