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It feels like Apple's technical prowess is finally catching up to the company's incredible designs. But if there's one product that still needs some love, it's Apple's computer mouse, the Magic Mouse.
For over 20 years, from 1983 to 2005, every computer mouse that Apple built just had a single button. It was simple, and reflected Apple's own design philosophies.
In 2005, Apple introduced the Mighty Mouse. This design had four controls instead of one, including a pressure-sensitive track ball.
Four years later, in 2009, Apple ditched the Mighty Mouse for the Magic Mouse. This was the first design to support multi-touch gestures on the mouse itself, and connected to computers via Bluetooth. It was powered by two AA batteries.
People weren't big fans of the Magic Mouse, though. While it had a gorgeous design, people complained about the inability to "middle click," and the fact it couldn't summon Expose, Spaces, or the Dashboard on the Mac like the Mighty Mouse could.
About five long years after the first Magic Mouse, Apple introduced the Magic Mouse 2 in October 2015.
Unlike the original Magic Mouse, the Magic Mouse 2 featured a rechargeable battery — no more AA's! It also had a Lightning connector, which was convenient since so many other Apple devices also use that cable. There was just one problem ...
... the Lightning connector was on the bottom of the mouse, making the device completely useless while it was charging.
On one hand, it makes sense that Apple hid the Lightning port. The company didn't want people using its beautiful wireless mouse like any old mouse, keeping it plugged in at all times.
On the other hand, the inconvenient charging location crippled the practicality of the Magic Mouse 2. Most people would rather have a functioning mouse whenever they need it, rather than wait for their mouse to charge to start doing work.
Apple says you'll get about two months of usage from a single charge on the Magic Mouse 2, which is nice, but the device takes two hours to fully charge. That's not great!
A great solution would be to build a mouse pad that wirelessly charges the mouse. For example, I have Logitech's wireless G903 gaming mouse and the Logitech G Power Play wireless charging mat, which keeps the mouse charged at all times. I never have to think about it.
So far this year, Apple has made a lot of customers happy: It announced a Mac desktop that professionals can get excited about, it emancipated the iPad from the iPhone's operating system, it added Dark Mode to the iPhone, and so much more.
But Apple's computer mouse still deserves some love.
Here's hoping Apple's next Magic Mouse, or whatever it's called, will feature intuitive controls and — more importantly — the ability to be used while charging.
