What adjustments have you made to your "Magic" Mouse and Trackpad to ensure they work comfortably for you?

[chmania]

It's quite fascinating how Apple managed to create a touch surface mouse, yet simultaneously designed it in a way that can be quite detrimental to users' wrists. The 'magic' tends to fade when fingers and wrists begin to ache, leading to expenses on doctors and medication. For all those years, Apple is not finding a solution for their unergonomic design while continuing to demand a premium price. One has to wonder how many of these 'magic' mice are languishing in drawers, unused. I purchased mine from a disgruntled user who was more than happy to part with it for a fraction of what he originally paid—less than $30, in fact.

The inwardly sloping bottom is decidedly unergonomic. It appears as though it was designed by someone with claws instead of fingers, or perhaps by someone with a palm the size of a child's. All it truly requires is a bracket to rectify that inward incline, a bit of added width, and a slight elevation at the back—suddenly, it would be both ergonomic and comfortable. It's rather perplexing that Apple finds it so challenging to conceive something so simple!

I've just received a design enhancement for my Magic Mouse from China, and it only set me back $3.38. It's already quite comfortable to use! The back is elevated to ~ 7° degrees. I'm planning to add something to the back bottom to elevate it to around a 20° angle, which should fit my palm quite well ergonomically. It glides beautifully on the mat underneath.

 

[chmania]

The glass surface of the white Magic Trackpad feels rather cold to the touch. I tried to apply some self-adhesive paper to it, but after a while, the paper became damaged. Perhaps the dark-coloured Magic Trackpad is spray-painted; I’m not entirely sure, as I haven’t seen one yet. Maybe its surface is warmer than that of the white version. I found an old, simple touch pen in the drawer that I used on tablets ages ago. It works quite well with the Magic Trackpad’s surface for simple actions. Just a basic artificial rubber nib attached to the pen, with no connection to my fingers whatsoever.

 

[drecc]

Once I got used to it, I found that the Magic Mouse was more ergonomic. It did take me a few weeks to adjust.

This is because my most natural wrist/hand position, when resting my forearm on the desk, is for my palm to be facing inward instead of flat on the table.

When using the Magic Mouse, my wrist isn't vertical, but more at at 45 degree angle, which is much better than having my wrist rotated all the way flat. In this position, I don't need any palm support - I'm only holding the mouse lightly between my thumb and little finger.

 

[chmania]

I’ve discovered that if I stick bits of plaster to my fingertips, particularly on my index and middle fingers, it helps to alleviate the chill from the glass surface of the white Magic Trackpad, without affecting its sensitivity.

 

[goodthymes]

I have a space gray magic trackpad, it's glass top just like all the rest. I've never had an issue with the coldness of the surface. If you're that sensitive I would suggest you get a pack silicone finger cap from amazon or local pharmacy. Something like this:

 

[ryanarrr]

Magic Trackpad​

Tilting the touch surface towards the user looks really nice, but it's wrong. That's not how wrists work. At worst it should be level, just like on a MacBook. Ideally, it should actually slope away from the user, not towards you. There was actually an undocumented feature in OS X that allowed you to use the original Magic Trackpad upside down. I tried that out, but that was like 10 years ago, I can't recall how much I actually used it like that.

I've been using a Magic Trackpad 2 as my primary mouse for several years. I was planning to 3D print a wedge to level it out, but as a stop gap I found some clear Bumpons that were just the right height and stuck them to the two nearest corners. The Bumpons worked so well that I'm still using them. Eventually I'll probably upgrade to a USB-C Magic Trackpad, maybe I'll come up with something sleeker then.

Magic Mouse​

This was my main mouse for roughly 2010-2015. I had no real complaints about the ergonomics, but I rest my palm on the desk when I mouse. I don't know whether it's because I have huge hands, or something I picked up using the old iMac hockey puck mice, but I only use my finger tips on the mouse, so if anything I kind of prefer the Magic Mouse over most other mice because it's so small. Also, smooth scrolling is great, and this makes the absurd standard of jerky scrolling on wheel mice seem ancient and barbaric.

 

[chmania]

Magic Trackpad​

Tilting the touch surface towards the user looks really nice, but it's wrong. That's not how wrists work. At worst it should be level, just like on a MacBook. Ideally, it should actually slope away from the user, not towards you.

Good advice! I've been using it sloping away for sometime now. Thanks!