Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Magic TrackPad AND Magic Mouse
- Thread starter Glmnet1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've been doing this quite a bit actually.
Magic Keyboard in the middle, trackpad on the left and a mouse on the right.
After all these years I've tired out my arm/elbow on the right/mouse side and it helps me a lot to minimize what I do with the mouse. With the pad on the left I can use that for scrolling/gestures and the occasional usage as the actual pointing device (slowly getting better with that part of it). I can even be using the mouse to move the cursor but the pad/left hand to click and it all adds up to less & less wear and tear on the right side for me.
Magic Keyboard in the middle, trackpad on the left and a mouse on the right.
After all these years I've tired out my arm/elbow on the right/mouse side and it helps me a lot to minimize what I do with the mouse. With the pad on the left I can use that for scrolling/gestures and the occasional usage as the actual pointing device (slowly getting better with that part of it). I can even be using the mouse to move the cursor but the pad/left hand to click and it all adds up to less & less wear and tear on the right side for me.
I’m interested! My new iMac just arrived (in its box yet). I ordered it with Magic Trackpad instead of Magic Mouse (wich I already have; 1st gen). I think a lot of people may be in the same situation... as a Magic Mouse is owned by a lot of last iMacs buyers.
Of course, I plan to use them both.
I’d like to know if system makes good use of both at same time... Are there problems, interfering mess?
Does it feel “natural”, or you have to remember not to make a “press” on both at same time?
In general... Has Apple implemented a studied OS response to this possibility?
Of course, I plan to use them both.
I’d like to know if system makes good use of both at same time... Are there problems, interfering mess?
Does it feel “natural”, or you have to remember not to make a “press” on both at same time?
In general... Has Apple implemented a studied OS response to this possibility?
I’ve been using a trackpad and mouse concurrently for a little over 2 years with the trackpad on the left and the mouse on the right and I love it. It’s hard to pinpoint the way in which I use both because it is not consistent, but it has become second nature to me and has greatly reduced the strain on my wrists and forearms.
Do you favor one over the other?
For me I am just trying to minimize my right side use (the worn down side), but there are some activities (like FCP) where I just have to use the Mouse and specifically in my right hand to have the precision I need.
What about you?
Do share please!
I know lots of us RSI struggling people really appreciate reading how others do things.
I find ergonomic discussions sort of lost in the malaise of all the devices and positions and setups nowadays and I'm not convinced at all that tablets/phones are doing great things ergonomically, let alone desktop/notebook stuff.
Very interesting that a lot seem to use both as a way to reduce strain on the right arm. I don't have that kind of problem yet but it seems to be a good preventative measure.
I think I'll order both on my next setup and see how it goes.
I think I'll order both on my next setup and see how it goes.
+10 on that man - seriously.
We all sort of think "it can't happen to us"... but it does
Sucks.
I personally love the Magic Mouse. I tried the original Magic Tacklad and found it uncomfotable. However, I love the new Magic Trackapd and use it 90% of the time. I only pull out the mouse for isolated tasks.
For me, I like that I am just moving my hand around a mostly static space instead of moving my arm in a little park all over the desk where the bumps into things
For me, I like that I am just moving my hand around a mostly static space instead of moving my arm in a little park all over the desk where the bumps into things
I have both, but the mouse is next to the keyboard and the trackpad (an older original Magic Trackpad) is on the desk above the keyboard. So I use the mouse more. There are times (like right now while the mouse is recharging!) that I'll move the trackpad next to the keyboard.
The one thing I'll say about the trackpad itself, is that I'm starting to think about propping up one side (right or left depending upon your placement) to try to give it a touch of angle to match up better with my hand angle.
I'm not sure how ergonomic these completely flat surfaces are over the long term.
I'm not sure how ergonomic these completely flat surfaces are over the long term.
Using both on my iMac seems to confuse them a little. In my case, they are both hooked up, and I can use whatever I want. Keyboard is at the left, Magic Trackpad in the middle, and Magic Mouse at the right.
For example, if I'm looking at my Apple Mail, with the track pad I can click on the message list, and swipe a message to the left, getting the red box for deletion, or swipe the message the other way, which I think makes it "unread".
The mouse has different ways to do this, so when both are hooked up, the mouse gets the message header to start to move to the right or left, but not all the way. So I usually delete the message with the delete icon up near the top of the screen.
Each of them seems to slightly confuse the other, but for using one at a time, it's no problem, and no big deal.
For example, if I'm looking at my Apple Mail, with the track pad I can click on the message list, and swipe a message to the left, getting the red box for deletion, or swipe the message the other way, which I think makes it "unread".
The mouse has different ways to do this, so when both are hooked up, the mouse gets the message header to start to move to the right or left, but not all the way. So I usually delete the message with the delete icon up near the top of the screen.
Each of them seems to slightly confuse the other, but for using one at a time, it's no problem, and no big deal.
it bit pretty weird for me..
Left -> magic mouse
center -> keyboard
right -> logitech mouse
magic mouse -> vertical
logitech -> horizontal
Magic mouse pretty bad user experince..Because my hand small and always accidently touch not suppose 2. Apple should create a half interaction instead of full up and down
** for sure to full usable magic mouse.. had to use one finger instead of palm
Left -> magic mouse
center -> keyboard
right -> logitech mouse
magic mouse -> vertical
logitech -> horizontal
Magic mouse pretty bad user experince..Because my hand small and always accidently touch not suppose 2. Apple should create a half interaction instead of full up and down
** for sure to full usable magic mouse.. had to use one finger instead of palm
Last edited:
I alternate. I use the Magic Trackpad for all common tasks, Browser, Spreadsheets, Word documents, Finder, Keyword tagging in Lightroom ...
For Precision work e.g. cropping in Lightroom I use a Mouse, but not the Magic Mouse (as some mentioned too flat). I use the Logitech MX Master 2S.
For Precision work e.g. cropping in Lightroom I use a Mouse, but not the Magic Mouse (as some mentioned too flat). I use the Logitech MX Master 2S.
My setup is: Apple trackpad - Logitech ergonometric keyboard - Performance mouse MX on a MacPro.
My mouse is the Logitech Performance MX which I find to be vastly superior to the apple mouse as it fits my hand perfectly in its resting claw position. Same thing for the Logitech keyboard. Much less stress on my wrists due to the keyboard curve, more responsive, requires less energy. I have to pound the Apple keyboard keys sometimes multiple times to get something to happen.
If I want scroll to the top of this thread I use the trackpad two finger scroll since you allows you to do fast inertial scrolling. As I edit this I use the mouse to quickly select and change a typo, hit the "post reply" button. While reading I'll also scroll with the trackpad and use the mouse to point to where I am in the text - like using your finger to point to your position when reading a paper book. If I just need to move up to look at at near older posts I'll use the scroll wheel on the mouse since it allows much more control. But sometimes I'll use the trackpad for that as well.
The trackpad I use for:
*4 finger pinch for Launchpad, for apps not in my dock
3 finger slide up/down to move items to another desktop
3 finder glide right/left to move between desktops and widget page
*2 finger expand to increase safari display size
2 finger slide right/left for safari <> buttons
The * items I just heavily, every few minutes.
The mouse I use for:
Precise cursor positioning, button pushing, launching dock items, getting dock options, finder tool bar options (snagit, iStat Menus, Accuweather, etc).
I use the trackpad cursor positioning only as a backup when my mouse isn't working. To go all the way from left to right on my display takes something like 5 finger lifts. I find it awkward to have to lift a finger to scroll around the screen, and it's just too slow. I prefer to lift the heavier mouse rather than my finger because the mouse fit my hand exactly as it rests in the claw position. The trackpad requires the fingers to be flat across its surface which I find to be uncomfortable as that position is not natural.
So if I could only have one device it would be my Performance MX mouse, hands down. But using both gives me the feeling that I'm doing everything twice as fast.
Footnote. I adjusted my trackpad tracking speed so that a drag from the left edge of my screen to the right edge required just one drag from the left edge of the trackpad to the right. But that hand position is just uncomfortable.
My mouse is the Logitech Performance MX which I find to be vastly superior to the apple mouse as it fits my hand perfectly in its resting claw position. Same thing for the Logitech keyboard. Much less stress on my wrists due to the keyboard curve, more responsive, requires less energy. I have to pound the Apple keyboard keys sometimes multiple times to get something to happen.
If I want scroll to the top of this thread I use the trackpad two finger scroll since you allows you to do fast inertial scrolling. As I edit this I use the mouse to quickly select and change a typo, hit the "post reply" button. While reading I'll also scroll with the trackpad and use the mouse to point to where I am in the text - like using your finger to point to your position when reading a paper book. If I just need to move up to look at at near older posts I'll use the scroll wheel on the mouse since it allows much more control. But sometimes I'll use the trackpad for that as well.
The trackpad I use for:
*4 finger pinch for Launchpad, for apps not in my dock
3 finger slide up/down to move items to another desktop
3 finder glide right/left to move between desktops and widget page
*2 finger expand to increase safari display size
2 finger slide right/left for safari <> buttons
The * items I just heavily, every few minutes.
The mouse I use for:
Precise cursor positioning, button pushing, launching dock items, getting dock options, finder tool bar options (snagit, iStat Menus, Accuweather, etc).
I use the trackpad cursor positioning only as a backup when my mouse isn't working. To go all the way from left to right on my display takes something like 5 finger lifts. I find it awkward to have to lift a finger to scroll around the screen, and it's just too slow. I prefer to lift the heavier mouse rather than my finger because the mouse fit my hand exactly as it rests in the claw position. The trackpad requires the fingers to be flat across its surface which I find to be uncomfortable as that position is not natural.
So if I could only have one device it would be my Performance MX mouse, hands down. But using both gives me the feeling that I'm doing everything twice as fast.
Footnote. I adjusted my trackpad tracking speed so that a drag from the left edge of my screen to the right edge required just one drag from the left edge of the trackpad to the right. But that hand position is just uncomfortable.
Last edited:
The magic mouse is the worst mouse I've ever used. I use the TrackPad 90% of the time and a logitech mouse when I want precision or if I am using Photoshop.
I've tried about 5 times now over the years to "get into" the Magic Mouse and my conclusion is the same as yours.
It's just awful.
I don't honestly know how people use it, let alone love it, but kudos to them.
Obviously we are all different.
For years, I used a Logitech mouse, as it fit my hand. It's still connected now to my MacBook Pro. The iMac I bought came with a Magic Mouse, and I added the new Magic Trackpad. Before I added the trackpad, the mouse was just fine. I was pleased with the way it worked, the way I could move my hand around on top of it, or move the whole mouse. Very different, but also very powerful. Being able to instantly zoom in on the screen image was a wonderful bonus - and after playing around with the other things it can do, I think it's great. I never got serious about replacing it with a Logitech mouse, but I'm getting pretty serious about buying another Magic Mouse for my MacBook.
The only "unusual" things started when I hooked up the Magic Trackpad. With the trackpad, you swipe one way to get to the <delete> button, and the other to get to the <unread> button. With the mouse, those things start to appear, but I'm not sure how to program the mouse to do it the way the trackpad does.
The Magic Mouse can do SO many things. It's confusing at first to get used to all of them, but now that I've gotten used to it, the Logitech mouse seems too.... basic.
Update - by using two fingers, and the Magic Mouse, I can now swipe a message one way or another to see the unread or the delete choice. The only one I ever use is delete, but now it's working just fine!
The only "unusual" things started when I hooked up the Magic Trackpad. With the trackpad, you swipe one way to get to the <delete> button, and the other to get to the <unread> button. With the mouse, those things start to appear, but I'm not sure how to program the mouse to do it the way the trackpad does.
The Magic Mouse can do SO many things. It's confusing at first to get used to all of them, but now that I've gotten used to it, the Logitech mouse seems too.... basic.
Update - by using two fingers, and the Magic Mouse, I can now swipe a message one way or another to see the unread or the delete choice. The only one I ever use is delete, but now it's working just fine!
Yes. Mouse on the right for general....mousing activities. Trackpad on the left for when I need to zoom on a PDF or Word document (or any zooming, really). I cannot stand repeatedly pushing COMMAND +
[doublepost=1522362942][/doublepost]
A lot of us love it. It's the ability to perform gestures for me. I can see why it is controversial. There are others out there that hate mice in general and prefer the trackpad.
I love my Magic Mouse the gesture options, the smooth top is great for scrolling, gestures, etc ... the ONLY problem with the MM2 IMO is the placement of the lightning connector... when it dies, there is no way to charge it and continue using it... this is a perfect example of Apple's "style over substance" issue that rears its ugly head on occasion.
I have 4 or 5 MM/MM2 units around my house... for use on iMacs, MBA and Minis.
Last edited:
You use a mouse with a laptop?
I see this occasionally at airports and such---some people must really hate their laptop track pads, which for Windows users I totally get.
I use both ... depends on the activity. I use a mouse with Photoshop and FinalCut ... trackpad for most other stuff.