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5425642

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Jan 19, 2019
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I can’t decide what to buy, I’m fine with the Magic Mouse I have it at home but now I’ll buy something for the office and I can’t decide if I should go for the mouse or the trackpad?
 
I can’t decide what to buy, I’m fine with the Magic Mouse I have it at home but now I’ll buy something for the office and I can’t decide if I should go for the mouse or the trackpad?
Personally, attempting to use a Magic Mouse for more than 30 seconds results in said rodent being thrown across the room to the accompaniment of many profanities - whereas I really like the Magic Trackpad for general use.

However - putting aside my subjective hate/hate affair with the MM - there are a few things - detailed graphics work, some games - for which i find a mouse is just better (Logitech MX Master in my case). So I end up using the trackpad for a while until I hit something that needs a mouse, then the trackpad gathers dust for a while because I don't bother to switch back.

I think it's one of those personal things (like actually liking the Magic Mouse) and also depends on which applications you use so you just have to suck it and see - but the Magic Trackpad is a great gadget.

(NB: I find it works best with "three finger drag" enabled - which Apple now buries somewhere under 'Accessibility' in System Preferences).
 
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I think the mouse vs trackpad question is 100% personal preference. If you are happy with the mouse and don't feel adventurous. If you have or have had a MacBook of any kind and are comfortable with the trackpad, then I think it makes more sense to use a trackpad with a desktop Mac. Another advantages of the trackpad over a mouse is full support for Mac gestures, which are quite powerful.
 
@5425642

Depends if you don't mind the fact you can't use the mouse while charging. You can thank Sir Jony Ive

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@5425642

Depends if you don't mind the fact you can't use the mouse while charging. You can thank Sir Jony Ive

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Ive didn't make the requirement from engineering that the mouse not be used while charging, nor did he write the firmware that doesn't allow the mouse to be used while charging. Those were decisions based on the suitability (or lack thereof) of a lightning cable for the purpose. Putting the port on the bottom was good design, since otherwise people would have tried to plug it in and use it (which the firmware wouldn't allow).
 
Trackpad when working with PS is the best. As for mouse, nothing like the Logi MX 3. I haven't used a MM I think for the last 4 to 5 years and I don't miss it at all.

IMG_1684.jpeg
 
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I can’t decide what to buy, I’m fine with the Magic Mouse I have it at home but now I’ll buy something for the office and I can’t decide if I should go for the mouse or the trackpad?
I use trackpads exclusively, and I don't like to use mice, so my opinion isn't going to help. But you have 14 days to return anything from Apple and 30 days to return anything you buy from Amazon, so I'd buy a trackpad to see how you like it, keeping in mind you can always return it.
 
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It is a personal preference, but just some thoughts based on my experience... I have a triple-monitor setup, so I use the Magic Mouse since it's easier to move across the screens. However, I miss some of the gestures the mouse doesn't have, so I also have a Trackpad off to the side so I can still use those. I'll sometimes switch to the Trackpad if I'm primarily working on one screen.

Depends if you don't mind the fact you can't use the mouse while charging. You can thank Sir Jony Ive
This is a non-issue. A quick few minute charge will get you through the rest of the day.
 
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Ive didn't make the requirement from engineering that the mouse not be used while charging, nor did he write the firmware that doesn't allow the mouse to be used while charging. Those were decisions based on the suitability (or lack thereof) of a lightning cable for the purpose. Putting the port on the bottom was good design, since otherwise people would have tried to plug it in and use it (which the firmware wouldn't allow).
So let's see... you're saying that the lightning cable is such a piece of fragile rubbish that the whole mouse had to be designed to avoid people damaging the charging cable. You couldn't - you know - make the Lightning cable a bit stronger/longer? Something that, incidentally, would be welcomed by all the people out there continually replacing frayed cables on their phones (maybe they should make the iPhone "better" by locking it while it is charging? Otherwise you might pick it up and strain the cable!!!)

Ive was very senior and influential at Apple so it's preposterous to suggest that he couldn't have pushed back on a decision from engineering that he disagreed with. Of course, that's assuming he was even involved in such a trivial task as replacing the AA cells in the previous model with rechargeables - which, of course is a far better explanation for the issue: the previous model had no space to add a socket on the back edge, so putting the charging port where the battery hatch used to be was simplest, cheapest and laziest solution as opposed to re-investing some of those sweet, sweet profits on a more substantial re-design of the mouse casing.

Designers of other perfectly good mice - Logitech etc. - have been able to solve this intractable problem, and by some sorcery produce mice that work perfectly well when charging, so you can just plug in, keep working, get a 100% charge and then enjoy a full couple of weeks of unfettered mousing and let your bladder decide your potty breaks. Not that such a design prevents you from plugging in the mouse a quick top-up while you go see a man about a dog, if that's the way you roll.
 
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You couldn't - you know - make the Lightning cable a bit stronger/longer?
No, Sherlock. You couldn't change the millions of lightning cables that were already in circulation and likely to be swapped with whatever shipped in the box.
 
I’m a casual user so trackpad permanently plus it’s quiet when clicking and I don’t have to pick up the mouse to adjust it causing more noise. Great when everyone in the house is sleeping and I’m up before the sun ha.

However, the trackpad does seem to have latency issues with cursor movements from time that’s plagued MacOS devices for awhile especially the Mac Mini.
 
Ive didn't make the requirement from engineering that the mouse not be used while charging, nor did he write the firmware that doesn't allow the mouse to be used while charging. Those were decisions based on the suitability (or lack thereof) of a lightning cable for the purpose. Putting the port on the bottom was good design, since otherwise people would have tried to plug it in and use it (which the firmware wouldn't allow).
This is almost certainly not how it went down. The design team rules the roost and engineering falls in line. They certainly did back then.
 
Putting the port on the bottom was good design, since otherwise people would have tried to plug it in and use it (which the firmware wouldn't allow).

You have the cause and effect mixed up here. The firmware doesn't allow it because the port is at the bottom and any input would be unintended.
 
You have the cause and effect mixed up here.
Source?

Why do you think the stationary keyboard and stationary trackpad do not have the charging port underneath. Do you think it just accidentally worked out that way?
 
You couldn't change the millions of lightning cables that were already in circulation and likely to be swapped with whatever shipped in the box.
Oh my God... and if someone plugged in a regular lightning cable it would explode into razor-sharp shards and toxic gas, so Apple must do everything in their power to avoid this?!

Seriously, it's only your (unsubstantiated) theory that a regular lightning cable couldn't withstand being used as a temporary mouse lead for a couple of hours every month while being totally suitable for an iPhone charging cable that is carried around, wound, unwound, plugged in and otherwise abused every day... Actually, there is some evidence against the latter - plenty of complaints about lightning cables not being up to the job - so I think people would welcome being able to replace their lightning cables with more robust versions - but the idea that Apple would constrain the design of new products out of concern for people's existing lightning cables is absurd (you obviously missed the whole "half-dozen varieties of USB-C cable" thing...)


...with the simple explanation being that the Magic Mouse 2 was essentially just the Magic Mouse 1 with the underside AA battery compartment replaced by a lithium battery pack and charging port, whereas adding a rear-facing charging port would have entailed a ground-up redesign.

Why do you think the stationary keyboard and stationary trackpad do not have the charging port underneath. Do you think it just accidentally worked out that way?
Because - for whatever reason - the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 did get a complete redesign from their AA-powered predecessors so the socket could be put in a sensible place. Maybe this was to match some new design language (which the mouse already fitted) or, more likely, to use less materials and reduce manufacturing costs, seeing as the Magic Keyboard w/numeric pad weighs less than the old wired version, despite including a battery, and consequently sags elegantly in the middle after a few weeks use... Magical.

Meanwhile, you still haven't explained why the iPhone doesn't lock itself to prevent people using it while plugged in and straining the cable...
 
And the car has to be at least 50% charge and on its charger for firmware updates.
and the forums are going to be full of paranoid people trying to figure out how to bypass the charge logic to keep their batteries between 20% and 80% and monitoring every little movement in the battery health page...
 
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