Magic Trackpad 2 for the Mac with Force Touch

The joys of being a Mac aficionado

I’ve only just upgraded to El Capitan and DragonDictate and now something else new. The trackpad on my iMac which is about four years old, same age as the iMac itself has been getting slightly temperamental lately. I started to notice that it wasn’t always behaving itself, maybe about six months ago, but it was a rare problem. With the new Force Touch becoming available on the Apple watch and also with the MacBooks, I guessed there might be a new Magic Trackpad at some point in time soon. I was right, and yesterday or the day before Apple came up with the goods. The new Magic Trackpad 2 is a little bit on the pricey side, but I do need to update the one I have. It’s still possible to buy the old version of the Magic Trackpad, but if I’m going to be spending some money it’s better to have the newer and much improved version. I’m trying to decide whether I will give myself a day out and go and visit an Apple Store in Barcelona or whether I should just order it online. I might have to leave it a week before making a trip to Barcelona, so that I know for sure the shop will have the new Magic trackpad 2 in stock.

So many decisions to make

The thing is, I’ve been considering whether to get my hands on the new iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil to go with it. I do an awful lot of work with my iPad and some of it is digital drawing and painting. It would make great sense as well as being completely delightful to have the new iPad Pro. The problem is with the cost of it all. I can’t afford to hang onto the iPad I have as well as the iPad Pro, so that would go part of the way towards paying for the new device. The only thing I worry about is the fact that I got the new iPad Air 2 for the lightness of it and the ease of carrying it around the house. The iPad Pro is a good bit heavier as well as being larger physically, obviously. Is it going to be a little of a pain to carry around, compared to the iPad I have now. One more thing – there is also the matter of the iPhone 6+. My wife really does need to have a new iPhone and passing on the one I have now would be a good idea. The trouble is, I would have to buy myself a new phone and once again that is going to be more money. The need to upgrade the Magic Trackpad just adds another level of monetary difficulty to consider with regards the requirements for the new technology. I’d love to buy the Apple Watch for my wife too.

What does the Magic Trackpad 2 offer

For start off, the Magic Trackpad 2 is larger by about 30%. The one I have doesn’t seem small so the new one being larger is just a bonus. It doesn’t really bother me to change the rechargeable batteries, so having built-in batteries is neither here nor there. The biggest and most useful difference is going to be the addition of the Force Touch. This will give extra functionality beyond what I can already do with using the application Better Touch Tool. The Magic trackpad 2 will sense when I press harder on the device and give me extra menu options. I already like to use the extra gestures available to get to the Mission Control and App Exposé. That’s when you swipe either up or down with the four fingers. I rarely use the gesture of spreading with the thumb and three fingers to show the desktop or the pinch action to show the Launchpad, but it is nice to know they are there if I want them. I suppose when I connect the new trackpad to my iMac it will update the trackpad information in the system preferences. It will help me to learn the new force touch gestures and start to get them into muscle memory. Looks I will be getting a new Magic Trackpad 2 on my desk quite soon.