Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse revealed (photos) - Page 2

Um, you can program it to right-click.

Wow, the pics! AND the user manual! This is the biggest, most glaring leak we've seen in a long time out of Apple.

I can see where it could be used in saying "We have 12 Mighty Mouses in stock" but on its own it just doesn't sound right, especially in this context. Anyway, I thought the Mighty Mouse was supposed to be garbage. Is it worthy of a wireless version?

I don't think it's a leak more then a slip up as this was all posted on the FCC website.

There must be some people who naturally lift the left finger when clicking the right button. For those the MM will work great.

I just hope you guys are not in the majority because until this is fixed, the Mighty Mouse is useless for me (and many others I know, actually).

Can we click left and right at the same time, please? Not even click, just leave the finger on the mouse. Can't be that hard now, can it?

my 2 cents,

mighty sucks. i bought it stand alone when it first came out.
-im a sucker for Apple stuff.

anyway it was soon unplugged for my less pretty logitech, but ooh so much better to use.

And NOT sell their inventory of single button Bluetooth mice and drive off potential sales to competitors? Oh, I forgot, the regular MM drives people away too, for its peculiarities.


Yes, but the post you quote does say that but is objecting to the very fact that the user MUST raise their index finger a fair distance away from the shell to make it sense a "right click" as a "right click", or rather, call it a secondary button click. It's even more irritating when I switch it to left hand mode, ALL clicks are assumed to be secondary button if you use the index finger as the primary click, unless you raise your secondary button finger. For a mouse with better clicking, I rest my fingers on the shell, only putting enough force to click when I need it. I also usually like to only have to move one finger to make one action. Moving two fingers to make the same action is backwards.

That, the scroll ball's ease of jamming and the uselessness of the side buttons are the biggest things that I think Apple got wrong on the MM. Frankly, Apple can be such sissies about getting something that looks optimal to their school of design, at the expense of usability. Many times Apple is excellent for usability, for times like this, I think they get too caught up in themselves.

What I think Apple did get right is that a middle click has the same force as a primary and secondary click. Most scroll mice allow the scroller to be clicked, but the amount of force needed is about twice that of the other buttons. Another thing they did get right is that the side scrolling is proportional in motion and it involves the same force as vertical scrolling. Other side scrolling mice are only on-off buttons, and side scrolling involves a lot more force than vertical scrolling, there's no proportionality there.

I keep hearing this problem in regards to raising the index finger before right clicking. I was worried when work got me a new iMac (intel) that came with the mighty mouse -- I have had no problems using the mouse at work and didn't have to raise anything to apple a right-click. Maybe I am light-handed :P

This seems a bit difficult to understand for people who don't have the problem.

I always have the index finger on the left click button and the middle finger on the right button when I use the mouse. I never raise one of these fingers away from the mouse. I click by pushing one of those fingers down.

This does not work on the Mighty Mouse which expects me to raise my index finger away from the mouse before clicking down the middle finger to right-click. I thought it might be a matter of getting used to it, but for me personally, after two weeks of trying, I concluded that I am not getting used to it. There were just too many times when I wanted to right-click and something else - or nothing - happened. Which was annoying.

Luckily there's pretty damn good alternatives around, I really don't have to put up with this

Comments like yours constantly reaffirm why I love Apple's designs.

So when are they putting laser tracking in the standard Mighty Mouse?

I've a corded Mighty Mouse and a Bluetooth Mouse. I hate having to replace batteries every few weeks and the Bluetooth Mouse also weighs too much to skim around my desk even if aesthetically it's a lovely thing. Both aren't the best tracking mice I've ever had though. The MM wins only because you don't have the Bluetooth wakeup delay in tracking but both will seemingly randomly jump the pointer a couple of inches occasionally.

So, laser tracking - that's what I'm waiting for, in a USB version.

SWEET!!!
And it has laser tracking too!! W000T!

Obtrusive balls?

I'm one of the people who naturally lifts my index finger to right click....
But I admit that the mouse is really bad at playing games because you can't click both buttons at the same time, or you can't press each successively, you gotta wait for it to fully unclick then you can click with the other button.

Exactly my thoughts. It's a shame. It also renders the mouse almost useless in Maya, where you constantly use 3 mouse buttons in different combinations. Click and hold one button, click and hold a second button, release the first button... click a third. That kind of operation is simply impossible with Mighty Mouse because it only has one click mechanism. And when the click is registered it senses where your finger is on the mouse, this state is locked until you release the click and click again. Though it's good for most purposes, but it's wrong of Apple to market it as a pro mouse when it's not.

Yeah, I understand the MM criticism. I'm in the apparent minority who think it's great (and I snipe occasionally on Battlefield 2 on my PC with it too without a second thought) but then I have always naturally avoided interfaces where you have to play "chords" on the mouse buttons. In fact, I'm also such a trackpad fan that I like to avoid mice completely unless I'm in desktop mode.

My wishlist for making the perfect Mighty Mouse Mk.2:

• Bluetooth with ultra light iPod style internal battery, recharged via mini-Magsafe USB lead
• INDEPENDENT left and right "click" sensors
• redesigned side buttons so more people can use them without stretching
• Add a black model for the inevitable black iMac! Must have black cable.

The independent sensors is the key. At the moment as everyone knows, the whole top of the mouse is hinged as a "single button click" with a sensor on the right side of the mouse to determine which button to map this to. I propose keeping the same "whole mouse click" feel but with a sensor inside each side to pick up left and right, and make sure the scroll wheel has one too. Then if you need to left+right click say, just do it. The mouse will only make its little click noise and depress once, but the sensors will know what you want to do. Voila. The sensors are the key. And since only quite advanced mousers use buttons as prodigiously as this, the über design can remain the same regards the shell itself, which will feel just right to all those one-clickers out there and those of us like myself who just LOVE having a mouse without any goddamn ugly buttons on it!

You can buy it now ($69): http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/

Not available in Australia yet.

No, Steve is a time traveller from the future who for the last 30 years has released stuff that was really meant to be developed years from now.

Or UK yet. However, I rang my local Mac Accessory Pimp and I've one on order. I neglected to ask how much though. I'm such a fanboi! :-)

And I thought I saw my last rodent dissection when I was in high school...

Sure about that now? Last chance to change your vote!

So many comments on such an insignificant product. Only in Appleland.

I hope this doesn't become standard on desktops - it'd kill Apple's "take it out, plug it in, turn it on" thing - you'd need a spare KB/mouse to set it up, right?

Not if the drivers come pre-installed. Knowing Apple, they'd probably even include the batteries.

Still, that raises a question: why would Apple include an installation CD instead of just including the driver on the next OSX update? Perhaps the CD is required only for older versions of OSX?

To make it work w/ Windows??

When you set Mac OS X up it will set up any bluetooth mouse or keyboard before anything else if there is no USB keyboard/mouse plugged in.

This really isn't an issue. If Apple wants this mouse to work, it will work, including with Windows. Even on a new install.

No, I mean if Boot Camp doesn't have those drivers yet - or if they want to sell to an actual PC.

I'm not sure that you'd see Apple equipment being sold standard with a desktop PC - unless you were doing some serious customizing, but then you'd be having to install drivers anyway.

I'd imagine Boot Camp will include a patch for the new mouse on machines that include it. This is Apple after all - they're the best in the business for making sure that hardware and software work together seamlessly (something I discovered when I tried to download a driver for my printer when I first bought my Mac, only to find that it came pre-loaded with OS X). I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Actually, that's probably because CUPS project includes all those drivers by default. CUPS is what Apple uses for their printer system in OS X. Apple probably didn't need to do much to make it work.

That was in reference to MP3 players - my bluetooth keyboard is used for at least a couple of hours every day ands gets through only 4 batteries (one set) a year. Although - a chargeable system would be better - but more expensive.

Depends on the printer. Apple includes both CUPS drivers and also printer specific drivers for the most popular models. If you can use them, the printer specific drivers are generally better formed and have more useful utilities attached like printer tests and ink levels. The CUPS drivers are useful though for internet shared printer use.

Useful info. Thanks, Jeff and Aegis - I was wondering how Apple handled that.

Yes, it is insignificant in itself, but not when seen in context (that is in the Apple world). And it is Apple responsible for that, since it kept the one button mouse for so long, rightly or not.

New Mighty Mouse is OK though I think I'll stick with my trusty Logitech MX until they get that damn scroll ball sorted.

The first one I had was terrible and was gumked up and stuck within weeks. Second one, better. Third mouse has been great.

Gotta love that 12 month warranty.

Absolutely, I rang Apple today to complain about the scrollball being stuck still after I tried to clean it too many times, and by the time I got off the call after about 10 mins they agreed to send me on a New free wireless Mighty Mouse, and let me keep the wired one too. Woop! They said it's a once off thing, they always say that.


p.s. Wait for three weeks you'll see more comments from me complaining about another stuck Scrollball.

Where are my mouses?

Oh, cool.. <running off to check his warranty>