pre-2010 macbooks can be had for like $10 nowadays. those had the touchpads (and webcam, keyboard, etc) connected via USB to the system. pinouts are available on the net and with a little bit of effort and maybe 3D printing you can have your bespoke rig.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
26 points (93.3% liked)
Linux
58934 readers
754 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
I use an Apple Magic Trackpad on KDE and it works great. My only problem is that customizing the touch gestures is not well supported. Unsure if it's any better on Gnome or COSMIC Desktop.
I read about this a while ago. Don’t know how good it is but it was something I’ve been wanting to look into.
I have a Ploopy trackpad, and I absolutely love it. That said, it's not wireless, so OP might not be into it.
It's about the same size as the Apple trackpad. A big surface is a must for me, so this is great. I think the "active" surface is a bit smaller, but I don't notice it.
The responsiveness is glorious. I have LMDE on a Surface Book 2, and the built-in trackpad is shameful in comparison.
There's no physical click. You get tap-to-click only. The texture is noticeable, but for me, not in a bad way. Perfectly smooth trackpads can get a bit sticky over time or if you have sweaty hands. I suspect the fine texture on the Ploopy won't let that happen the same way.
I guess I should restate, I more so just meant I don't mind it being wired I actually just meant external. I'll edit my post but I'll have to check out the ploopy trackpad since you've praised it so much!
Ah yes, the - rubbing off microplastics with my own fingers directly into my room - device.
And thats ignoring the haptics and the hygene. Think of all your skin gunk that you're never getting out of those micro filament line rifts MMMMH tasty!
I'd never recommend buying a trackpad without a glass top.
if you're into hacky workarounds like i am; you can use an android as a trackpad.
my home server was also multimedia center as well as one point running kodi & plex and i setup x11vnc on it and an old android phone to act as trackpad so that i can channel surf with the phone that was already in my hand.
I used an Apple wireless trackpad with Ubuntu many years ago, maybe 10? I had to do some work to get it to recognize gestures but I don't remember what was involved. It worked great once everything was configured.
It's possible that support has improved over the years and it might work out of the box though I haven't tried recently.
Not sure how helpful this info is.
I don’t know anything about wireless trackpads, but I love my workflow with Gnome and I know it wouldn’t be doable if I wasn’t working on a laptop.
Using the keyboard just wouldn’t be the same.
magic trackpad is the best choice here. the first generation is powered by aa batteries and bluetooth only. the second generation uses a built-in li-ion battery and charges with apple's lightning port, and can do both bluetooth and wired usb. I have the second generation and use it wired. (mine's battery is dead so idk how well bluetooth works)
They're pretty simple USB input devices, so support should be pretty good. I wouldn't worry too much about which one you get, unless you are looking at something unusual.
If it's anything like mouse gestures, make sure to verify that it'll work in Wayland.
Typically, touchpad gestures (particularly multi-touch gestures) will work better on Wayland, because it has libinput.
That's good to know. I've been thinking of getting a trackpad, but I wasn't sure if it would work with Wayland, if controlling windows, sending keys depending on the window, etc. would work as it does with X11. I might get one, after all.