Today, March 8, 2022, Apple released a new Magic Mouse. It’s a black version with a sleek appearance. It also retains its charging connector on the bottom, implying that Apple still believes that the best method to charge the mouse is to flip it over (which renders it unusable) and purchase a Lightning connect connection six and a half years after its release.
What’s New?
Here’s a lesser-known fact: I copied and pasted most of the final phrase from an article I published about a year ago on this exact issue when Apple launched a slew of multicolored magic mice with the capacity to change their loading behavior, but it didn’t.
In December, my former edge Colleague Nick Statt mocked the mouse’s design, saying that Apple is asking customers to “flip the device on its back like a bug with your legs in the air and plug in the cord,” as if it were a beetle with its legs in the air. I included a portion of this remark in my piece last year, and I’m including it again here since I still think it’s an excellent metaphor for how ridiculous it all appears.
What’s More?
The majority of rechargeable wireless mice allow you to plug them in while they charge, allowing you to use them while they charge. Apple, on the other hand, refuses to install a charging port anywhere other than beneath the Magic Mouse for whatever reason. The new Apple Pencil doesn’t need to be plugged into a Lightning connector to charge, and the new Apple TV Siri Remote includes a scroll wheel and a click pad instead of the old touchpad.
Apple also placed a couple of USB-C connections and an SDXC card slot on the front of the new Mac Studio. Rather than pushing them all to the background, Apple has recently shown a willingness to give users the ports they want in prominent locations (see also: the many ports on the new MacBook Pros). However, the Magic Mouse’s bottom charging port remains.
Digging In More Details
To be fair, Apple states that the Magic Mouse battery will “power your Magic Mouse for around a month or more between charges” on its website, so you won’t have to plug it in every week. However, in the past, I’ve used wireless mouse until their batteries were entirely depleted, then hunted for a charging cord so I could use them tethered for a short period while they recharged. I wouldn’t be able to do that with the Magic Mouse; I’d have to move it to the side when it’s resting on its back to obtain some more juice, and hope I have another mouse or trackpad lying around.
If you still want the black Magic Mouse despite the unpleasant charging scenario, you can get it now from Apple’s website – but keep in mind that, like the new black trackpad, it’s $20 more expensive than the white one.