The Apple Magic Mouse is an interesting device. It’s reliable, pretty, and it goes well with the rest of the Apple suite of products, but the way it charges is just silly – there’s no ifs or buts about it. The charging port is located in the bottom of the device, so that whenever you charge it, it needs to be bottom-up and unusable. It’s a bad design and it’s just not necessary.
Systems engineer Ivan Kuleshov took to Twitter (now X) to show off an ‘ergonomic’ redesign of the Apple Magic Mouse (a much better redesign than previous attempts, that’s for sure). The mouse charges with USB-C (the current Magic Mouse charges with the Lightning cable), and the plug is located in the front of the device, so a cable can run between it and the computer when it’s being recharged – you know, just like how every mouse manufacturer has done it since forever.
To get the mouse to work while charging, Kuleshov said that charging runs directly into the battery. Charging percentages for the mouse, visible on the computer, increase even though it will appear that the mouse isn’t currently charging, effectively tricking the operating system into not realising the mouse is plugged in.
The original Lightning port remains, but it won’t actually charge the device.
Kuleshov said that he watched a video made by Work From Hype on YouTube about a similar design, and that “It was after that video that I realised I could do better.”
Perhaps the best part is that the mouse appears to be easy to disassemble – perfect for if the owner wants to make any modifications.
Anyway, hats off to you, Kuleshov. The Magic Mouse is easily the weakest piece of tech in Apple’s walled garden, so seeing it be improved by a user with some creativity brings me a lot of happiness.
Kuleshov will be releasing more information about his mouse on his website and GitHub “in the coming days”.
Image: Ivan Kuleshov on Twitter/X
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