Apple's Magic Mouse charging port design has never been a big deal
The newly updated Apple Magic Mouse now has a USB-C charging port, but it's still on the bottom -- and that still doesn't matter.
Since 2015, you've charged the Magic Mouse through a port on its base
It's nine years since the Magic Mouse was first redesigned to be rechargeable instead of having removable batteries. And at the time, Apple's design and attention to detail were commended -- for the sound of the mouse.
From that day to this, though, the Magic Mouse design has been criticized and mocked for how apparently appalling it is that the charging port is on the bottom. It is seemingly an existential threat to mankind that you have to turn the mouse over for a minute.
Because that's the thing. It's a minute. If the mouse battery is so low that you cannot use it, just sticking that cable into the port for a minute or two will get it going again.
Go have a coffee and when you're back, the mouse will have been charged up enough to use for at least, at the very least, the rest of the day. Then leave it charging overnight and you can forget all of this for at least a month.
And that's the other thing. A month. The charge lasts for at least a month.
It does of course depend on how much you use the Magic Mouse. So maybe you are a very heavy user of it, maybe your work is genuinely so time-critical that you literally cannot spare two minutes to charge the mouse up.
If that's the case, the port on the bottom could be genuinely bad and inconvenient -- except for one thing.
The Magic Mouse battery does not die suddenly or quietly. If you are complaining that it's died just when you were on an absolutely crucial job, it's your fault for ignoring all the low battery warnings you have been getting for days and days.
Having that charging point on the bottom is not Apple's disastrously bad design, it's trivial. Keeping it on the bottom after changing the port is a shrug -- and USB-C might even speed up charging
Now, the iMac hockey-puck mouse, that really was Apple design at its worst.
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Comments
Doesn't matter how often or not it needs charging, still an awful way to do that!!
2.May the next model has wireless charging, and works on a wireless charging pad, then no more complain.
It is not the end of the world from a usage perspective but if this were a ground up design I'm sure the port wouldn't be where it is now.
Of course, it isn't a ground up redesign so they made do with what they had when they eliminated the replaceable battery space for a rechargeable battery. They're doing the same here with the port change. The law of minimal effort perhaps.
Mine is the battery version and the two black glide strips get very dirty. Having a port in the same area would also get clogged unless it comes with some kind of port cover (I don't know if it does).
The mouse itself isn't particularly ergonomic either so any ground up design change should seek to improve that too.
It’s a stupid design, period, full stop. Want proof? Every other mouse out there that needs to be recharged allows you to use the mouse while it’s charging. Only Apple, and Jony I’ve’s design team would have the mouse inoperable while doing a basic function. It also shows that there was no reason for this, this was a design CHOICE at the expense of usability.
I did not know that a "quick" charge would keep me going to EOD. So thanks for that. I'll have to look for notifications and try that next time.
My solution to date has been to plug the mouse in to charge and use an old battery version mouse to keep going while charging. The keyboard isn't a problem b/c I can plug it in and use it while charging. Hence everyone's comments about putting the mouse charging port on the front end to emulate a corded mouse so that it too can be used while charging. It may not be "a big deal" but for a company like Apple it seems like a missed opportunity.
Either way, I'll be ordering the new USB C version of both the keyboard and mouse so that I can finally ditch the lightening cables and move these last two Apple items to USB C.
The mouse form factor it uses is a finger mouse, where you use your thumb and pinky+ring fingers to move the mouse, and minimizes wrist and arm movement. It's been this way since the hockey puck mouse.
If you want a palm style form factor, there are obviously a lot on the market you can choose from. Same with keyboards. They aren't interested in filling any niches in the mouse and keyboard markets. There are a gazillion keyboard and mouse form factors. Like there are about 10 tiers of mechanical keyboards! Apple basically offers nothing in the mechanical keyboard market, just like the mouse market.
They just have a perfunctory offering in the style they like.
Wired mice are quite useful in scenarios with a KVM switch, or a shared station where someone comes over with their laptop, and plugs into a monitor with keyboard/mouse attached. A wired keyboard/mouse will work with whatever computer is plugged in. Apple automatically pairs their wireless keyboard/mouse when plugged in via USB.
The bottom line is that there is no functional advantage for having the USB port on the bottom, but there are advantages to having it on the back. This is simply an example of Apple choosing aesthetics over functionality.
I'm a solar junkie, so adding solar PV to everything is my default answer. 😇
...tech blogger somewhere.