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Apple Magic Mouse Review
12.13.09 11:30 AM Filed in: Apple Reviews
Apple might have a reputation for making the best computers in the world, but their mice have been a Britney Spears disaster. Who can forget the infamous “hockey puck” mouse that shipped with the G3? The Pro Mouse that limited users to a single button? With the sting of the constantly-cloggable Mighty Mouse scrollball still fresh in many Mac users minds, Apple has some convincing to do.
The Bad
This is not an ergonomic mouse. The profile of the Magic Mouse is half as high as it should be. My first response was disappointment. The first night I used it, my wrist was hurting. I was worried that it would give me carpal tunnel syndrome.
That worry has since been alleviated, as I’ve been using it for weeks. You eventually adapt to the shape of it. I’ve actually found myself throwing it in my gear bag to bring with my Macbook, because it’s easier and more precise than the touchpad for Photoshop work. This is a mouse that you will learn to love, despite that negative first impression.
I put the Magic Mouse through the best test I could think of - a game of Zuma's Revenge. This fast paced game is a real test of any tracking device, because it requires you to play as fast as you can think. The Magic Mouse failed this test miserably. Both The Dude and I were both failing levels we could knock out on my Logitech Revolution MX. Alas, the shape is the Achilles Heel of this mouse. Turning the tracking speed up on the mouse helps quite a bit, but for twitch games you’ll want to reach for a more traditional Mouse.
The Good
This mouse makes a much better impression in person that it does at the Apple Store. There's something about being able to use it at the height you normally sit at that makes it much easier than hunching over a table. Getting the touch features to work required a driver update, though it worked out of the box without the scrolling functions.
The “magic” features of this mouse are full of win! The surface scrolling is smooth as silk. I give it top marks. Ditto with the forward and back functions. It’s very hard to go back to a conventional scroll wheel after using this mouse. It's a shame that the low height destroys the rest of the experience.
The Technobabble
It will be very interesting to see the evolution on the Magic Mouse from this point. Right now the features are basic, but one assumes that more are coming. There are already Snow Leopard hacks, which you can download here, to enable middle clicks by using three fingers on the mouse. The trackpad evolved to recognize four finger gestures for features like exposé, and one will hope the Magic Mouse will eventually incorporate zoom, twist, and reveal desktop.
Many users lamented the lack of the side buttons to use exposé. Many see the inability of the Magic Mouse to use this function as a step backwards. Right now, you can use the aforementioned hack to assign any function you wish to a three finger click. GeekGal appreciates the effort, but will wait for Apple to add this function legitimately.
Battery life for this mouse is unremarkable. My first set lasted about three weeks before needing to be replaced with heavy use. Connecting via Bluetooth is painless. When I close my Macbook and take it to a coffee shop away from the Magic Mouse, it disconnects with no issues. When I bring it back home, it reconnects as easily.
Conclusion
We’ve addressed some strong concerns about the Magic Mouse, but have no doubt - flaws and all, this is still the best mouse Apple has ever released. The multitouch functions will probably be adopted across the entire industry. If you can get past the unergonomic design, you will find a mouse that excels at everything else.
The Dude’s (incredibly negative) Perspective
Some people actually like Britney’s Spears’ music. Some people like coffee ice cream, which is non-sensical to me - you take this sweet light wonderful stuff and add something bitter and nasty and icky to it.
Some people like the Magic Mouse, but I can’t stand it. It gets me killed in Zuma, because there’s a delay. It confuses and torments me because it sends the cursor flying in all sorts of weird unexpected directions. Pages disappear off my screen and websites zoom up and down, text gets too small to read or so big I feel like I’m trying to read a novel on a billboard. And I don’t know why.
In one undocumented magic mouse incident, a crevice opened in part of my apartment and a giant tentacled monster emerged. Oh noes!!!!!
I hate this “mouse”. It hurts my hand. I can control it no more than I can stop my puppy from destroying my house. If you want suck, you want the Magic Mouse.
This is not an ergonomic mouse. The profile of the Magic Mouse is half as high as it should be. My first response was disappointment. The first night I used it, my wrist was hurting. I was worried that it would give me carpal tunnel syndrome.
That worry has since been alleviated, as I’ve been using it for weeks. You eventually adapt to the shape of it. I’ve actually found myself throwing it in my gear bag to bring with my Macbook, because it’s easier and more precise than the touchpad for Photoshop work. This is a mouse that you will learn to love, despite that negative first impression.
I put the Magic Mouse through the best test I could think of - a game of Zuma's Revenge. This fast paced game is a real test of any tracking device, because it requires you to play as fast as you can think. The Magic Mouse failed this test miserably. Both The Dude and I were both failing levels we could knock out on my Logitech Revolution MX. Alas, the shape is the Achilles Heel of this mouse. Turning the tracking speed up on the mouse helps quite a bit, but for twitch games you’ll want to reach for a more traditional Mouse.
The Good
This mouse makes a much better impression in person that it does at the Apple Store. There's something about being able to use it at the height you normally sit at that makes it much easier than hunching over a table. Getting the touch features to work required a driver update, though it worked out of the box without the scrolling functions.
The “magic” features of this mouse are full of win! The surface scrolling is smooth as silk. I give it top marks. Ditto with the forward and back functions. It’s very hard to go back to a conventional scroll wheel after using this mouse. It's a shame that the low height destroys the rest of the experience.
The Technobabble
It will be very interesting to see the evolution on the Magic Mouse from this point. Right now the features are basic, but one assumes that more are coming. There are already Snow Leopard hacks, which you can download here, to enable middle clicks by using three fingers on the mouse. The trackpad evolved to recognize four finger gestures for features like exposé, and one will hope the Magic Mouse will eventually incorporate zoom, twist, and reveal desktop.
Many users lamented the lack of the side buttons to use exposé. Many see the inability of the Magic Mouse to use this function as a step backwards. Right now, you can use the aforementioned hack to assign any function you wish to a three finger click. GeekGal appreciates the effort, but will wait for Apple to add this function legitimately.
Battery life for this mouse is unremarkable. My first set lasted about three weeks before needing to be replaced with heavy use. Connecting via Bluetooth is painless. When I close my Macbook and take it to a coffee shop away from the Magic Mouse, it disconnects with no issues. When I bring it back home, it reconnects as easily.
Conclusion
We’ve addressed some strong concerns about the Magic Mouse, but have no doubt - flaws and all, this is still the best mouse Apple has ever released. The multitouch functions will probably be adopted across the entire industry. If you can get past the unergonomic design, you will find a mouse that excels at everything else.
The Dude’s (incredibly negative) Perspective
Some people actually like Britney’s Spears’ music. Some people like coffee ice cream, which is non-sensical to me - you take this sweet light wonderful stuff and add something bitter and nasty and icky to it.
Some people like the Magic Mouse, but I can’t stand it. It gets me killed in Zuma, because there’s a delay. It confuses and torments me because it sends the cursor flying in all sorts of weird unexpected directions. Pages disappear off my screen and websites zoom up and down, text gets too small to read or so big I feel like I’m trying to read a novel on a billboard. And I don’t know why.
In one undocumented magic mouse incident, a crevice opened in part of my apartment and a giant tentacled monster emerged. Oh noes!!!!!
I hate this “mouse”. It hurts my hand. I can control it no more than I can stop my puppy from destroying my house. If you want suck, you want the Magic Mouse.