I love Apple’s new peripherals. The Magic Keyboard is a beautiful work of industrial design and surprisingly fun for typing. The Magic Mouse 2 looks the same as its predecessor, but it’s rechargeable. And that, I’m afraid, is a blessing and a curse.
After nearly two months of fun, my Magic Mouse 2 finally died over the weekend. I showed up to work bleary-eyed on Monday morning, and my computer told me to connect a mouse. My mouse was dead. “No problem, it’s rechargeable!” I thought. Then I remembered the all the tech bloggers (including this one) jeering about how the Lightning port is located on the underside of the mouse, so you can’t use it and charge it at the same time. This is a problem!
Back when I initially pointed out this issue with the Magic Mouse 2, Apple contacted me to note that the device could suck up a full day’s charge in just two minutes. This is not true. I did four two-minute charges throughout the course of the day, but the mouse just wouldn’t stop dying. In a sense, the need to constantly charge my mouse was a good excuse to go for walks and take coffee breaks. It was not good for my productivity.
I know what you’re thinking: If I weren’t such a dumb idiot, I would have charged my mouse once in the many dozens of days that it was sitting a foot away from my Lightning cable. I really should have. When you’ve worked with AA battery-powered accessories for years, you just don’t think about plugging them in. I doubt I’ll ignore the low battery alert on my Apple peripherals in the future.
This is all to say: Yes, that charging port on the bottom of the Magic Mouse 2 is problematic. No, you cannot charge it and try to use the palm of your hand as a surface for the LED light that steers the cursor. Yes, I’m an idiot. No, I’m not the only one.
Don’t forget to charge your fancy new mouse folks. It will ruin your day if it dies.
Photo by Michael Hession