Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Apple ’s Magic Mouse was always an assume taste . It looks quite adorable and offers some neat , merriment gestures , but you ca n’t help feel that , as with most of Apple ’s mouse over the years , minimalism has been achieve at the disbursal of usability .
Best Prices Today: Apple Magic Mouse
The Magic Mouse 2 , Apple ’s follow - up to 2009 ’s original wireless Magic Mouse , is the default black eye that Apple ship with some of its desktop Macs .
Magic Mouse 2 review: Design and build quality
Looking at the Magic Mouse from the top , nothing seems to have changed since the original Magic Mouse 1 was released six years ago . It has the same pure livid , reflective gloss culture , with the Apple logotype unobtrusively picked out in light grey at the end closest to you . ( Since the design is otherwise symmetrical , with no physical release markings on the exterior , this is really crucial in enabling you to carry the Magic Mouse 2 aright . )
The top surface feel smooth to the touching and provides little resistance when nobble a fingertip to set off one of the gestures that the Magic Mouse swallow , although it is n’t quite as whisper - smooth as the delicious matt surface of the Magic Trackpad 2 .
For exterior differences you postulate to thumb the Magic Mouse 2 over . You ’ll notice at once that the battery casing seen on the underside of the original Magic Mouse has been removed ; this is because the Magic Mouse 2 has a rechargeable electric battery . ( We discourse the rechargeable battery and the somewhat controversial charge process in the next section . )
Read next : Which is the good computer mouse for Mac ?
A second but less obvious alteration lies in the two black plastic runners that the mouse rests on , which now taper to a full breaking ball or else of an asymmetric full point . I ca n’t seem to account this by rights , so just look at the photo below :
Magic Mouse 1 ( left ) and Magic Mouse 2 ( correctly )
More significantly , Apple has used a different material for the runners , and say the “ optimised foot design ” upshot in “ a legato , ranking glide with less resistance ” ; and while it ’s hard to accurately compare the suaveness of our six - year - old Magic Mice – whose rails are almost uniformly gummed up with years of desk grime – with this brand - fresh review sample distribution , the new material does seem importantly good at glide around on the desk . This is also helped by the new computer mouse being a little lighter : 99 guanine , equate to 109 g for the Magic Mouse 1 ( including batteries , of course of study ) .
One last difference that ’s apparent on the underside of the new mouse : the Apple logotype here is now black ( to couple the plastic rails ) rather than off - white . in person I call up it looks a spot chic , but you ’re seldom going to see it .
Magic Mouse 2 review: Charging and battery life
The rechargeable bombardment is a slap-up melioration on the previous Magic Mouse modelling , with its ever - pop off battery and fiddly electric battery compositor’s case , but there ’s a caveat : for some understanding – presumably somebody need to keep the seeable areas of the merchandise gratuitous of complications – the port for the charging cable system ( stock Lightning cable , bundled with the merchandise ) has been hidden away on the bottom of the mouse . This means you take to shore up the mouse up on its side while charging , and lose the option to conduct on using it as a pumped computer mouse when the barrage pass out .
( As my colleague Simon Jaryputs it , “ three cheerfulness for cease that bloody backplate falling off , but a big moan for not thinking right about where to put the Lightning cable time slot ” . )
Handily , the Magic Mouse 2 comes with a Lightning cable ( lead ) that you may obviously conjure into table service when charging iPhones and iPads ; less pleasingly , it has to lie down on its side to be charged ( right )
It is worth pointing out , however , that the Magic Mouse is a very fast - charging twist : while a full charge ( two hours of charging ) should be dear for a calendar month of distinctive usage , Apple claims that just one hour of charging will deliver up to an hr ’s worth . The tight - charge feature means that if you do find yourself powerless in the middle of a crucial work session , you’re able to secure in for as long as it submit to go to the loo or make a cup of tea and then carry on . It ’s not a dealbreaking problem , then , although I still concord with the legion carper who regain this an vex design element .
One final matter about the turn on frame-up that I find very mildly vexatious : there ’s no charging brightness level , nor does the machine make a disturbance when plugged in . This is a small problem , but an occasionally troubling one ; if you ’ve got a snarl of cables bourgeon from your Mac ’s general neighbourhood ( not an idealistic scenario , admittedly , but I ca n’t be the only one ) and grab one that is n’t actually secure in , you may not realise your misunderstanding for a while . We ’ve all been there .
( You do get some indication that you ’ve stop up it in correctly , because a dialog box pops up upon initial connexion to permit you know a tuner pairing has been achieved . But this does n’t reappear when you plug it in subsequently . )
Magic Mouse 2 review: Setup
This wo n’t take long , because setting up the Magic Mouse does n’t either : only plug it into your Mac via the append Lightning cable , and a Bluetooth connection will be established almost instantaneously . We found this summons fast and flawless .
( It ’s not fussy about the Bluetooth standard you apply , incidentally , although we ’ll look at system requirements in more astuteness later in this article . )
Magic Mouse 2 review: Gestures & other features
The Magic Mouse 2 enables you to control your Mac with a assortment of Multi - Touch gestures , which is cracking . Less great is that fact that the set of gestures is the same as we had on the Magic Mouse 1 , six years ago . You get no Modern gestures – and noForce Touchfor that matter .
For those who have n’t used a Magic Mouse , here ’s a taste of what you may do :
( See also : motion to use with a Mac computer mouse or trackpad )
You also only get two mouse buttons , same as before . ( Some PC exploiter might be surprised we even get that many , I suppose . ) This is reasonably stock , of line , but sight of us have been thwart by third - party mice with multiple easily customisable buttons , and may chance this a whole tone down .
Magic Mouse 2 review: Which Macs are compatible with the Magic Mouse 2?
Like the other Magic - branded computer peripheral , the Magic Mouse 2 requires a Mac execute the late adaptation of Mac OS X : El Capitan . This strikes us a small restrictive , but then again , it is afree update : this mean that a immense turn of Macs , dating back to 2009 or thereabouts , will be able to work with the Magic Mouse 2 if their owners are unforced to make some computer software raise .
You also require Bluetooth , but unlike the Magic Trackpad the Magic Mouse 2 does n’t demand Bluetooth 4.0 . Any reading of Bluetooth will do , apparently .
For more detail on the Magic peripherals ’ system requirements , seeWhich Macs lick with the Magic Trackpad 2 , Magic Mouse 2 , and Magic Keyboard ?
Magic Mouse 2 review: Where to buy
With Apple mathematical product we tend to recommend buy straight from Apple ’s web site . you could jump directly to theMagic Mouse entry in the Apple Store ; at time of writing it ’s listed at $ 79/£79 .
Verdict
The Magic Mouse was always an acquired taste . It looks quite endearing and offer some corking , fun gestures , but you ca n’t help oneself feel that , as with most of Apple ’s mouse over the eld , reductivism has been accomplish at the expense of usability .
It ’s too savourless — and sleekly harmonious — to fit comfortably in most hands ( which further impacts the effectiveness of the more modern gestures , which are difficult to actuate when you have n’t got a confident grip of the mouse ) , you only get two mouse buttons , and it ’s all too easy to grab it the wrong way around when you ’re not look .
You do get a perceptibly smoother action on the tabular array , mind you , and a rechargeable battery is an admirable stone’s throw forward , even if the locating of the charging port is irritating — not disastrous , thanks to the quick - charge feature article , but definitely get at .
