How to simulate "right click" in Apple MacBook Pro

Solution 1:

You should be able to fine tune the behavior of your track-pad with the System Preferences panel (see Mouses, TrackPad and Keyboard).

If it's not enough, then you should have a look at Better Touch Tool. (It's free)

Solution 2:

As you already discovered, 2-finger tap on MacBook's trackpad is equivalent of a right mouse click. You'll get used to 2-finger taps very quickly.

Also holding ctrl while clicking simulates right click, but again - requires a second hand (doable with one, but not too convenient).

It's worth noting that OS X Lion is full of multitouch gestures - two, three and four finger swipes that do magic. I suggest you get familiar with gestures by accessing System Preferences > Trackpad.

Solution 3:

You can activate a secondary click ("right click") by holding down control and clicking. In Lion (10.7), you can use System Preferences to configure the trackpad to use the two-finger tap, or either of the bottom two corners of the trackpad as secondary click areas. I don't have a Snow Leopard machine near me to verify what options are available in that version of the operating system. If your Macbook Pro supports multitouch (your description of the hardware sounds like it is not the latest generation, and I don't know how old yours is), there are third-party add-ons like Better Touch Tool that give you more options.

Solution 4:

To repsond to your updated question of adjustment - I find that the two finger tap is more natural when used in conjunction with the two-figure scroll gesture. That way, your right click and your scroll are the same fingers, and you have to spend less time trying to get the right number of fingers on the trackpad.

To enable the gesture (if you haven't already) just go into System Preferences -> Trackpad & check the box to enable it.