Latest macOS 12.1 Beta Appears to Fix Intermittent 'Tap to Click' Issue

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of macOS Monterey 12.1 to developers for testing, and while the much-anticipated Universal Control feature is still not enabled, the latest beta does appear to resolve an issue with the "Tap to Click" trackpad gesture.

macos monterey trackpad system preferences
Since the release of macOS Monterey earlier this year, some users have reported that the "Tap to Click" trackpad gesture would intermittently fail to work. The issue appears to have affected a variety of Macs, ranging from the M1 MacBook Air with a built-in trackpad to an Intel-based iMac paired with a standalone Magic Trackpad.

Following the release of the fourth macOS 12.1 beta today, several users across the MacRumors Forums and Reddit have indicated that they are no longer experiencing issues with "Tap to Click" after updating to this version.

"Tap to Click" can be enabled in System Preferences under Trackpad > Point & Click, allowing users to tap with one finger to click.

macOS 12.1 should be publicly released before the end of the year, with a key new feature being SharePlay, which will allow users to watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, and share their screen with friends and family on FaceTime calls. SharePlay is already available on iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, and tvOS 15.1.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
apple unsold web store

Retail Accessories Apple Won't Sell You Now Available via New Site

Friday January 30, 2026 8:46 am PST by
A newly surfaced resale operation is seemingly offering Apple Store–exclusive display accessories to the public for the first time, potentially giving consumers access to Apple-designed hardware that the company has historically kept confined to its retail environments. Apple designs a range of premium MagSafe charging stands, display trays, and hardware systems exclusively for displays in ...
Apple Creator Studio

Apple's Next Launch is Today

Tuesday January 27, 2026 2:39 pm PST by
Update: Apple Creator Studio is now available. Apple Creator Studio launches this Wednesday, January 28. The all-in-one subscription provides access to the Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage apps, with U.S. pricing set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. A subscription to Apple Creator Studio also unlocks "intelligent features" and "premium...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils First New Products of 2026

Monday January 26, 2026 1:55 pm PST by
Apple today introduced its first two physical products of 2026: a second-generation AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch. Read our coverage of each announcement to learn more:Apple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and More Apple Introduces New Black Unity Apple Watch BandBoth the new AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided...

Top Rated Comments

Westside guy Avatar
55 months ago

tap-to-click, the feature for the people that like accidental input.
I've been using it for roughly two decades - accidental clicks have never been an issue.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
8CoreWhore Avatar
55 months ago
Finally...

Attachment Image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ramallite Avatar
55 months ago
To be clear, the "tap to click" problem appeared to have been part of a wider problem with the trackpad. Below is the report I sent to Apple last week. I haven't downloaded the latest beta yet, but I hope it fixes all the problems I described below, not just tap-to-click.

--

• Tap to click with one finger: erratic, sometimes need to tap 2-3 attempts for the tap to register.

• Scrolling up or down with two fingers: Seems to be fine.

• Swipe between full-screen apps with four fingers: When swiping to the *right*, it frequently swipes to the *left* screen instead, or starts to swipe to the right but suddenly bounces back to the original screen. When swiping *left*, however, it acts correctly every time. This indicates that swiping to the left with 4 fingers is correct, but swiping to the right sometimes registers as swiping to the left.

• When swiping down with 4 fingers for App Exposé, it frequently bounces back to desktop mid-way through the action. When swiping *up* with 4 fingers for Mission Control, it often takes 2-3 tries to reverse back to the desktop. This indicates that swiping *up* with 4 fingers seems to register correctly, but swiping *down* with 4 fingers actually registers as a swipe *up* some of the time.

• Pinch with thumb and three fingers for Launchpad: Will often end with Mission Control instead (again, incorrectly registering as a 4-finger swipe *up*).
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VSG Avatar
55 months ago
Hooray!

How many missed clicks I’ve had with Monterey … and using press to click actually drains the the trackpad‘s battery much faster.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
55 months ago
Memory leaks? ProMotion? MagSafe charging?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kasei Avatar
55 months ago
Wow. I thought my trackpad was broken.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)