Definitely, I always thought, I am a mouse man. I’ve always preferred to use a mouse with my computers and, often, would pack a mouse when travelling with a lightweight computer such as my current MacBook. But I have to admit that trackpads have improved immensely in the past couple of years, with Apple’s force-touch trackpad offering a level of control not previously possible. It’s just a matter of acclimatisation and retraining muscle memory to deal with double clicks, click-and-drag and other functions that often seemed more easy with a mouse.
Enthusiasm
With my new-found enthusiasm for trackpads I have been using Apple’s Magic Trackpad with my desktop iMac. All is going well, but I got fed up with the separate trackpad wandering all over the desk. If only I could tether it in some way to the Magic Keyboard.
Now I can, thanks to the Twelve South MagicBridge. This is a simple plastic tray made to accommodate the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad side by side. Both devices click into place easily and the combined unit feels sturdy and secure, as one.
Twelve South have given a lot of thought to the need to leave the ports and switches of the two input devices accessible. Along the back is a series of windows which allow cables to be connected and the devices to be toggle on and off if required.
Effective
All in all, this is a high-quality and effective means of keeping your input devices together on the desk. If I can offer one criticism — which is actually not directed at Twelve South — is that the curved corners of the keyboard and trackpad leave a rather unsightly hole which is bound to attract small bits of desk debris (including, in my case, ginger nut crumbs).
The Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad perform exactly as before and both are lightyears ahead of the previous models which were bulkier and relied on rechargeable batteries. Both the magic devices can be charged by Lightning cable from any suitable phone charger. I keep a cable attached to the iMac as a charging device but also as a precautionion in case the computer loses its ability respond to Bluetooth devices. This has happened to me several times in the past and I know from painful experience that Apple will advise connecting a wired keyboard or mouse. I’ve always had such devices around in the past. But now the Lightning charger cable also allows data transfer so either the keyboard or the trackpad can be used in order to sort out the problem if Bluetooth should fail.
The Twelve South Magic Bridge costs £34.99 and is available here from Amazon.
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I have both the first set of these and the latest iteration…
I justified the new set on the strength of the built in rechargeable batteries.
The first set were pretty crude in their operation, the trackpad options were wholly enabled by the two rubber legs, which were also two little buttons… The left button was equivalent to the left button of the mouse and the right was for the context menu. The glass pad then needed to be used by area, towards the left side for left click and so on.
In practice though there was more of a learning curve (finger memory wise) with the later version, and the batteries still run out and need to be recharged, the only difference being that one does not have to take them out to do this.
I have yet to find a purpose for the "force-touch" technology though.