You're definitely in the minority, macbook trackpads are widely accepted as the best ones currently out there.

Some good discussion on this:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19485178

Widely accepted by who? Mac users? It's nothing more than what you're used to.

I suppose one can certainly adapt to mostly any sort of input device given enough time, but that does not mean that they're done well. Most people that have used trackpads in windows/linux land prior to the last 8 years or so could easily tell you how horrendous they were (and some still are). A lot of this comes down to software, of course. Microsoft's precision touchpad drivers were a game changer for Windows devices and made them at least comparable to the mac. Mac's trackpads are well thought out with its sensitivity and acceleration curves and the more recent 2015+ trackpads have been large and very pleasant to use without need to adjust. In contrast, the acceleration curves and scroll speeds in linux and windows require quit a bit of tweaking. Again, subjective, but the reason why most people that try a mac trackpad (with MacOS) find it to be a better experience is because they really nailed the default settings to be comfortable for most.

You're speaking for an awful lot of people. Maybe HN skews towards Apple fans and therefore might just possibly have a few extra upvotes for Apples defaults?

There's not been a study on it as far as I know (maybe there's some polls online, though?), if that's what you're hoping for. Obviously it's going to be largely anecdotal but it's not exactly just Apple bias. It's notable because the remarks about the trackpad often come from non-mac users who painfully concede that the trackpad experience on MacOS is better. One example I can think of is Linus from Linus Tech Tips always using a mac trackpad as the gold standard to compare against in his laptop reviews.

Yes, its anecdotal. That's my point.

There's also this dude who has spent 2 years trying to get a mac touchpad experience on linux

https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-m...

https://bill.harding.blog/2019/03/25/linux-touchpad-like-a-m...

Every, and I mean every, review I have watched has rated the trackpad as the best in the business.

I don't know if this is what GP meant, but I've tried a few co-workers' macbooks, and it's nothing driver related: The touchpad itself has this staticky feel that makes me never want to touch it again. Haven't felt that on any other touchpad before or since.

I have experienced this as well. I think this has to do with it being plugged in but NOT grounded. If you use the extender cable that has a 3 prong on it that goes away. Or just try it on battery. I also do not love that feeling, but love the trackpad.

I imagine the part you don't like must be the acceleration curve, which is generally adjustable on Linux

The acceleration curve and default scroll speed are pretty horrendous in linux in my experience. The advantage of course is I can just add a command to my init file to adjust it but the scrolling speed isn't exposed in the settings apps of any of the major DEs as far as I know.

Yeah. NixOS has facilities for adjusting those acceleration curves and scroll speed in a universal/pre-DE way, as well.

My preference is to disable acceleration in favor of very high sensitivity for physical mice, to disable small touchpads (like on old Windows laptops) and retain a substantial but smooth acceleration curve for large touchpads (like on a Mac).

I think the DEs often let you adjust how many lines a single scroll increment scrolls by, but not the size of movement that triggers a scroll increment on the touchpad. I think depending on your touchpad driver (evdev is usually more flexible than, say, synaptics) and maybe your choice of display server (Wayland vs. Xorg), you can adjust the other aspect of touchpad scrolling.

Wow! That's actually the first time I've ever heard this opinion

Yeah, not a lot of marketing money behind not liking Apple things, or anyone's things, for that matter.

Just accept that others have a different opinion to you. No need to come up with some conspiracy about why we're not a homogenous blob.

How does pointing out how marketing works warrant being dismissive with 'conspiracy' labels?

Marketing teams actively distort are public opinion.

Your comment is remarkably dismissive IMO.

> Your comment is remarkably dismissive IMO.

You'll survive

I believe my point is precisely that we aren't homogeneous and that perhaps your perspective isn't quite as ubiquitous as you think.

Are you sure that's your point? It's a bit strange how you "believe" that it is your point. Surely you should know it for sure?