Magic Trackpad Teardown

Geschrieben von: Walter Galan
Veröffentlicht: 29/07/10
  • Kommentare: 37

Magic Trackpad Teardown

Veröffentlicht: 29/07/10

Teardown

Einleitung

Have you ever wondered what makes a trackpad magical? Well wonder no more. Join us as we delve into the deep abyss of Apple's ocean of magical peripherals to explore the mysterious Magic Trackpad.

Also check out the magical Vimeo video slideshow of the teardown!

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    • The Magic Trackpad is the first full desktop trackpad that supports a full set of gestures, including click, scroll, swipe, and rotate, all available at the tip of your fingers.

    • Requirements:

    • Mac desktop or laptop.

    • Bluetooth connectivity.

    • Mac OS X 10.6.4 or later.

    • And of course, batteries! (Apple Battery Charger not included).

    • As the rumors confirmed, the Magic Trackpad is designated Model A1339.

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    • The Magic Trackpad is 80% larger than the trackpad included in current MacBook Pro models.

    • It features the same aluminum design as its wireless keyboard counterpart, allowing for the perfect union of typing and gestures.

    • Let us not forget the main attraction, which is the 0.5 mm thick, capacitive touch, wear-resistant glass surface.

    • That's all good, but what lies inside?

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    • Removing the batteries is about as straightforward as it can get. Give a twist to the battery door and the two AA batteries slide right out.

    • Check out those square threads! While square threads have the highest mechanical efficiency of all lead screws, their difficulty of manufacturing makes them prohibitive for most applications.

    • Kudos, Apple, for sweating the details.

    The Apple Bluetooth keyboard also uses this same Square thread. So it makes sense for them to reuse the same technique they have already invested in. It's these details that makes being an Apple user so fun. Who ever gushes over a screw on a Dell?

    thecreative -

    the top can not be removed to get the batteries out, i think they leaked, because i see some white ... but can't removed it...

    robert -

    The square thread is not very practical for screwing back and finding the right alignment. Also the very thin border of the cap has not very much surface to be hold safely for screwing in.

    For undoing a corroded battery you might drill a tiny hole in the bottom and use a screw for wood like a corkscrew. If the second cell is also stuck then you may get hold on a longer drill and longer screw or use a sort of extension. My grandfather has brazed a drill into a piece of tube for such application.

    Newton2k1 -

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    • Time to get our hands dirty!

    • Use a plastic opening tool to pry the lower panel away from the adhesive securing around its left, right, and top edges.

    • Don't pry up along the bottom. There are a bunch of retaining clips.

    • After slicing through most of the adhesive, the lower panel lifts right off.

    Unlike the big photo of someone jamming a tool along the bottom edge, follow the written word and do not pry along the bottom edge.

    Mitchell -

    This step came in very handy when one of the little rubber mouse buttons slipped out of my trackpad. I pried up the back and slipped it right back in... Good as new!

    Doug -

    Watch out! By accident I managed to break my trackpad "glass" on the top. Do not try to bend the trackpad

    Hu Debniczek -

    Orientation is a funny thing. One persons ‘bottom’ is another person’s ‘top’ and - as in this case - can be confused more so after an item is lifted or picked up, like in the photos. Please be more specific in your descriptions, such as ‘the edge alongside the battery housing’ etc. Thanks!

    Jeremy -

    the best way I have found to remove back cover was to use a sucker.

    Fabio -

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    • And there's......not really that much to this thing.

    • After a good amount of quasi-non-destructive prying, the inner spacer can be removed from the trackpad.

    • This spacer prevents the highly unlikely event of squeezing the lower panel against the logic board hard enough to damage it.

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    • Next, disconnect the two ribbon cables connecting the capacitive touch pad to the logic board.

    • These things are ridiculously thin and are stuck to the underside of the touch pad. If you plan to remove them, proceed with caution.

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    • We've noticed a trend about Apple's newer products: thin and pretty = not user serviceable. The Magic Trackpad is no exception.

    • After using a heat gun to warm up the adhesive, the touch pad can be carefully pried off the aluminum chassis.

    • This is not for the faint of heart. A copious amount of heat, guitar picks, and plastic opening tools were required to make this thing budge.

    Hi! I was wondering if you had a temperature scale to give us.

    There is lot of plastic on these pretty things, I'd prefer not to deform any part of it with too many heat.

    Maxime Gratiot -

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    • After being freed from the adhesive securing it to the chassis, the touch pad can be easily removed.

    • The Magic Trackpad has a unique way of triggering the mouse button. As you press down on the top surface of the Trackpad, the two rubber feet near its front edge push up on the hinged plate and set screw (shown in orange) attached to the chassis. This squeezes the electronic mouse button switch (shown in red), producing the characteristic "click".

    The buttons in my Magic Trackpad have an annoying tendency to stop clicking. I have to physically lift up the Magic Trackpad off the desk, place it on the desk again, and suddenly the buttons will click again. It is as if both buttons are physically stuck. But it seems odd that both buttons continually get physically stuck simultaneously.

    Brian Watrous -

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    • To completely remove the logic board, you must first de-solder the four wires leading to the battery connector/status LED.

    • After removing two Phillips screws, the logic board can be separated from the chassis.

    It looks like there are 4 more contact points, possibly for serial data transmission. Maybe they use these during debugging? They're labeled GND, UPRX, UPTX, and PP1V8. I have no idea what that last one is for...

    Maybe you guys should try hooking up something to them and post your results!

    WillyDavidK -

    I wonder if the power, GND, UPRX, UPTX points could be used to turn one of these into a wired USB trackpad...

    Jonathan Hendry -

    Jonathan Hendry! I have the same question and am trying to find out if we can skip the bluetooth process altogether. Do you know any more about these four pins?

    raymond klucik -

    I am also pretty interested in such a mod. I got a nonfuntional trackpad with a broken button and a lot of leaked battery fluid. I teared it apart, cleaned it and found the GND, UPRX, UPTX, and PP1V8 contact points. Since the electronics seem to be physically ok, i’d love to get it working again. sadly soldering the battery to the battery connection pins on the pcb wasn’t effective.

    Marius Rohne -

    I must change the wires that connect the board to power/LED status button , and i dont know what kind of wire to use

    And how can i dismantle the power/LED status button ?(it's already out of the battery tube)

    Hadi Motamedi -

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    • At the heart of the Magic Trackpad's logic board lies a Broadcom BCM2042 for Bluetooth connectivity.

    • This is the same chip used by the Magic Mouse for data transmission.

    • We found a Broadcom BCM5974 touch screen controller chip that provides Multi-touch functionality.

    • This is the same chip you'll find in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and MacBook Air.

    • Also, an SST 25WF020 provides 2 Mbit of serial flash memory.

    • This appears to be a TI CD3238, which has been identified by Hearst as a RS232 line driver/receiver. It was also in the original iPhone with a BCM5973A.

    • The back of the logic board features nothing but blackness and glue.

    Is it possible to buy this piece only ?

    Pierre -

    If we paint the trackpad surface (I mean those pad that we touch all the time), does it affects the performance/sensitivity?

    Nur Fajar Rizki Suseno -

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    • And there it lies: the Magic Trackpad in nine difficult-to-disassemble pieces.

    • Keep an eye on our teardown page for an inside look at the latest gadgets!

Tinte & Feder

Walter Galan

685540 Reputation

20 Kommentare

A great tear down. One question: Where is the bluetooth antenna? Is it just etched into the circuit board?

Doug -

Good question. It looks like the curved traces along the top of the board seen on step 10 could be the antenna, and they lead to a small metal pressure contact that mates into the aluminum chassis. My guess is that the chassis of the trackpad and/or those curved traces serve as the antenna.

Andrew Bookholt -

Step 3c, I was expecting to see an Apple-branded battery instead of a bunny-battery. When you get the Apple batteries, is there any reason to tear one of those apart to see if Apple is merely re-labeling someone else's battery or if they actually are building AA batteries?

plink53 -

Apple does not produce batteries, as much as they don’t produce LCD panels or SoC chips - at best, they design them or define specs, but mostly just source it from suppliers, such as Samsung (and SDI), LG and Desay. It makes no financial sense to be a one stop shop - and that’s why Trump’s Nevo-mercantilism is a sure fail. Sorry about the politics - it’s a *charged* topic lolz ;)

Idan -

Step 10, "2Mbit of serial flash memory" This means this device might be capable of storing/receiving data from the attached computer. It will be something we get to investigate to see what type of data it holds to see how it has to be treated in a government setting.

plink53 -

One of the things stored is the device name. When you rename the Magic Trackpad (System Preferences > Bluetooth), that name is saved on the trackpad. It comes up with the same name if you pair it with a different computer: a nice touch!

hoylen -

This is a cool post! I think that the Magic Trackpad is worth owning, and it makes it a pleasure to use the Mac. Unfortunately, it can bug out sometimes. Usually, this is because the battery is running low. It starts to happen after a few hours of continuous use, when the battery life approaches 50%. I wrote up a how-to guide on my site, Appledystopia, for troubleshooting and fixing it. There are some neat tips, like adding it as a Bluetooth Favorite, so if it loses the connection or you toggle the power, it will connect much faster.

Apple Dystopia -

I have just destroyed my trackpad by opening it as described. The top of the Bluetooth chip (Broadcom BCM2042) was firmly glued to the plastic cover and when I took the cover off, the chip was ripped off the logic board. Time to buy a new one.. :-(

apollinairemoreno -

My batteries leaked inside and to remove them I had to open the screw cap on the battery compartment and sharply hit the trackpad edge on the edge of a table (Preferably wood) with the compartment facing down. The batteries eventually came out and to clean ouit the residue, acid, white crud, I used the handyman's secret weapon, WD40. It works great now !

capone99 -

yes the chip is firmly mastic to the rear panel nice one apple !!!!! probably to stop you repairing it !!

Paul Harrison -

Beware. apple have seriously glued the back of the chip to the rear panel. Nice one apple. Destroyed my pad removing rear panel. But i guess thats what they wanted to achieve.

Paul Harrison -

how much current do these things draw?

michaelcasselli -

Is there a way to fix the button on the track pad if it fell and was scraped and jammed the button

Paul Hirschmugl -

I was given one with batteries, which had leaked. I followed ths guide closely, without damaging anything, but I was unable to detect 3v on the PCB. The power switch may have a small daughter board, which isn’t mentioned here. How do you remove the switch assy?

Mr McK -

Great presentation. Thank you. Mine also had very severe battery corrosion and I had to drill the 2 batteries out! Very messy but eventually successful. Then I was faced with fixing the switch. Please can you advise how you are supposed to remove the switch/LED pcb assembly without breaking it. Thanks

colbox -

Hello and Thanks for all Your tutorials ! I have a magic trackpad but it has fallen down and the glass up is broken. Is it possible to repair this part of the device? If it’s possible, where can I buy that parts of the item please? Thanks

couteau carole -

My trackpad has stopped responding to mouse clicks - what would you think is the most likely needed to replace to fix that?

Abel Iskim -

To remove the On-Off-Pushbutton on the Side you must remove the Rubber-Foot on the Pushbutton-Side, then with a Little Allen-Key (Imbusschlüssel 0,05) remove the little Ground-Screw, then with the same Allen-Key loosen the Grub-Screw (Madenschraube) under the Ground-Screw (These are the Grond-Connection for the Push-Button)

Next remove the lower Panel like in Step 4. and desolder the 4 Wires (Step 9) from the Logic Board.

Now you can press out the Push-Button with a Long Stick from the Batteries Side and repair.

Norbert

Norbert Back -

thanks for this instruction! I could repair my touchpad. (i.m.o. a very irritating thing I seldom use. I hate it)

R. Bruce -

Amazing teardown , plus I love how detailed it is, though a question I have is how then would I make my own wireless touchpad With a salvaged A315-53-50k5 laptop touchpad🤔

Tshegofatso Makhoba -