Chosen Solution
Issue: my trackpad works fine for about 30 mins of continuous use. Then it starts involuntary clicking on its own, mostly stuck on left click and zooms in and out. Basically, after 30 mins I no longer have control of the trackpad as it seems to be possessed. What i’ve Done so far: my friend who works at Apple said that’s it’s not a malware/virus issue and it may be a swollen battery or hardware issue. I took my computer to a local repair store where they checked for liquid damage, swollen battery, etc but stated that it’s completely healthy from a hardware perspective. They then thought it could be a software issue, so they updated to the latest software edition currently available. Unfortunately though, I got my computer back and the track pad still has the same issue. They did mention a RAM/SSD upgrade which would significantly enhance the speed of my computer but may also help with the trackpad issue. Apparently when the operating system is too advanced for my current ram setup, it could cause other problems. Does this sound legit? I just don’t want to pay $300+ and still be left with a broken trackpad
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Did you run CoconutBattery? I really need to see it to give you more. As to upgrading your system with more RAM or replacing the HD for a SSD, while you might want more RAM & faster storage that won’t fix your trackpad issue! Thats a Red Herring having you spend still more money needlessly here. FYI: Sierra or even High Sierra will support a 8 MB RAM based MacBook Pro unibody system. I don’t see this as a software issue nor is your system too old. If the battery is still healthy I think you’ll need to look at replacing the Trackpad. Here’s the IFIXIT guide to give you an idea whats involved: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Trackpad Replacement and here’s the needed part: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Trackpad But before we go here lets get the coconutBattery output to be sure. Update (03/28/2018) OK not good! The battery is on its last legs here you’ve pushed 910 cycles so you tend to run your system on battery quite frequently and you tend to run it to the bone, then recharge it. These deep cycles shouldn’t be done that frequently they tend to cause battery swelling. As an example my 2012 15" MacBook Pro is just on 50 cycles. I’ll admit I tend to run it on AC most of the time Vs battery. Once you get to above 600/700 you risk a swollen battery. Here’s a good reference: Determine battery cycle count for Mac notebooks You’ll see your systems battery is rated for 1000 cycles. So we’ll need to open the system to see if the battery is blistered even if not, I would recommend replacing it when you replace the trackpad as its so close to its end of life. Here’s the battery: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Battery
Happened to me just now. I’ve been using the same system for the last 3 years also have SSD and 16GB RAM since the day it was bought, I have 2000+ cycles but the battery is still healthy (Base on system information and the battery life duration is still fine). I noticed that the device’s heat causes the weird behavior of the trackpad. My temporary fix was to turn off the keyboard’s lights and lower the brightness to mitigate the power consumption + heat.
