It’s been nearly seven years since Apple released the Magic Mouse 2 - a vast improvement over the original Magic Mouse in several ways while maintaining the sleek, elegant look normally associated with Apple devices. It also came with its own rechargeable battery - a God-send over the first which chewed through a pair of AA batteries in no time.
Sadly, Apple lovers and critics alike jumped to hate on the product - all for pretty much the same reason. Seven years on they still do. And I agree - Apple releases some really beautiful products, but this mouse is not one of them.
What I don’t agree with, though, is the reason.
If your criticism of the design of the Magic Mouse 2 is the fact that the Lightning charging port is underneath the mouse and therefore rendering it unable to be charged while you’re using the mouse, congratulations - you just joined almost every single person who has something to say about it. Pictures of people having to have their mouse upside down or propped up by the cable emerged not long after its release. I have seen debates in community chats go on for literally hours over this one single point.
“It looks ridiculous!”
“I can’t do anything when the battery runs out and I have an urgent piece of work to finish!”
These are the two most common reasons I see for people putting the design down, but in reality both of these reasons are utter rubbish. For a start, anyone who knows anything about Apple knows that for several years they have been all about the minimalist, wireless experience. Remember that time when they ditched the headphone port on the iPhone and said “you’ll have to use an adapter, or get wireless headphones”? They removed the ethernet port from their Mac products too - get an adapter or… just use wireless. In the same vain, I’m pretty certain that if Apple wanted you to use their Magic Mouse with a wire, they would have released a wired mouse.
And whilst I don’t wish to offend anyone, if you’re claiming the battery runs out just when you need it and you’ve owned said mouse for longer than a month, it’s more likely the problem is you. The Magic Mouse 2 battery lasts on average at least 3-4 weeks on a single full charge, and so if you put the mouse on charge once a week overnight you will never, ever run into that issue.
Plus, it won’t look ridiculous… because hopefully you’ll be asleep!
The design problem with Apple’s Magic Mouse 2 - in my opinion anyway - is the ergonomic profile of the device. It’s so low that prolonged use hurts the hand of the beholder - although apparently there’s a knack to holding it that resembles more of a pinch than anything. I could never master the technique so I ended up resting the palm of my hand on the mouse itself - something that caused me much pain after just a few hours of use.
If Apple made a mouse that had the touch characteristics of a Magic Mouse 2, but the ergonomics of a more comfortable mouse (such as the Logitech MX Master 3 I use daily) I think they would be on to a winner.