William Gallagher
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.
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.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
45 Comments
Can anybody tell me how many rechargeable mice are left plugged in all the time? I think the old mouse with AA batteries had to be put in more frequently than a month. You can check the battery level and you get the low battery notifications. Why not put a calendar event to remind to charge every so often? How about putting it on charge before you leave for your weekend? I don't understand why all the hate for the port where it is.
The Apple Apologist in full effect. If that was ANY other company that did that, you'd be talking about how bad of a design it was and who in the world would put the charging port on the bottom of a mouse so that you can't use it while it's charging.
Doesn't matter how often or not it needs charging, still an awful way to do that!!
William, thank you, thank you! I use a Magic Mouse at home and a MX Master at work. I have NEVER used the MX Master while plugged in. If it needs to be charged, I do it when I leave the office/desk for the day and let it charge over night. Part of Apple's "brand" is the aesthetics, and hiding the charging port on the bottom so it cannot be seen on a regular basis, is definitely on brand. I just have never understood the countless posts, articles, and videos that have been made over it. 🤷🏼♂️
1.For the old mouse, after you realize that it is out of battery, then you go to find the spare batteries (if you don’t have to go to buy it) and change it, it may has enough time to charge the rechargeable model to work for a day.
2.May the next model has wireless charging, and works on a wireless charging pad, then no more complain.