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Apple has a chance to fix its worst product next year

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Magic Mouse next to a Mac keyboard on a desk.
kaboompics / Pixabay

Apple updated all of its Mac desktops in 2024, but left the worst part untouched: the accessories. In particular, we’re talking about the infamous Magic Mouse. The mouse has been dunked on for years at this point, often pointed to as an example of the worst of Apple’s design ethos. Despite all the positive changes to Macs over the past few years, the Magic Mouse has remained stagnant.

A new report, however, indicates that the Mac accessories will undergo a major change in early 2024. The Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse will reportedly all be moving to USB-C to match the latest iPhone, after having previously used the Apple-exclusive Lightning connection. This seems like an obvious change that probably should have happened earlier. In fact, it was even rumored to happen in time for the launch of the M3 iMac — but it didn’t.

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But if Apple changes out the port type and doesn’t fix the Magic Mouse, it will have been a serious wasted opportunity. Why? Well, the biggest design flaw in the Magic Mouse is its port placement. The horrible ergonomics and lack of other buttons isn’t great either, but if there was one thing I could change about the Magic Mouse, it would be the location of the charging port. With it being located on the underside, you can’t charge the mouse while using it, like most wireless mice. This might have been acceptable in 2015 when the Magic Mouse first came out, but in 2023, it’s embarrassingly outdated.

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So, if Apple is going to mess with the connection already, it would be a great time to give the Magic Mouse a redesign and at least fix the charging problem.

Systems engineer and hardware hacker, Ivan Kuleshov shared his results making a fix for Apple's Magic Mouse.
Ivan Kuleshov

Apple has redesigned and reengineered nearly every aspect of its Macs over the past few years, including the desktop options such as the iMac or Mac mini. Rumors aside, the idea that they Apple would still sell the Magic Mouse with all its problems feels more and more mind-boggling every year. As seen in the photos above, there have been homemade attempts to hack a better solution together — but we need a proper solution from Apple. If not, it’s going to continue to be a blot in its otherwise excellent Mac lineup.

So, Apple, please. Switching to USB-C is a good idea, but the Magic Mouse needs more than just that.

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Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen
Senior Editor, Computing
Luke Larsen is the Senior editor of computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
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