I still wonder how well it'd work without Apple's software to drive the thing. Apple's trackpads are always less magic when using Windows, for instance.
Yes, isn't it crazy how this seems to be something that is soooo hard to duplicate? I never feel the need for a mouse on my macbook, switch to Windows or Linux: I immediatly set out out to find my mouse (in contrast, external mice are just a pain in MacOS I feel that the acceleration is way off, like I'm mousing through sticky mud, and methods to adjust it were removed 5-6 versions of osX ago.)
It actually works very well with large screens. I use a Magic Trackpad with my 27" iMac.
> I feel the old ball type was superior in this regard, you could rely on momentum and just give it a flick for large and quick movements
That's exactly how the pointer works on macOS, both for traditional mouses and trackpads. That's what makes the Magic Trackpad work for a large screen for; I can do a little flick to move the pointer across the screen — and I can do it with just a finger, not my whole wrist/arm.
At work, I started off using a mouse for my multi-monitor setup, but quickly switched back to a Magic Trackpad. I think it scales rather well, because macOS provides a nice acceleration curve to cross the screen quickly while still allowing for precise movement.
On the topic of the mouse, I suspect you (along with nearly everybody else I know) is used to Windows-style tracking. Me, I'm used to macOS-style acceleration, so using mouses on other machines always feels inaccurate to me.
But back to the topic, it is rather interesting how hard trackpads are to replicate on other systems with the same level of quality as Apple's own trackpads under macOS. I suspect that's why one of the recent Windows 10 updates brought in consistent APIs for trackpads and multi-touch gestures.
If Microsoft are only just getting around to it now, I've my doubts there'd be any consistency on the matter over in Linux land. Not so much for lack of trying, but in a land of multiple desktop environments each with their own ways of doing things, the uncertainty of whether we keep improving X or focus everything on Wayland … well, I doubt the using the Magic Trackpad 2 under Linux would be all too pleasant.
It's getting better, especially since the Ubuntu people took an interest since it's the only option on recent GNOME even under x11. There's even a gsettings option to disable tap dragging, my personal peeve!
> But back to the topic, it is rather interesting how hard trackpads are to replicate on other systems with the same level of quality as Apple's own trackpads under macOS. I suspect that's why one of the recent Windows 10 updates brought in consistent APIs for trackpads and multi-touch gestures.
That's just as subjective as the regular mice. Personally I find their touchpads miserable to use compared to the competition.
I'm being absolutely genuine when I say "what competition"?
PC notebooks still ship with tiny, unresponsive things that make two-finger scrolling a mess and multi-touch gestures drop — apparently input, the one thing one does all the time with a computer, is the place to cheap out on.
On the external front, I've got a brand new wireless Logitech multi-touch trackpad right next to me whose responsiveness still doesn't hold a candle to what I was using on a PowerBook G4 back in 2004.
Then again, it's really hard to compare. Like I say, the hardware isn't what does the magic, it's the software. macOS has had multi-touch trackpad support done right since one of the later versions of 10.4, so we're talking something like 2006 or 2007. Microsoft doesn't seem to have taken the whole thing all that seriously until relatively recently with last year's Precision Trackpad hardware spec and APIs, and I suspect that's because as soon as Microsoft started doing their own Surface hardware, they realised (better late than never) that you can't rely on third parties to get this stuff right, so we'll see what comes of that.
> PC notebooks still ship with tiny, unresponsive things that make two-finger scrolling a mess and multi-touch gestures drop — apparently input, the one thing one does all the time with a computer, is the place to cheap out on.
Exactly those. I'd take them over Apple's sirupy mess any day.
Can you try to explain things more usefully than "sirupy mess"? Do you find that you cannot adjust the tracking speed to be fast enough for your liking? Do you want more or less acceleration? Are you experiencing unusually excessive input latency? Is it the physical texture of the trackpad surface that bothers you?
Replaced my 2016 macbook pro with a T480s and the touchpad is okay (running Ubuntu). I don't miss the old touchpad so much for pointing, but the two-finger right click doesn't work for me on Ubuntu (tapping does, but not clicking), it's still the old fashioned hinged design and it doesn't have inertial scrolling, which is really a drawback. But the keyboard is so much better and the keycaps won't break and fall out. So it's still a win for me, I don't want to support apple as a company and their planned obsolescence.
OT: out of curiosity, did you get the one with FHD or WQHD screen? Having nightmares trying to set it up with an external monitor and scaling UI properly in Gnome.
WQHD, but just for the color gamut. Using gnome with 2x scaling and xrandr scaling to 1.25 to get effective 1600x900 (I think). I don't have an external monitor.
