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Apple's Magic Trackpad Is Here

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Apple desktops have touchpads now too. The new Magic Trackpad gives Mac Pro and iMac owners multitouch powers, gestures, and bluetooth connectivity.

The Magic Trackpad is basically a larger version of the MacBook Pro touchpad, with 80% more surface area for all your swiping and pinching. The entire surface acts as a button, so it's also a possible mouse replacement. And all of the expected gestures are here: two-finger scrolling, pinch to zoom, fingertip rotation, and three- and four-finger swipes. You can enable and disable gestures at your discretion from System Preferences:

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The Magic Trackpad also has the same design and angles as Apple's wireless keyboard, so putting the two side by side allow for pretty seamless switching back and forth. Or if you're the long-distance type, the bluetooth functionality allows you to operate the it from up to 33 feet away.

Like a few other Apple peripherals, the Magic Trackpad is battery powered—presumably a USB cord would get in the way of aesthetics. To that end, Apple's also outed their first battery charger, which comes with six AA batteries and boasts the lowest vampire draw of any "similar charger" out there. The batteries they ship with are designed to last for hundreds of charges, which should save you a few trips to the junk drawer.

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Apple's trackpad intentions been a bit mystery since that patent surfaced back in February, but after it cleared the FCC this month it was only a matter of time. It's available now, and will set you back $69. [Apple]