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Linux Kernel Finally Nearing Support For The Apple Magic Trackpad 2, Thanks To a Google Employee (phoronix.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

Michael Larabel, writing for Phoronix: Apple announced the Magic Trackpad 2 almost three years ago to the day while the mainline Linux kernel will finally be supporting this multi-touch device soon. The Magic Trackpad 2 is a wired/wireless touchpad with haptic feedback support and is a much larger touchpad compared to the original Magic Trackpad. There unfortunately hasn't been any mainline Linux kernel support for the Magic Trackpad 2, but some out-of-tree options. [...] However, as seen by this bug report there have been plenty of people since 2015 interested in using the Magic Trackpad 2 on Linux. Fortunately, Sean O'Brien of Google's Chrome OS team has been working on Magic Trackpad 2 support with a focus on getting it mainlined. The patch, which was also reviewed by other Google/ChromeOS developers, is now up to its third and perhaps final revision.

52 comments

  1. Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Developers should pretend macbooks dont exist anymore. Without a proper keyboard, having to support for anything else in macbooks is futile

    1. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Stormwatch · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Without a proper keyboard

      These days, the only laptops with a proper keyboard are MSI's GT series. And by proper I mean mechanical.

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    2. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

      By that standard, developers should ignore ALL laptops. If I've ever seen a laptop with a full-sized keyboard, complete with properly sized and located arrows, an actual number pad, and all of the F-keys; I can't recall it. And if I could, I'd guess that I was mis-remembering or flashing back to a hallucination. The thing would be so wide as to be comical; and I won't even guess what its display's aspect ratio would be. And that's not even considering any potential Type-M snobbery wrt/ the superiority of the truly old-school clacky keys; which would also take up too much space in any laptop.

      Granted, coming from vi-land back in the day; the absence of a physical escape key if annoying. But it's one that would be irrelevant to the emacs and nano people...
      (Side note: Fsck you Ubuntu! When I open visudo, it should goddamned well open in vi, not nano. Yes, I know I can change that. But I shouldn't have to. It's even right there in the name of the command: visudo, NOT nanosudo! End of rant.)
      ... and the truth is, I've been all-in on Sublime Text for so long that my vi skills have atrophied such that I use a cheat sheet for tasks much more complex than minor and temporary config file adjustments. And, as one might guess, I use an external keyboard and trackpad when I'm desk bound anyway. So even having been a "vi > emacs" partisan in the past, the Touch Bar escape key impacts me fairly seldomly.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    3. Re: Who cares abour macbooks anymore by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      I'm looking at one right now. Dell Inspiron 3521.

    4. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is one : the Amstrad PPC640. I tried it decades ago rescued from a junk pile. What an ugly bitch! Very heavy even though there's no hard drive and that's without the batteries included (ten D cells). The power supply is a real brick. LCD is 640x400 CGA, such that it can display 640x200 graphics and simulate 320x200 grayscale.

      I think that even when released it was ugly and limited, though cheap for the standards of the day. But you could probably run vi on it if it fits on 720K floppy. It could have been a more successful PC if the LCD had been better - it's big enough and doesn't have a bad shape, but it's like Game Boy technology or worse.

    5. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have a look at the MSI GT80 and simillar still. It comes very close and yes, even with clacky keys.
      They put a touchpad on the keyboard's right, which illuminates and becomes a virtual keypad.

      The problem is, it has dual high end nvidia GPUs. One would be more than enough (no hope to get SLI working in Linux anyway)

    6. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 1

      I don't have many hard and fast office rules, but here's a soft one -- if your keyboard is loud enough to bother others, you will politely be asked to select a quieter, which will gladly be provided free of charge.

      By all mean, please do enjoy your unholy racket with its excellent tactile feel and whatever, wherever you like except not here.

    7. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bit behind the times there buddy. Mechanical keyboards comparable to membrane in audibility have been available for two decades.

    8. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      External full size
      mechanical keyboard

    9. Re:Who cares abour macbooks anymore by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      M7700 comes close. They weigh 17 tons, though.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not Windows. :RollsEyes:

    Iâ(TM)m not paying for drivers.

  3. This is offensive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Supporting Apple hardware offends me, so can we get this Google developer banned from Linux kernel development?

    1. Re:This is offensive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that you are offended by diversity means that you are indeed intolerant. I am not obligated to tolerate intolerance, therefore I feel fully justified in calling you a fascist, racist and can publicly shame you for your blatant discriminatory practices with impunity. If you protest against my enlightened stance I shall call for a boycott of you, your company and your company's products until they agree to your immediate and justified termination for such obvious bigotry. How dare you! I shall then punch you in the face and a put a video of the event on Twitter as a global call to action for the sisterhood against all such deplorable fascists and patriarchs.

    2. Re:This is offensive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's absurd. The Sororitas are clearly outmatched by the primarchs and the Anathema Pskyana hate things that shouldn't exist like more than two genders and purple hair.

    3. Re:This is offensive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if he is a Republican. Or rude.

  4. I like my original Magic Trackpad by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Took a few days to adjust to it, but for most tasks I strongly prefer it to a mouse.

    Now the second-generation Magic Mouse, on the other hand... what idiot creates a mouse with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery but puts the charging port on the underside so you can't charge it and use it at the same time?! Seems typical of Ive's recent work - all about looks, practical considerations aren't even an afterthought.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      on the other hand... what idiot creates a mouse with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery but puts the charging port on the underside so you can't charge it and use it at the same time?

      An idiot with courage of course!

      ---

      And in before all the people who write me off as an Apple hater, I have an iMac, MB Pro, iPod nano, iPhone X and have had apps in the App Store. Idiotic design is idiotic no matter who does it and should be called out as such.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    2. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > so you can't charge it and use it at the same time

      I don't recall ever needing to charge and use a magic mouse at the same time. Charge it for like an hour and it lasts a month. Plug it in when you step away from your desk to go get a cup of coffee and by the time you get back it'll have enough juice to get through the rest of the day.

      The location of the charting port is pretty fucking dumb, though.

    3. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry; your status as an apple user has no bearing on this case.
      The self appointed apple police that frequent this site have all ready notified the proper apple authorities.

    4. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, this is a non-functional design. I know it takes just a little bit of time to get some juice but why put the plug on the bottom?

    5. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My gaming mouse has the charge points in the same place, so apparently more people than you'd think. (And if you wondering what a "gaming mouse" is, it's a regular mouse that has extra buttons on it. It's useful for certain types of games.)

      Of course the idea is you return it to its charging cradle when not in use, and you can also plug a USB cable into it directly where you'd expect the charging port to be to charge if you want to use it while it's charging.

      Which would be great if it worked in that mode, but there's a known bug that causes the cursor to fly wildly around the screen when charging from USB, meaning that the only way you can charge it is in the cradle, making it effectively work just like the stupid 2nd gen Magic Mouse...

    6. Re: I like my original Magic Trackpad by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      I'm going to point out up front that I'm not defending the design.

      That said, I do not think the design is an accident. If you can't use it while it's plugged in, that's serving some aesthetic or practical purpose. I suspect that there are two reasons:

      - Ive thought it was ugly
      - Nobody will unplug it if you can use it while it's plugged in, so it's not wireless. To force people to encounter it as a wireless device, it must be unplugged. This may be important to remind people that a port need not be used up to support the mouse.

      Apple rarely does this sort of thing by accident. You may not agree with the decision (I don't), but it's hard to believe that they designed it and only realized after that it was impossible to put the charging port somewhere better.

      If you're critical of Apple, this is a much more damning takeâ"someone actively made the decision to sign off on this weird design, and it's unclear what additional design goals are achieved by this configuration. As a piece of design work, it's purposeful but incoherent. A pity, since most people I talk to that have it like it when it's not flipped over and charging.

    7. Re:I like my original Magic Trackpad by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

      Took a few days to adjust to it, but for most tasks I strongly prefer it to a mouse.

      Now the second-generation Magic Mouse, on the other hand... what idiot creates a mouse with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery but puts the charging port on the underside so you can't charge it and use it at the same time?! Seems typical of Ive's recent work - all about looks, practical considerations aren't even an afterthought.

      Oh I know, I know!

      The same company that removes the headphone jack from their phone so that you cannot easily listen to headphones and charge it at the same time!?

  5. MacBooks? I always used mine with a desktop by raymorris · · Score: 3, Informative

    I always used my Magic Trackpad 2 with my desktop. Never used it with a MacBook. When I DO plug in my MacBook at my desk, I also use my preferred keyboard. Why use an external trackpad and not use whatever keyboard you want, Bluetooth or USB? I'd think that if one added another trackpad, they'd also add their preferred keyboard.

    1. Re:MacBooks? I always used mine with a desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      do you have a preferred pronoun to go with your preferred keyboard?

    2. Re:MacBooks? I always used mine with a desktop by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      It's funny... I have a relatively big monitor, full-size keyboard, and ethernet adapter (plus a Magic Trackpad) on my desk at work. But, when I sit down at my desk and open up my MacBook Pro, 90% of the time I just work using its own keyboard and 13" monitor. At least half the time I don't bother plugging in the ethernet adapter, unless I'm going to be doing some sort of heavy-duty file transfer activity - our wifi is pretty good, and and I'm generally using ssh anyway (plus we have a VPN available).

      I still use the Magic Trackpad, most of the time. I like its size, and I like that it's not under my wrists when I'm typing and "mousing".

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:MacBooks? I always used mine with a desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still use the Magic Trackpad,

      I still use my iPhone 6s and reduce my monthly bill from $80 to $50. As a phone and a video camera, the iPhone 6s isn't obsolete and I use it to make my videos on youtube. As a Sprint very special customer for 20+ years, Sprint will always give me a new iPhone for free if I decide to stop using the 6s as a phone in the next several years.

      I have a hearing loss in one ear, so my audio will always be suspect. I use a Zoom H2 audio recorder with a pop filter 12" away from my mouth, Audacity to clean up and normalize the audio, and sync the audio to the video and apply a "voice enhancement" eq to the audio in the video editor.
      --
      Forget Night School for G.E.D., Go To Community College for Associate!

    4. Re:MacBooks? I always used mine with a desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always used my Magic Trackpad 2 with my desktop. Never used it with a MacBook. When I DO plug in my MacBook at my desk, I also use my preferred keyboard. Why use an external trackpad and not use whatever keyboard you want, Bluetooth or USB? I'd think that if one added another trackpad, they'd also add their preferred keyboard.

      I doubt any mac user would run linux over their beloved AppleMagic pixidust OS.
      Also Linux still doesn't support fairy dust, sparkles and fruity stuff.
      I guess you could use a rainbow wallpaper in Linux.

      There is a reason the old Apple logo was a rainbow colored Apple... Fruity rainbow.

  6. Do Asus Aura Sync next please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's more important.

  7. Life is complete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is nothing more required on earth now that the magic trackpad 2 is supported on linux. I can now be at ease knowing there is nothing else wrong in the world

  8. Tragic Macpad? by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't you mean the Tragic Macpad?

  9. Either Apple Mouse or Low Latency Kernal Switch by BrendaEM · · Score: 1

    No, I would rather have a single line for low-latency kernel for real-time applications such as recording your music and milling parts for the things you like.

    Right now, a kernel has to be compiled with setting switched on, needlessly bifercating distros.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
    1. Re:Either Apple Mouse or Low Latency Kernal Switch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do realise that many distros support multiple kernels, right? So if the standard kernel doesn't do it for you, see if one of the alternative kernels does. Now since distros can support multiple kernels, needing a kernel specifically compiled to support low-latency, does not need to lead to a whole new distro to let you have that option.

  10. Third version. I wish they hasn't taken that out by raymorris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Speaking of the new Code of Conduct, I notice this article says this is the third version and they are hoping this version will be good enough to make it into the kernel. The old CoC used to address that. The (very short) CoC said that your code probably will be sent back for revision, the first time and probably several times. Don't take it personally, that's part of quality for the world's most used kernel. Rarely does anyone get it just right on the first try, being completely up to the expected standards of the kernel. So don't take offense, just do the suggested improvements and submit again.

    If someone wanted to go into detail about what it means to not be a jerk, fine. Even if you want to say it's extra bad to be a jerk to someone who happens to have whatever kind of genitalia, fine. I wish they hadn't removed the old wording about code reviews being about the code, it's not friggin personal. I had my code sent back probably five times, until eventually we found an all-around better way of doing it, along with getting the details just right. I'm pretty sure that had nothing to do with my genitalia or complexion since few people know what my complexion happens to be, and even fewer have seen my genitalia. They just know what I write about, and in my professional circle never written about the struggles of being X in America.

    A couple times on Slashdot I've mentioned some particularly nasty and insidious racism targeting my family, but few Slashdot readers work on the projects I contribute to. Heck, even on Slashdot those who guess about my demographics mostly guess wrong, and therefore post some hilarious accusations. Apparently I hate my own family, according to one or two utter morons on here.

    With these new codes of conduct that are popular lately, I find it odd that apparently I'm supposed to figure out the sexual proclivities of everyone, in order to know who to be extra sensitive to. I don't know the gender, race, or sexual interests of most of the people involved in projects I work on, because why would you even bring that up? It's irelevant. "Here's a patch to rsync to copy device files byte-byte. I'm a hairy male who enjoys other hairy males". Doesn't make any sense to me why that would be part of the software development process.

  11. Therefore.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    expect a firmware update from apple soon to make the trackpad incompatible with the driver.

  12. Re:Third version. I wish they hasn't taken that ou by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure that had nothing to do with my genitalia or complexion since few people know what my complexion happens to be, and even fewer have seen my genitalia.

    "I have a dream that my four little programs will one day live in a kernel where they will not be judged by the complexion of their genitalia, but by the content of their code."

    That said . . . Magic Mouse support is fine . . . but where's the support for my Magic 8 Ball . . . ?

    "My sources say no."

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  13. And? by alantus · · Score: 1

    Why is this even here?

  14. Bluetooth or hub? by raymorris · · Score: 1

    I found that if I have to plug in four different cables to dock I do so much less often than one cable. My keyboard and mouse are Bluetooth, so there are no cables - set the laptop on the desk and the mouse and keyboard are already ready to go.

  15. Re:Third version. I wish they hasn't taken that ou by alvinrod · · Score: 1

    I find it odd that apparently I'm supposed to figure out the sexual proclivities of everyone, in order to know who to be extra sensitive to. I don't know the gender, race, or sexual interests of most of the people involved in projects I work on, because why would you even bring that up? It's irelevant.

    If you have no technical ability or merit but want to throw your weight around it's kind of hard to do that without something to suggest that some animals are more equal than others.

    Doesn't make any sense to me why that would be part of the software development process.

    People who can accomplish no good of their own often try to claim some special status or greatness through innate characteristics because it's all that they have. It's just as idiotic and reprehensible when it's because of sexual orientation or gender identity as it is when it's due to their skin color or national heritage. We've already seen well enough where this type of thinking leads in the instances of the latter cases, and the rhetoric espoused by those today who take pride in the former doesn't lead me to believe that they'd be much different were they to obtain similar levels of power.

  16. Sensei by raymorris · · Score: 0

    Rather than a pronoun, you can call me:
    Teacher
    Master
    Sensei
    Coach
    Professor

    Any of those will do. :D

    I kid, but recently I've been called Sensei, and I kinda like it. I *do* take on the role. At least, I'm a senpai. I wouldn't claim to be dai-sensei.

    1. Re: Sensei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's not talking about you, dipstick. He's talking about your keyboard.

    2. Re: Sensei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now now, be senseible.

    3. Re: Sensei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the 300lb neckbeard weeaboo.

  17. Mainlined. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Including more shit that 99.999999% of the world will never use into your os by default.

    Yay microsoft! er.. LINUX!

    1. Re:Mainlined. by Shikaku · · Score: 1

      Uh, that's what drivers are. Most of the code in drivers never get touched or processed unless needed in ANY kernel, and drivers are a large part of everyday general kernels by design for hardware compatibility, but don't do anything because not everyone has every piece of hardware. If space really was a concern, Linux can be compiled manually to have only the drivers you want.

      In other words: you're just posting because you think it adds something bad or is a waste of time, but in reality you don't know what you're talking about, and it means people waste less time and be less frustrated by adding it.

  18. Even when you're TOLD it's a joke by raymorris · · Score: 1

    People miss jokes, but that's pretty I'm impressive that you missed the fact it was a joke even when I explicitly said I'm kidding.

  19. What about the Magic Mouse 2? by xjerky · · Score: 1

    That also does not work properly under Linux. I have the first version which works pretty much perfectly on ChromeOS.

    --
    A sentence you'll never see on an Internet discussion board: "You know what? You're right."
  20. Penis drippings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lick up your own smegma.

  21. Was this coded inclusively??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it hasn't been coded by a person of color e.g. black, latino, womyn, LGBT, muslim or other oppressed person get it out of the kernel.

  22. The most noteworthy news by ReneR · · Score: 1

    NOT. Also, who would want to use this latest low quality strangely designed and glued Apple devices? Even the 1st magic mouse I did not like due to being too heart w/ batteries, and having sharp aluminium edges that scratched my fingers, ..!

  23. Patents? by Baby+Duck · · Score: 1

    Will all the gestures/options be supported? Does Apple protect any with patents, thus cannot be ported? (Or even offered by another piece of hardware) You laugh, but look at all the silly mobile device UI patents all the Big Players engage in.

    --

    "Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins