A common complaint about the trackpad in the new Unibody MacBooks (Pro included) is that the click you hear when you press the button is too loud, or it requires to much pressure to click down.
Personally, I had the opposite problem. My trackpad button was too squishy on the right side, but felt normal on the left. It was no big deal and I ignored it for months, but then I stumbled upon this post at macosxhints.com
As it turns out, unibody trackpad sensitivity issues can be fixed by tightening or loosening a singe, easy to access screw underneath the trackpad. And to get to it, all you have to do is remove the battery.
I fixed my trackpad sensitivity this weekend using this method. It’s so much better now! Definitely worth it for those brave enough.
Here is a picture of the screw on my macbook:
Here are the steps:
1) remove battery and battery cover. You can see the underside of the trackpad once you remove the battery.
2) find tri-point screw on the now-exposed underside of the trackpad. It is the lone, centered screw at the top of the pad.
3) take a tri-point screwdriver or whatever else fits into the screw, and tighten/loosen it A LITTLE BIT. I suggest rotating the screw just 1/8th of a full rotation before testing it. The smallest adjustment can make a big difference!
Note: If you over-tighten it the trackpad will not click down at all. This happened to me and it was a little freaky at first. If this happens, just keep loosening the screw (it may take a few full rotations) and putting pressure on the trackpad until it becomes unstuck. I don’t know what will happen if you loosen the screw too much, but it is obvious when the screw is overly loose so it wasn’t an issue for me.
4) Test your trackpad. Click it a bunch, and click all parts of it to make sure it feels right. You should test it with the battery back in and the battery cover back on for accurate results.
5) Repeat step 3 and 4 until satisfied. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the screw position correct. I changed mine perhaps a dozen times before I was satisfied.
A few final points
- Just keep in mind that this type of modification isn’t covered by Apple’s warranty, so be careful
- Of course though, you do this at your own risk and I’m not responsible for any damage you may somehow cause
- If you’re happy with your trackpad, don’t do this. It’s only worth the time if you have an issue to fix.
If you go ahead with it though, good luck and I hope I helped!
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