At the end of October Apple made another big splash and announced the new Apple Magic Mouse. As with most Apple product announcements, the internet world was abuzz with excitement. I have to admit that I succumbed to the hype and decided to buy one. I’m glad I did. This is one cool device.
All Just Hocus Pocus?
You may be asking yourself, what makes the Apple Magic Mouse magical? At first glance, one might be tempted to say “not much”. Wireless optical mice have been around for years and while the idea of having an untethered mouse may seem a bit astonishing, it is certainly not new. Additionally, the concept of “no visible buttons” has been a part of the Apple Mighty Mouse (now re-named as the “Apple Mouse”) for a while too. Even the updated laser tracking mechanism, which is very responsive on a variety of surfaces, isn’t necessarily the “ooh, ahh” feature of this device either.
Prepare To Be Amazed
What makes this device very unique, however, is how you interact with it. Apple has eliminated buttons and scroll balls in exchange for Multi-Touch™ - the same interactive touch technology made famous by their best-selling iPhone® and the iPod touch®. Almost like a detached laptop trackpad, nearly the entire surface of this mouse is touch sensitive. If you have ever picked up an iPhone and slid your finger across the screen to flip thru a photo library, you know just how cool and natural this technology can be. This mouse works like that. Want to scroll thru a document or web page? Just slide your finger up or 
down the surface of the mouse and, lo and behold, the page scrolls. Want to click on a link? Just press your finger down on the left side of the mouse surface. (Are you a lefty? Just re-configure the mouse using your Mac’s System Preferences and you can click on the right.) Want to make it behave like a 2 button mouse? There’s an app setting for that. You can also configure it to recognize a two fingered left or right swipes (a.k.a. gestures) to navigate back and forth between pages in a browser or a PDF document. Quite nifty.
Not All Smoke and Mirrors
Finally, like most other Apple products, this mouse looks great and is well-made. The touch surface is a completely smooth and is made of a highly reflective curved white plastic. The only item visible on the surface is the Apple logo (of course). The base is made of aluminum, which gives the mouse some heft and a feeling of sturdiness. Also attached to the bottom are two rails that lift the mouse slightly off the desktop and allows it to glide across the surface. These rails also surround and protect the on/off switch as well as the battery access panel (2 AA batteries are required).
Final Impressions
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. This mouse looks good, feels good in your hand and responds very well to all movement, clicks and gestures. As a long-time user of the Mighty Mouse, I do miss the ability to program the trackball/button to activate the Application Switcher in Mac OS X. I needed a day to adjust to the flatter shape and behavior of the new Magic Mouse, but the rest of the family (young and sold) began working with it immediately. I predict that this mouse will very successful for Apple and will generate a myriad of copy-cat devices. I would recommend this mouse to any Mac owner that is looking to upgrade to a wireless mouse.
Summary
| Pros | Cons |
| Very responsive. | Takes a little while to get used to the surface shape. |
| Great Bluetooth range (Apple claims 33 feet!). | No way (as of today) to activate Expose or the Application Switcher like the Mighty Mouse. |
| You gain a USB port on your Mac if you’re switching from a wired mouse | Somewhat pricey ($69). |
Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
The Apple Magic Mouse can be purchased from Best Buy,Amazon, MacMall and, of course, the Apple Store. For more product information, check out the Apple Magic Mouse product page at Apple.com.
UPDATE 1: After one month of use, I had to change the batteries in the mouse for the first time today. I would have hoped that they would lasted longer than this. I’ll be disappointed if this battery consumption trend continues.
UPDATE 2: There are a couple of things I want to mention and clarify in this update: My prior criticism of the Magic Mouse battery life may have been in error. I based that opinion on the batteries that were included with the device. Ever since I’ve replaced those batteries with a fresh set, I’ve found that the battery life of my Magic Mouse is much improved.
I also noted in my original review that I was a little disappointed to lose some of the functionality found in the wired Mighty/Apple Mouse (Expose, App Switcher, etc.). I am happy to report that I stumbled across a great little third party application called MagicPrefs that adds all those functions back and more. If nothing else, this application proves that Apple continue to build upon the functionality of the Magic Mouse with a software upgrade. If you’re a Magic Mouse owner and you wish to be able to program your mouse to do all the Apple intended it to do and more, check this one out!
The owners of this site were not compensated in any way by Apple for this review.
