iFixit Tears Down Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2

[SirCheese]

Aside from novelty, the iFixit website is getting tiresome. Nobody buys these things thinking they are a long term investment and will get decades of use out of them. Also LiIon batteries do not have the problems of old NiMH batteries so the chances are that you will burn through the life of a LiIon battery and want to change it is minimal.

Also Apple should just offer free replacements if these things break down, which I would assume is an odd and infrequent reality. I mean the price Apple charges for their products, you should get at least 2 free replacements and Apple still makes a huge profit.

There is nothing more meaningless then someone who has a career tearing down a keyboard and giving it a repairability rating.

I think someone complaining on a forum about what other people do is more meaningless. Just sayin.

 

[Arsenikdote]

And now iFixit have an article for those people.
Still not understanding the vitriol aimed at iFixit. Your mentioning of them trying to "remain relevant". It's just bizarre to me. It's a specialist site offering specialist information. What other interests that others might have do you dislike?

Edit: I've racked my brains but the only thing I can come up with regarding disliking teardown sites is that it encourages people with broke tech to repair it instead of buying new (because some people are really into companies like that).

It seems a bit unreasonable calling something "tiresome" equates to "the vitriol aimed at iFixit" but I guess to each their own...

Maybe people who are into marketing are more annoyed than those that are not? Like someone else said, teardown can be cool to see what is in the inside of something. iTearDown? Cool. iFixit? Meh. It just seems like a marketing ploy to give a mouse a repairability rating. Of course it is consistent, but I was merely saying I can UNDERSTAND why it could be "tiresome". Low audience numbers. Talking about the "new thing" with very little real world application. Etc....

Personally I have a lot more patience and it doesn't bother me near as much, but I totally could understand how it could seem "tiresome". But I guess if someone believes calling something "tiresome" equates to "vitriol", it could be way more offensive and maybe they just don't have quite the tolerance or patience level. I apologize for being too "hasty" with my judgement of iFixit.

 

[SSD-GUY]

I suggest you use it. It's a joy to type on.

I hope I enjoy it too, as I'm waiting for next years skylake redesign, and if they've got a desktop keyboard like this, I'm pretty sure the redesigned laptops are going to feature it too.

 

[kds1]

iFixit is nothing but teardown porn at this point. No need to take apart a keyboard, mouse and trackpad. Get real. But this guy is an idiot anyway.

 

[AleXXXa]

I agree the Lightning cable is placed inconveniently -- the only justification I can think of is at least it has 2-minute fast charging for 9 hours of usage.

In a few years you'll charge it for 30mins and you'll get 1 hour of usage. 😀

 

[AleXXXa]

I’m still wondering what ‘9 hours of use’ actually means. Is that 9 hours of standby or 9 hours of use in the real world?

Knowing Apple, it means: 9 hours if you're watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, 4-5 hours of real world use (like browsing, photo editing) and 2-3 hours of hardcore gaming (not that a gamer would ever use that mouse for gaming lol).

 

[garylapointe]

They're actually Bluetooth 3.0 devices. It's Apple who states they're only for Bluetooth 4.0 devices.

Something isn't right there... And doesn't make sense...

I only saw Apple listing the Magic Trackpad as requiring 4.0.

Are there people with non-4.0 bluetooth macs (without an adaptor) using the Magic Trackpad?

Gary

 

[Thunderhawks]

If iFixit was sticking to things like computers then the person's comment about it getting "tiresome" might fit what you said in your post. But when they tear down equipment that you aren't going to upgrade, then the only possible reason is for repair. This is what feels "tiresome" to the poster. Who is really going to repair their mouse or trackpad? Sure, there are people out there. But maybe 10% of the people who buy a Mac would open it up and change out hardware. Most of the people who like to build computers build Windows or Linux boxes. Out of the Mac 10% who do open up their Mac, how many are going to open up their trackpad and replace a battery or sensor? Again, maybe 10%? I don't know a single person who has opened up a mouse to swap a battery. I only know 1 person who has opened their iPhone to change the battery and then wished he hadn't spent the time/money because he replaced it 6 months later. So when you are looking at 1% or less of a user base, it gets "tiresome" when it is treated like "cool news". They are trying to remain relevant and they are making themselves less so.

Speaking of "tiresome", I kind of feel that way about this long post of mine....maybe I should just delete it....naw.....whatever 😉

You are right on. Since most people don't tinker in their machines or accessories every day the first time is a learning experience and half the stuff one wrecks. There are weird what seems one time connectors , taped down wires, heat posted items etc. etc.

It takes a lot of time to learn n the ins and outs of different models.
Anybody who ever cracked open an MBP has to admit that it is amazing how they squeeze all these components in there.
While I have saved a few Macs for friends I think it is just easier to buy the smaller accessories and leave everything else to the pros, except HDD/SSD and memory chips.

 

[commander.data]

You can check out the Bluetooth capabilities of all the macs here: http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_...uetooth-different-bluetooth-capabilities.html

I'd assume that while the magic mouse and keyboard are backwards-compatible with Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, the trackpad might need that extra data rate of the Bluetooth 3.0 spec to support force touch. Since Apple never released any Bluetooth 3.0-only macs, the only macs that support Bluetooth 3.0 are the macs that support Bluetooth 4.0 and later. They can just put Bluetooth 4.0 on their requirements list and call it a day.

http://www.broadcom.com/products/wireless-connectivity/bluetooth/bcm20733

Yes, but the new, improved HS data rate is optional in Bluetooth 3.0 devices and devices that support it should say Bluetooth 3.0+HS. In this case the BCM20733 chip specs in the Magic devices only mentions EDR and not HS. So if Apple does require something in Bluetooth 3.0 that Bluetooth 2.1 doesn't have it doesn't seem to be data rate.

 

[SSDGUY]

Yes. If you ignore several days of "low battery" warnings, you will sit down and wait for two minutes while you build up enough charge to last eight or nine hours. Then you'll plug it in overnight to get a full month's use, and you'll promise yourself not to run it down to zero again in the future.

You don't actually have to sit down for those two minutes. For at least one of them, you can stand up and walk around so your Apple Watch doesn't nag you about not reaching your goal of standing up for a minute at least once an hour.

Yup. It takes me about a minute to swap batteries and reconnect my current apple mouse, and this happens at least once a week. Occasionally getting it to reconnect takes quite a while. Not sure what all the fuss is about, other than folks like to fuss.

 

[nutjob]

The "magic" is how the devices magically become useless after a couple of years of use due to the batteries wearing out, unless you give Apple more money.

 

[nutjob]

Aside from novelty, the iFixit website is getting tiresome. Nobody buys these things thinking they are a long term investment and will get decades of use out of them. Also LiIon batteries do not have the problems of old NiMH batteries so the chances are that you will burn through the life of a LiIon battery and want to change it is minimal.

Also Apple should just offer free replacements if these things break down, which I would assume is an odd and infrequent reality. I mean the price Apple charges for their products, you should get at least 2 free replacements and Apple still makes a huge profit.

There is nothing more meaningless then someone who has a career tearing down a keyboard and giving it a repairability rating.

Yeah! That's why I pay top dollar for equipment, so that it wears out after a couple of years.

I guess you don't want to hear about my Apple Bluetooth keyboard (which I'm typing this on), which is still going after 7 years, or the plastic MacBook that I gave to a family member which is still going after 9 years. But I had to replace the fan which broke. I guess that makes me stupid, right?

 

[thewap]

The *I cannot or don't need to fix anything myself* crowd should not criticize Ifixit IMO, they bring a great service to people who can or try to fix things themselves. Others may be curious as to the engineering and build of any device made by Apple.

 

[macs4nw]

I was expecting a far bigger looking battery in that keyboard. What a waste of space

Kbs apparently don't use that much juice. I charge my mouse batteries at least 4-5 times before I have to charge my KB double As. The Magic Keyboard is rated at "about a month or more between charges", so why make it heavier and more expensive unnecessarily?

 

[nickmcpherson97]

I was expecting updated bluetooth chips... Isn't the newest Bluetooth 4.0??

I've been having connectivity issues with my Magic Mouse and my MBP mid 2012. I was hoping a newer mouse (or trackpad i might switch) would be a good fix

 

[macs4nw]

Yes. If you ignore several days of "low battery" warnings, you will sit down and wait for two minutes while you build up enough charge to last eight or nine hours. Then you'll plug it in overnight to get a full month's use, and you'll promise yourself not to run it down to zero again in the future.

You don't actually have to sit down for those two minutes. For at least one of them, you can stand up and walk around so your Apple Watch doesn't nag you about not reaching your goal of standing up for a minute at least once an hour.

+1 You covered all the bases very well, especially about the multiple 'Battery Low' warnings we get.

 

[Carouser]

Apple thinks they are so green and environmentally friendly, yet, they add more proprietary batteries to the mix, make stuff harder to repair and artificially shorten the lifespan of a plethora of their products.

Yes, let's compare these new Apple devices to those that take replaceable batteries.

It's entirely possible that
1) Fewer resources (energy/material) are required to produce these new products than others.
2) Fewer resources are consumed with these than in the production, packaging, and shipping of replacement batteries
3) Fewer resources are consumed in use (these could be more efficient).
4) Fewer resources are consumed in recycling these new products than others.
5) In actual use there are many people who do not use rechargeable batteries - they just throw them out and get more. These devices cut that practice out entirely.

Very interesting.

Not really, it only took 30 seconds to clear up.

 

[theluggage]

you only have to wait 2 minutes for a quick charge and you are good to go for another 9 hours on the magic mouse 2

Yeah, and I can just see myself giving it a 2 minute charge then forgetting to plug it in at bedtime day after day... Or they could have put the plug at the back so you could use it while it was charging (like Logitech have done for years) and it would be just that little bit more magical... Its called the "Magic Mouse" not the "Adequate Mouse".

However, since the whole top is the "button" and moves when you click (looks like, on the Apple Wired Mouse, there's an internal wire that flexes when you click... yuk!) so you'd need a big ugly cutout to let the cable plug in to the 'base'. Still, form beats function yet again...

Apple thinks they are so green and environmentally friendly, yet, they add more proprietary batteries to the mix,

Mice and keyboards have moving parts which are likely to wear out long before a Li-ion battery that gets charged once a month. Come end-of-life, if the lithium is worth recycling you don't have to take as much care as iFixit did when you tear it apart. Also, the battery clips in the old Magic Mouse were a huge weak point.

You can't do force touch on the Logitech.

I don't think you can do force touch on the Magic Mouse 2 - going by the teardown its still using a click switch... Meanwhile, the logitech MX Master has 6 different buttons to click and two scroll-wheels. I'm sure you'll be able to map a middle-button click to force click as soon as Apple decides what force click is for in OS X - force click is mainly useful in a touchscreen OS where you don;t have so many input possibilities.

So if Apple does require something in Bluetooth 3.0 that Bluetooth 2.1 doesn't have it doesn't seem to be data rate.

Not sure why you'd need EDR for a pointing device or keyboard. More interesting would be 'Low Energy' mode which is part of BT4. The Logitech MX Master won't work over bluetooth with BT 2.1 Macs, either (but it can also use logitech unifying wireless dongles).

 

[uid15]

And now iFixit have an article for those people.
Still not understanding the vitriol aimed at iFixit. Your mentioning of them trying to "remain relevant". It's just bizarre to me. It's a specialist site offering specialist information. What other interests that others might have do you dislike?

Edit: I've racked my brains but the only thing I can come up with regarding disliking teardown sites is that it encourages people with broke tech to repair it instead of buying new (because some people are really into companies like that).

Broke people with broke, expensive tech, could do a lot worse than to have a go at repairing what would be resigned to the trash anyway, if they hadn't tried.

I am a hardware engineer (electronics) and have been taking apart/repairing/rebuilding electronics since I was 4 (I'm now 40) but even I realise there's a point where you'd have to say to some EXTREMELY "frugal" people: "Come on - REALLY? You'd rather spend 4 days of time trying to bodge fix your mouse than to replace it under warranty or cut your losses and replace it?"

Always LOVE seeing how things tick inside - it's in my DNA, it's how I rationalise the world around me, but, unlike a HUGE portion of geeks who are unable to see the wider world outside of their blinkered frugal bubble, I know how efficient business works, and I know how life is short, and I'd rather be out walking and taking photos than fixing a mouse JUST because it cost money.

 

[uid15]

Yah

Yeah, and I can just see myself giving it a 2 minute charge then forgetting to plug it in at bedtime day after day... Or they could have put the plug at the back so you could use it while it was charging (like Logitech have done for years) and it would be just that little bit more magical... Its called the "Magic Mouse" not the "Adequate Mouse".

However, since the whole top is the "button" and moves when you click (looks like, on the Apple Wired Mouse, there's an internal wire that flexes when you click... yuk!) so you'd need a big ugly cutout to let the cable plug in to the 'base'. Still, form beats function yet again...



Mice and keyboards have moving parts which are likely to wear out long before a Li-ion battery that gets charged once a month. Come end-of-life, if the lithium is worth recycling you don't have to take as much care as iFixit did when you tear it apart. Also, the battery clips in the old Magic Mouse were a huge weak point.



I don't think you can do force touch on the Magic Mouse 2 - going by the teardown its still using a click switch... Meanwhile, the logitech MX Master has 6 different buttons to click and two scroll-wheels. I'm sure you'll be able to map a middle-button click to force click as soon as Apple decides what force click is for in OS X - force click is mainly useful in a touchscreen OS where you don;t have so many input possibilities.



Not sure why you'd need EDR for a pointing device or keyboard. More interesting would be 'Low Energy' mode which is part of BT4. The Logitech MX Master won't work over bluetooth with BT 2.1 Macs, either (but it can also use logitech unifying wireless dongles).

Yah, input peripherals need Kbps, not Mbps. Some people don't understand that.

 

[theluggage]

So you can order the Mac with a free Magic Mouse 2 and order a Magic Trackpad 2 separately for $129....or you can order the Mac with both a Magic Mouse 2 and Magic track Pad 2 for an extra $169.....the accountants must have stayed up all night to figure out that pricing.

Uh, that had me scratching my head for a moment, but, mystery solved: Corrode's screen shot is from the Canadian Apple store - so that's CA$169 not US$169. US price is $50 for the trackpad instead of the mouse or $129 for both.

So Apple aren't quite that mean (or innumerate) - although its nice to note that you don't get any money knocked off for choosing the wired mouse or wired keyboard (only $49 each on their own) so still a bit mean.

 

[iosuser]

You can't do force touch on the Logitech.
The Apple products all charge off the front except the mouse which as a 9hr use after 2min charge so that is a non-issue
Batteries made in the past few years don't wear out near as fast, all of our Logitech mice at work are going on 4+ years and all still last at least 3-6 weeks per charge.
The mouse is cheaper than the MX Mouse, only the force touch trackpad isn't...and again force touch.

You are not the only one with a preference for regular batteries in their products, but the reasons you listed are not something that really impact your case.

The Apple force touch product is somewhat expensive...but force touch!! I am getting hooked on it on my phone and would LOVE it for my iMac!!

OK force touch I'll give you that one, but then it's not a really a gesture like four finger swipe down for app expose.. Force touch is great on the Retina Macbook, but on a desktop nothing beats a mouse especially when the MX Master can do all trackpad gestures (minus force touch).

As for the battery issue, yes you're probably right on that one too regarding better longevity on current battery technology, but there could still be defect that cause it to die much sooner. I have some lithium ion power tools and lawn equipment. One of them died in less than 2yrs (I have two identical batteries).

And yes the MM2 is $79, and the Logitech MX Master is $99. It is well worth the extra $20. I had a regular Magic Mouse which I never really used because of the horrible design and ergonomics.

 

[Carouser]

Always LOVE seeing how things tick inside - it's in my DNA, it's how I rationalise the world around me, but, unlike a HUGE portion of geeks who are unable to see the wider world outside of their blinkered frugal bubble, I know how efficient business works, and I know how life is short, and I'd rather be out walking and taking photos than fixing a mouse JUST because it cost money.

Yup, it's interesting to see the insides of these products and how they work, and it might be helpful for someone who wants to poke around. What's ridiculous, and the reason why people are laughing at iFixit, is their 'repairability score', as though this is a reasonable thing to use to judge a mouse. Nobody's going to LogitechFixit to make their mouse decision.

 

[Marx55]

What about Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad with built-in USB 3.1 (reversible) Gen 2 hub?

 

[2457282]

I like the iFixit teardowns because I alway get excited seeing all the components - because, you know, I a geek. The repair scores don't really mean much to me. Since buying Apple I have never had to fix anything. I did take in one iphone to Apple for a screen replacement after it tried to fly (and failed) one day. Otherwise, the build quality has been great for me. And if it fails I will take it to Apple for a fix or replace. easy enough i think.