Wireless interference

All Apple wireless input devices support Bluetooth, a well-defined standard. But in today's busy wireless environments, connections can become unstable and may drop out from time to time.

Here is Apple's official support document about this issue.

USB support for rechargeable Magic Trackpads

In case you can't get a stable Bluetooth connection, you can also connect your rechargeable Magic Trackpad with the provided USB cable directly with the computer.

Other devices which can disturb Bluetooth connections

Bluetooth operates on the free 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum as many other wireless devices do, like:

  • Wi-Fi networks.
  •  Mobile phone 3G / 4G / 5G.
  • Wireless DECT landline phones.
  •  Some Logitech or Microsoft keyboards and mice.
  • Wireless speakers from Sonos and other manufacturers.
  • Bluetooth headphones.
  •  Devices like computer monitors or microwave ovens can radiate wireless noise.

These devices can massively disturb the Bluetooth connection of your Magic Trackpad.

Note: Bluetooth connections are entirely handled by the Windows Operating System.
The Magic Utilities cannot control the actual Bluetooth connection parameters.

Symptoms

While your Magic Trackpad did work fine, after installing the Magic Utilities:

  • Mouse pointer movement lags, is erratic or jumpy.
  • Clicks are not or too late performed.
  • Bluetooth connection drops randomly.

Explanation

Without the Magic Utilities installed the Magic Trackpad transmits only little data when the mouse pointer moves or a click is performed.

The Magic Utilities switch your trackpad into full multi-touch mode where the trackpad is constantly sending large amounts of data as long as you touch, move or click the device.

The amounts of data transmitted wirelessly are about 100–1000 times higher, which makes the Bluetooth connection much more sensitive against wireless noise from other devices.

Note: On macOS the Bluetooth connection is more stable as macOS supports Bluetooth Adaptive Frequencies Hopping (AFH) which is by default disabled on Windows.

Solutions

Here a list of solutions which helped us and our customers.

Keep your fingers lifted

If you just want to move the mouse pointer, keep all your fingers lifted. In other words: Don't touch the white surface of your Magic Mouse. This keeps the amount of transmitted data to a minimum and helps to avoid mouse pointer lagging.

Remove unused Bluetooth devices

In Windows Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices, remove any paired Bluetooth device which you don't use any more. Select the device and click the Remove button.

Wi-Fi

In most cases, an existing Wi-Fi network causes wireless interference, i.e. you copy large files and the trackpad starts lagging. If possible, configure your Wi-Fi router to operate at 5 GHz only. Be aware that some older Wi-Fi devices do support only 2.4 GHz.

Other wireless keyboards or mice

Check if there are any Logitech mice or keyboards with their own USB Unifying or Logi Bolt USB receiver (dongle) nearby. Unplug the dongle and turn off the Logitech device to verify if it makes a difference. Also, check for other mice and keyboards (from Microsoft and other manufactures) which have their own USB dongle.

It might also make a difference if you plug in the USB dongle in a different USB port on your computer. On laptops use the other side, on desktops change from back to front and via versa.

Bluetooth headphones and speakers

Listing with your Bluetooth headphones or speakers can disturb the Magic Trackpad connection as the constant audio stream allocates much of the available Bluetooth bandwidth.

Either use an audio cable for your headphones / speakers or try to use a Bluetooth audio codec with higher compression rates in case you can configure your headphones / speakers (with a mobile phone app):

  • Choose "Priority on Stable Connection" instead of "Priority on Sound Quality".
  • Do NOT use a HD audio codec like LDAP or aptX™.

Disable every wireless source

Disable any wireless sources nearby. If possible, turn off the sender and receiver, i.e.:

  • Power off your Wi-Fi router and disable Wi-Fi on any computer.
  • Turn off all wireless speakers and their base station or media servers.
  • Turn off your Smart TV and a Chromecast receiver.
  • Switch your mobile phone into airplane mode.

Eventually, your trackpad should work flawlessly, and you can make a decision which device is more important for you.

Location change

Another option is to change the location of your computer. If you have a laptop, try your trackpad somewhere else to verify if it makes any difference.

Connect your Bluetooth antenna

In desktop computers, ensure your Bluetooth antenna is connected; otherwise Bluetooth signals are too weak for stable connections. Usually the Bluetooth antenna is part of the Wi-Fi antenna.

Try a different Bluetooth adapter

If nothing helps, a different Bluetooth adapter might do the trick. USB Bluetooth dongles are cheap, look for one with Broadcom chipset.

Make sure it is naively supported by Windows 10. Some adapters still need their own Bluetooth software stack, like BlueSoleil, which is not compatible with the Magic Utilities.

Note: Windows can use only one Bluetooth adapter at the time. Disable/remove any existing Bluetooth adapter before installing a new one.