Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Apple has a chance to fix its worst product next year

Luke Larsen
By
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.

Recommended Videos

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 This might have been acceptable in 2015 when the Magic Mouse first came out, but in 2023, it’s embarrassingly outdated.

Related

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
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.
AMD needs to fix this one problem with its next-gen GPUs
The RX 7800 XT graphics card with the ReSpec logo.

AMD's current-gen graphics cards have been a revelation. Last generation, AMD was able to hit performance parity with Nvidia while sacrificing ray tracing performance. This generation, AMD is maintaining parity while getting closer in ray tracing, as showcased by GPUs like the RX 7900 GRE. But the next frontier of gaming is rapidly approaching, and AMD's current options aren't up to the task right now.

I'm talking about path tracing. Nvidia calls it "full ray tracing," and it's a lighting technique that can take gaming visuals to the next level. Path tracing is only available in a small list of titles right now, but with frame generation and upscaling tools better than they've ever been, it won't be long before we see these destination gaming experiences everywhere.
Player two in path tracing

Read more
Why gaming on the M3 MacBook Air has left me impressed
Baldur's Gate 3 being played on the M3 MacBook Air.

Upon getting the new MacBook Air M3 in my possession, I had one major question: Can you play games on it?

That might sound like a silly first thought for a laptop of this type. After all, it's not marketed as a gaming laptop -- it's an incredibly thin, fanless laptop. Not exactly something even meant for any high-performance tasks.

Read more
The MacBook Air M3 has one change that fixes its biggest flaw
The screen of the MacBook Air M2.

With surprisingly little fanfare — no spring event this time — Apple has dropped an update to the MacBook Air a bit sooner than expected. The incredibly thin MacBook Air 13- and 15-inch models both received updates to the Apple Silicon M3 chipsets, but that's not all.

There's one surprising new feature in the mix that could make a big difference in purchasing decisions: support for multiple monitors with the display closed. As this was the major complaint of the previous MacBook Air, this change is a pretty big deal. While it still supports only a total of two screens, it's a positive change for those that want to connect to two large, external monitors for work.

Read more