Towards the end of October, Apple unveiled its new iMacs, complete with a new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad featuring a new USB-C port. Two weeks after that announcement, Linux kernel developer Callahan Kovacs has submitted a patch that will let you use the new Trackpad with Linux machines.
In the patch notes, Kovacs states that the new Trackpad is compatible with the existing Magic Trackpad 2 drivers but he has added code so that the new Trackpad with USB-C port shows up with a new hardware ID (0x0324).
The Linux 6.12 kernel is currently under active development but it is nearing its stable release, which is expected in a few weeks. Given this, we could see this latest patch land in Linux 6.13, if not 6.12, which is about 10 weeks away from release. If you want to try it out sooner than that and are tech savvy, then you could install the driver manually from GitHub.
The Magic Trackpad 2 USB-C is available on Apple.com for $149 in black or $129 in white. This model features a USB-C port and comes with a woven USB-C Charge Cable that lets you pair and charge by connecting to a USB-C port on your computer.
For those that have never tried it, the Magic Trackpad is similar to a trackpad you"d find on a laptop like a MacBook giving you gesture controls for your desktop computer. It features Multi-Touch gestures and Force Touch technology to boost the gestures you can use and it features a large surface area for maximum comfort and maneuverability. It even works with the Apple Vision Pro for activities like arranging apps in space or navigating complex spreadsheets.
While many people do not see the point of the Magic Trackpad, it does have adherents such as those with accessibility needs, so it"s nice to see Linux adding support for it relatively quickly.
Via: Phoronix