Just try, you will know what you want. There is no right answer. Pick one you love.

It'll be whatever works with you the best.

Am I the only one using a pen tablet? I make gestures with my left hand in my trackpad, while using the right hand as a mouse but better, and when you have to write, just grab the pen with your thumb (try writing something with a pen in your hand).

And in my wrist I have a bracelet with silicon inside to rest my hand (like those in the old mousepads)

As many of us described below it really depends on your personal preference, on the physical tools and softwares you use on a regular basis.

I had used MM for 4 years mostly for UI design. I never had a problem with it until I had to create some complex illustrations, and the pain in my neck was unbearable after a few days. The pain went away after switching to the MacBook's touch pad -- which can be pretty good, if you are not using multiple screens and have drawings/sketchbook in front of you all the time. :) I knew that I need a mouse.

Although I was afraid of the gamer look, since I switched to MX Master 2S I have no pain and it works like a charm, I don't even think about it -- compared to MM where I always had the feeling that I need to move a teeny-tiny product that does not fit in my palm.

The only thing I REALLY miss is the smooth horizontal scroll which is pretty lame on MX Master.

Mouse + external keyboard when I use a second screen. Otherwise, trackpad.

In my opinion, there's still no replacement for a Wacom tablet when doing heavy professional work. The precision and speed of a stylus+tablet leaves a mouse or trackpad in the dust. There's also a huge benefit for preventing repetitive stress injuries.

One drawback, you loose out on a lot of the cool gestures, but you can get those back by adding a trackpad on the other side of your keyboard. See MKBHD's pics for a demo.

For myself and my work style - I’m very heavily reliant on the keyboard and shortcuts, thus I find the keyboard is the most essential peripheral accessory.

I use the Microsoft Sculpt Keyboard: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboards/sculpt-ergonomic-desktop/l5v-00001

In fact, in Sketch I don’t have any icons exposed at all and execute most things through Sketch Runner.

I DO use both the Magic Mouse and Trackpad, which I find as critical.

In the design process (Sketch), the MM and TP are mostly for zooming and selection and the gestures are critical to my workflow.

Their lack of ergonomics I don’t find that troubling TBH - but, Apple keyboards...

That’s another story.

Whatever works best for you.

Whatever you prefer. Personally I'm using keyboard mostly (designing heavily with html/css) but when I need to open sketch, it's trackpad followed closely by mouse. Not the Magic Mouse (hurts my wrist) but a cheap USB microsoft one :D

Personally, I prefer a mouse when using design tools like Sketch, Figma, etc., but the Mac trackpad is more than sufficient for everything else.

For the mouse, I recommend using a big, ergonomic mouse like the Logitech MX Master. The Apple Magic Mouse is an absolute disaster from an ergonomic perspective. I have one sitting in my drawer for years now. Never could figure out how people use it without getting wrist pain within minutes.

It's a matter of what you prefer. I know I'm designing on trackpad for 5+ years now, and anytime I'm suggested a mouse (magic or regular) I just leave it there. I know I like the proximity of keyboard keys and shortcut close to my "designing' hand.

Magic Mouse works the best for me. A colleague of mine only uses Trackpad for all UI design works. I guess there's no one answer. Just try few different things then pick whichever you're comfortable with.