Like it or not, the Apple Magic Mouse is the mouse that all others have to square up to in the battle to find the best mouse for Mac users. Unchanged since 2015 (aside from an update to USB-C from Lightning in 2024) and in reality little changed since 2009, the Magic Mouse is what Apple ships with every iMac (in seven accented colors) and Mac Pro (black) and is the only mouse you can buy as a separate on the Apple Store (in black or white).
The Magic Mouse is sleek and elegant, the way an Apple product should be. There are no old-fashioned buttons or scroll-wheels to spoil the mouse’s streamlined design, as the entire top multi-touch surface panel acts like a small, touch-sensitive trackpad. It works really well and cleverly combines the fluidity of a trackpad with the physicality of a mouse.
Some mice have scroll wheels that can be noisy, but the Apple Magic Mouse’s trackpad top is silent in that regard.
The low-profile design won’t suit people with larger hands, but the touch controls do work very well, allowing you to scroll both horizontally and vertically simply by flicking your finger in the required direction.
You can set up a secondary button, rather than settle for the all-over click, on either side within the Mouse tab in your Mac’s System Settings.
Where the Magic Mouse stands out of the nest of Mac mice, is gestures. You can control gestures, such as zooming and switching between applications and pages, by using the Mouse Preferences panel on the Mac. Double-tap with two fingers to launch the Mac’s Mission Control. In Settings you can also turn on Pointer Acceleration for faster or more precise mouse movements.
The button-free design also means that the Magic Mouse is suitable for both left- and right-handed users—unlike the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse reviewed below.
The rechargeable battery lasts for only about a month at a time—which would be fine if it weren’t for one thing…
Apple did finally get around to switching the Lightning connector to a USB-C connector for charging the internal battery, but it is still on the base of the mouse, which means that you can’t use the mouse while it’s charging, as you have to flip it over on to its side in order to insert the cable.
Apple also sells a black version of the Magic Mouse for an extra $20/£20, which is a bit cheeky as no other mouse manufacturer charges more for color choices.
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