Converting Internal MacBook Trackpad to External USB Trackpad

I was able to turn my old MBP keyboard/trackpad into a functioning USB device after seeing the YouTube linked above. I had a 2008 MBP with a different board layout. I looked carefully at the tiny traces and found DP, DN, 5VO, and poked around to find ground (it wasn't hard - you can see the ground-plane floods on the board).

Here's what mine looked like, and it works great - both trackpad and keyboard, including the special keys like brightness, play/pause, volume and mission control (on a Mac). [ edit - the trackpad does NOT work on linux incl RPi, but the keyboard does ]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xi8sumh4anKHZc...

FYI, the solderpoints are TINY and you need a steady hand to avoid hitting any components -- it was not easy and I definitely needed a magnifier and tweezers.

Hi, has anyone managed to do this? I’d like to try myself

I got a macbook but forgot the password how can i fix

I got a hold on the new style of trackpad (started in 2016, I think) and the board schematic for a matching macbook pro. It looks like they moved to SPI for the trackpads, so I think you’d need to add another controller to convert it and at that point I don’t think you get the driver support.

Here’s some info for anyone that wants to pick up from here.

Interesting chips on the trackpad:

• BCM5976C1 - There’s 2 and I think this is the digitizer and I think it’s i2c
• STM32F103C8I6 - Arm Cortex-m3, capable of USB but IO is software controlled I think

Here’s the pin out for the trackpad connector on the logic board (I think you can ignore the KBD stuff since the keyboard uses a different connector):

1. SMC_LID
2. SMBUS_SMC_3_SCL
3. SMC_PME_S4_WAKE_L
4. SMBUS_SMC_3_SDA
5. SMC_ACTUATOR_DISABLE_L
6. KBD_INT_L
7. TPAD_SPI_INT_L_CONN
8. KBD_I2C_SDA
9. GND
10. GND
11. TPAD_SPI_MOSI
12. KBD_I2C_SCL
13. TPAD_SPI_CS_L_CONN
14. KBD_BLC_XBLANK
15. TPAD_SPI_MISO
16. KBD_BLC_XBLANK
17. TPAD_SPI_MISO
18. KBD_BLC_GSSOUT
19. TPAD_SPI_CLK_CONN
20. KBD_BLC_GSSCK
21. PP5V_S4_TPAD_CONN
22. KBD_BLC_GSLAT
23. SMC_VIBE_L

then everything else is power or ground (5v, 3v, 0v - active gnd, 12.6v on a fuse)

Hi guys,

I also looked for info about this mod

I would like to do this on the touchpad and keyboard of a 2011 macbook pro 17.

Were you able to do it?

Hi guys

I got a 2011 macbook air (a1370 model) and want to do the same.

My connector and board look a little bit different. Anyone got ideas if this is feasible with my device or how to figure it out? Thanks!

looks like there is a kernel driver for the spi based touchpads, but would still require you to get the unit attached to your spi bus

https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/lin...

The keyboard and trackpad on recent MacBook's (since 8,1) and
MacBookPro's (13,* and 14,*) are attached to an SPI controller instead
of USB, as previously. The higher level protocol is not publicly
documented and hence has been reverse engineered. As a consequence there
are still a number of unknown fields and commands. However, the known
parts have been working well and received extensive testing and use.

this may also be a good resource as it appears to be drivers for every trackpad version, but I believe assumes it is in an apple device

https://github.com/imbushuo/mac-precisio...

https://github.com/cb22/macbook12-spi-dr...

Converting a MacBook A1278 trackpad to a USB device is possible but highly complex. It uses a proprietary 22-pin SPI/I²C interface, not USB. You’d need a microcontroller (like Teensy or Arduino), firmware, and a breakout board. It’s not plug-and-play and requires reverse engineering. For most users, a Magic Trackpad or external USB trackpad is a simpler solution.