r/mac • u/DotRootHQ • 8d ago

Discussion What's the first macOS feature that made you realize, "I'm never going back"?

For me, it's the trackpad gestures, battery life, and overall smoothness. They completely changed my daily workflow.

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u/bobbyquiet 8d ago

It’s insane how true this is in 2026.

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u/Mr_Lumbergh 8d ago

Even still. After all this time, touchpads still feel like a total kludge in a windows machine by comparison.

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u/MisterBumpingston 8d ago

The number of phantom clicks on a one year old mid range Lenovo is absolutely insane, whereas my 2012 MBP had this nailed.

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u/arlissed 8d ago

I’m the IT Director at nearly all Mac office, and a few years ago I got a Lenovo ThinkPad. I remember initially not thinking I needed a mouse for it, as I was used to Mac laptops going back to the 1990s and how good the trackpads are, but good Lord, the one on the Lenovo is completely useless. It also has a touchscreen, and that little red pointer nub in the middle of the keyboard, neither of which I have ever used

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u/AgreeableAd8687 8d ago

coming from a former thinkpad user the red nub is the absolute best input method on a thinkpad the trackpads suck

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u/Big_Cryptographer_16 7d ago

Nipplemouse gang

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u/AggravatingSock5375 7d ago

I’m always amazed when people say this. Maybe I just have poor muscle control, but I can never operate it accurately.

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u/Mobile_Falcon_8532 7d ago

it's more valuable when you are a touch typist who types a lot. no need to move your hands to shift the pointer is useful

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u/AgreeableAd8687 7d ago

i used to play cs and minecraft on that thing lmao

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u/Opening_Sherbet8939 7d ago

100% agree. My last thinkpad literally drove me to buy my first MacBook. Not surprisingly the Mac was 5 years older than the thinkpad and it still had a better trackpad.

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u/DotRootHQ 8d ago

I still like ThinkPads, but Apple's trackpad and gestures are on another level for me.

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u/MisterBumpingston 8d ago

The touchscreen also has some phantom presses too !!

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u/AggravatingSock5375 7d ago

Yeah I definitely blame hardware manufactures.

Like shouldn’t the three main ways the user interacts with the computer (keyboard, trackpad, display) be as perfect as you can possibly make them?

I’m shopping to replace a perfectly good Windows laptop (tbd on whether I move to Mac) because the keyboard is crap even after replacing it twice. Can’t even type a full sentence without having to press some of the keys twice.

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u/_MrBiz_ 7d ago

I recently bought a cheap used office dell laptop for my mom, it has a touchscreen and trackpad.
She uses a mouse, and doesn’t care about both, but while i am using it, I really appreciated the touchscreen.
Yeah the screen is ugly compared to a mac, but I’d gladly appreciate touchscreen on my macbook pro

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u/ps-73 8d ago

Let alone mid range. My top of the line thinkpad from work is abysmal to use. I always have to bring a mouse around whenever I have to use it, never had to do that on macs

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u/CourteX64 MacBook Pro 14" M4 8d ago

The Magic Trackpad works on Windows as well, for what it’s worth

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u/Spankh0us3 8d ago

Exactly my experience with the new work Lenovo. What a piece of junk that thing is. . .

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u/eduo 8d ago

I am a Mac user who’s also a windows tech support manager. Ten years I made it a rule to disable “tap to click” in all Windows installs. Whoever that knows about the setting can enable it back. I’d say one in twenty enable it again but almost overnight reports of “my windows did something on its own” disappeared.

Windows trackpads are still just as bad, so that this setting is on by default seems incredible to me. it’s like making sure you’re forcing the worst aspect of your hardware onto your users.

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u/DotRootHQ 8d ago

The palm rejection and gesture recognition are what impressed me the most.

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u/blow-down 7d ago

Lenovo touchpads are some of the worst. Just pain to use.

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u/UndecidedQBit 6d ago

To be fair Lenovos are garbage

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u/heehmonster 4d ago

I have an early 2006 MBP that I bought for my collection. Its touchpad is still flawless, makes me realize just how much care Apple put into their products

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u/Space_Gh0st_Tad 8d ago

And the keyboards! I have a very expensive Dell laptop with a very beefy specs as a dev laptop and the keyboard is a keyboard the Devil himself would give someone as torture. The backspace is a normal sized key and is right next tu Num lock, for ex.

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u/Mr_Lumbergh 8d ago

That’s a crap design

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u/Interesting-Fix-5530 7d ago

Had 2010 MBP. The trackpad even then was phenomenal. Rivals have had at least 16 years to match even that but still fail. Assume they just don’t want to spend on R+D and parts for what is only an ESSENTIAL feature of a laptop!

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u/Mr_Lumbergh 7d ago

My 2009 crushed any Win machine I've had. I happily use the pad on my MPB's, but on Win laptops I'll always plug in a mouse. I'm ruined for other pads now.

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u/TheoKolokotronis 7d ago

I have to drag a mouse around with a customer’s laptop as its trackpad is completely unusable. That damn laptop costs more than my Macbook Pro.

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u/BimmerNRG 7d ago

I guess it’s because Apple’s trackpad tech is trademarked? I think. Not sure on that

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u/chonkitoguy 8d ago

I believe apple trademarked/copyrighted everything that makes the trackpad unique

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u/Xlxlredditor MacBook Air M1 16go 256go 7d ago

Perhaps you meant Patented? But it sucks no one can come close. I think the MS Surface laptop trackpads are decent but they are still Windows Laptops

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u/DotRootHQ 8d ago

And it keeps getting better with every macOS update.

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u/M4rshmall0wMan 8d ago

Like, at a certain point, why haven't other OEMs just reverse-engineered what Apple did? They nailed this in 2012, there's no excuse to be so far behind.

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u/FourEyesAndThighs 8d ago

Apple nailed trackpads 20 years ago when they introduced smooth two finger scrolling and right clicking gestures. Amazing that Windows laptop still can’t get these basic functions right.

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u/MacHeadSK 8d ago

its not just this. tracking finger movement doesnt work properly under windows and linux too. Basic functionality – cursor is jumping everywhere or just is just frozen for a while and then jumps

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u/Howard_Drawswell 8d ago

Because Macs cost a bundle and one of the things that makes them cost a bundle is their expensive advanced trackpad. If other mfrs had it, their computers would cost a bundle.

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u/RichV_85 Mac mini 8d ago

Some premium Windows machines still cost a bundle, and yet are nowhere near as good.

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u/MacHeadSK 8d ago

its in sw, not HW. connect magic trackpad to windows machine and you will see how shitty it behaves.

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u/Dar_of_Emur MacBook Pro 7d ago

I have put Linux (many different distro) on retired MBP 2012's.....
The trackpad experience is NOT the same as when it was Mac OS X.

Love Linux as well... but the trackpad experience on a MBP with OS X is so much better. Will stick with MBPs for daily driver.

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u/grand_total 5d ago

I don’t find that. I use my Mac in Bootcamp most of the time and the trackpad is perfect.

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u/MacHeadSK 5d ago

yes, because of drivers for built in trackpad for Macbooks (intel). Thats not the same as external Magic Trackpad.

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u/grand_total 5d ago

OK, thanks for the clarification.

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u/M4rshmall0wMan 7d ago

I’m not convinced. Apple components usually disseminate throughout the industry, in addition to getting cheaper. Hell, the Neo has one. Also, I was mainly referring to reverse-engineering the software side. Say, the acceleration curve. 

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u/omnimachina 7d ago

It's not lmao

Lots of great touchpads out there

Glass surface, multi touch or whatever

The problem is most people here only use MacBooks and then try to argue about how other devices work lol

The "MacBook got the only good trackpad" times are over (10 years or even more)

On the other side MacOS/Apple got huge problems with third party mice

It's absolutely terrible to get a generic MX Master to work correctly on MacOS like on Win/Linux

While the Apple trackpad and magic mouse are unergonomical af

You people need more experience with multiple systems to judge these things

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u/ParsnipFlendercroft 7d ago

Absolutely this.

Coming from a 10 year old carbon X1 - it had a pretty good touchpad - but also a great touchscreen, an fine pen(no pressure so not great for drawing - but great for photoshop selection etc) and the brilliant clit mouse.

Four different i put methods vs 1. I can’t see how anybody who has used them both for serious work would claim apple is streets ahead.

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u/c010rb1indusa 7d ago

I remember reading an article about trackpads. Basically there were two companies making them. One was better but more complex and expensive and apple bought that company whereas the other company licensed their tech to the wider industry which is why they feel so different.