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I Hacked the Magic Mouse

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Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#21

Post by Brajeshwar »

First, I’ve small hands. I started with the Mighty Mouse[1]. The current Magic Mouse is comfortable for my usage. The Mighty Mouse (Wireless) was the perfect one.

I tried one of those Magic Mouse “enhancements” (2009-2010) -- a white silicon contraption -- that sits atop the mouse. It was handy, and I used it for a while. I eventually got used to the mouse in its form and stopped trying any modifications.

I have tried the Master Series from Logitech, and I like them but don’t use all the functions. I like the simplicity of the Magic Mouse.

Charging - I do it once in 45 days, or when it complains — leave it charged -- have tea, walk/run, or read. Charging was never a problem, and I believe everyone else making a lot of noise about the charging is just overblowing it. If you remember to leave it charged overnight, it needs no charging for the next month or so.

1. https://cdn.oinam.com/img/oinam/brajeshwar-apple-mighty-mous...

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#22

Post by giobox »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #21

First, I’ve small hands. I started with the Mighty Mouse[1]. The current Magic Mouse is comfortable for my usage. The Mighty Mouse (Wireless) was the perfect one. I tried one of those Magic Mouse “enhancements” (2009-2010) -- a white silicon contraption -- that sits atop the mouse. It was handy, and I used it for a while. I eventually got used to the mouse in its form and stopped trying any modifications. I have trie…

The Mighty Mouse size was nice, but not sure it was worth the constant hassle of cleaning the tiny track ball of whatever microscopic dust mote blocked it from working again and again - every single Mighty Mouse I ever owned would regularly jam up and be a pain to unjam. No other mouse I've ever owned or abused has had a button or wheel stop working, ever.

I do miss the distinctive "click" Apple mice of this era made a lot though.

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#23

Post by lakpan »

shepherdjerred wrote: post #13
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use AA batteries.

It'd be hard to fit AA and even AAA in the profile of the Magic Mouse. The obvious response is that the mouse should be thicker to accommodate those batteries, but that goes against Apple's entire ethos.

[dead]

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#24

Post by presbyterian »

GlumWoodpecker wrote: post #3

As a hobby project: cool. But as a solution to a problem, how about not supporting companies that make ridiculously overpriced products with hugely deficient functional designs? Apple consistently makes products that work worse than their competitors', for quadruple the price, but, hey, I guess they "look nice". ...which is subjective, personally I think Apple products look absolutely atrocious, with half of screen r…

> Apple consistently makes products that work worse than their competitors’, for quadruple the price

This is also subjective. Personally, I find Apple products to work far better than the competition. I have to use Windows every day at work and I find the experience miserable, and I’ve had 3 different Android phones and always find myself returning to the iPhone.

As for the price, Apple products do cost a bit more, but quadruple is quite the exaggeration. Comparable ultrabooks to the MacBook Pro (Dell XPS line, ThinkPad X1) aren’t massively far off, and they’re made of plastic, not aluminum, which makes a difference in durability in my experience. As for mobile, the iPhone is priced in line with other high-end smartphones like the Galaxy and Pixel lines.

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#26

Post by RulerOf »

softskunk wrote: post #2

i think i recall reading somewhere that apple designed the mouse in the way they did in order to prevent people just leaving the mouse on charge 24/7 and hence not using its wireless capability while negatively affecting the battery. i’m not saying i agree with apple’s decision, but i find the perspective interesting.

I'd go a little farther than that—I suspect that they were worried a chunk of users would assume the device required the cord for normal operation.

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#27

Post by jonhohle »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #21

First, I’ve small hands. I started with the Mighty Mouse[1]. The current Magic Mouse is comfortable for my usage. The Mighty Mouse (Wireless) was the perfect one. I tried one of those Magic Mouse “enhancements” (2009-2010) -- a white silicon contraption -- that sits atop the mouse. It was handy, and I used it for a while. I eventually got used to the mouse in its form and stopped trying any modifications. I have trie…

The Mighty Mouse is almost the perfect mouse, IMHO. Its two flaws are 1) (as the sibling comment pointed out) how the scroll ball accumulates junk and is impossible to clean without cutting open the mouse and the implementation of the side buttons.

Having a first party Apple mouse with real middle click support is awesome. The multi direction scrolling has become a mandatory mouse feature for me. The size and weight are fantastic. For those that have used it, and don’t know, the nearly haptic tic while scrolling is an internal speaker which provides great feedback (especially when the rollers get stuck and the clicking stops so you known it’s time to clean the ball).

I find the Magic Mouse uncomfortable, it has no native middle click, no side buttons. Its best feature is that it fixed the scroll ball.

I finally broke down and bought a new, old stock Mighty Mouse a few months ago. The scroll ball feels so smooth.

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#28

Post by imwally »

numpad0 wrote: post #16
shepherdjerred wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be hard to fit AA and even AAA in the profile of the Magic Mouse. The obvious response is that the mouse should be thicker to accommodate those batteries, but that goes against Apple's entire ethos.

1st gen MM uses 2xAA. Apple even had a branded NiMH bundle for that and keyboard.

Still use this one every day.

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#29

Post by Retr0id »

I think there's already a solution: flat-flex QI charging pads, like this one: https://www.mobilefun.co.uk/iphone-lightning-qi-universal-wi...

I don't endorse that particular listing, it was just the first one in my search results. It has a QI wireless power receiver, and a right-angled lightning connector. The intended usage is to plug it into an iPhone and put a case on top - but I think it'd work just fine on the bottom of a magic mouse. You could put the power transmitter under the mouse mat and never worry about charging ever again!

I haven't tried this so maybe there are practical reasons why it's a bad idea. Has anyone tried it?

Re: I Hacked the Magic Mouse

#30

Post by cwalv »

softskunk wrote: post #2

i think i recall reading somewhere that apple designed the mouse in the way they did in order to prevent people just leaving the mouse on charge 24/7 and hence not using its wireless capability while negatively affecting the battery. i’m not saying i agree with apple’s decision, but i find the perspective interesting.

Being able to charge it while in use might extend the life of the mouse past the life of the battery
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