Apple’s Magic Mouse Review
Make a wish. If you were to wish for the perfect mouse, what would you wish for? A few weeks back after purchasing a Mac Book Pro I started thinking it would be good if, instead of a mouse for a desk computer you could have a mouse pad that was similar in nature to the mouse pad on the Mac Book Pro. With the launch of the Magic Mouse, it appears someone else, probably in California, was having a similar thought.
So what is wrong with the previous Apple Mighty Mouse? Well I can sum it up in two words – Sticky Balls! I do not believe I am alone in having to very frequently clean the small tracking ball from the top of Apple’s mighty mouse to enable it to scroll up and down web pages. A minor frustration in the scheme of things, but still a frustration.
Anyway, enough of the past and back to the present and the rather slick Magic Mouse. I ordered mine at the start of the week and it finally arrived today, apparently at the same time the device is becoming available in Apple retail stores here in Australia. Boxed in a sturdy plastic case, the device is soon unwrapped and switched on (batteries are included) and synced via bluetooth to my iMac. However, to get the most of the Magic Mouse touch features a visit to apple.com is presently required to download the latest drivers. When OS X 10.6.2 is released in the very near future the need for this step will be removed.
Once the new driver is installed you can start making use of the mouse. With a lower profile than the old Mighty Mouse a slightly different grip is used, but easily adapted to. Two ’slider strips’ on the base of the mouse remove friction between the mouse and the mouse pad so the pointer easily glides around the screen. The mouse settings enable tracking, scrolling and double-click speed to be set, although I did find that the tracking speed, even at its fastest setting, is not as fast as the old Mighty Mouse. On checking a few forums I see I am not alone in this thought and it’s even been suggested visiting http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12205 may help users squeeze some more speed out of their Magic Mouse.
In addition to having the looks of a cutting edge piece of technology, the touch sensitive top of the mouse certainly delivers compared to its predecessor. A swipe of a finger up and down replaces fiddling about with the tracking ball and will certainly eliminate the sticky ball problem! Using two fingers and swiping from side to side will enable you to page through web pages and multipage documents – but does require a bit more coordination (but not quite as much as replicating the Star Trek “live long and prosper sign). You can also configure the mouse to have a right click option.
The mouse is still a young edition to my desk top so I am adapting to it and presently I am finding that the force used to actually click it is a bit on the heavy side. Hopefully it will loosen up with use (or I’ll get used to it).
If Apple are looking for more wishes to improve the mouse further, here is one. Rather than having to actually click the mouse, it would be great if it could simply be tapped twice like on the Mac Book Pro’s – okay – maybe I am getting a bit lazy..!
Marks out of ten based on my initial use of the mouse would be 8/10. Hopefully further enhancements, such as the ones mentioned above will be implemented by Apple through future software updates. Nonetheless, anyone with a sticky ball problem is probably as well to upgrade now!
The Apple Magic Mouse retails for AUD$99, GBP£55 or USD$69.
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I had hoped that the new Magic Mouse would have the same functionality as my old (but still in use) Kensington ADB “ThinkingMouse.” Although there is no scroll wheel, the four symmetrical buttons give me six programmable clicks. For me it’s the best time saver since learning how to type.
With the Magic Mouse, I had envisioned a touch surface that could, since it knew where your finger was, be programmed for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 buttons and yet still have vertical and horizontal scrolling. The Kensington ‘MowseWorks’ software has had that functionality (6 buttons + scroll) for years now, but no touch surface mouse, or even a mouse that even resembled the old ThinkingMouse.
Apple now has a touch surface mouse but, Alas! no proper software to take advantage of the mouse.
@Barbarossa,
One thing to remember is that Apple will be able to add functionality to Magic Mouse via software updates. Nevertheless, I am completely satisfied with MM so far – just had it since Friday. I’m starting to get the hang of the two-finger side swipes and find it very useful. I’m sure after a week or so under my belt, I will be totally acclimated.
Thanks, Jony Ive and crew, for creating another masterpiece.