Apple Mighty Mouse Sucks
- Posted in Apple
- Comments 31
Apple’s minimalistic, aesthetic-focused product design philosophy seems to work very successfully in nearly every product they produce, bar one glaring exception; The Apple Mighty Mouse. For some reason, this product is, frankly, an ergonomic nightmare. Oddly, it seems to be shaped like some sort of alien pod from the future/space, not formed subtly to the natural flow of the human hand like you’d expect from a direct input device. This means that not only is it difficult to use (I sometimes find myself contorting my hand in wrist-tingling ways just to complete certain tasks as a part of my daily routine web-browsing and designing) but even more annoyingly, the pitifully tiny and strangely shaped scroll ball just stopped working for me a couple of weeks after purchase.
At first it wouldn’t scroll down, then upwards motions stopped registering and finally it just completely stopped responding. Upon checking the Apple support forums I discovered a huge number of folks with similar issues, and none with a working solution (at least, for me).
So, being completely fed up and ready to hurl this little smooth white hunk of useless shiny plastic through the wall, I ran out to a computer store and picked up the Logitech MX Revolution, having read such positive reviews for the thing by some respected bloggers (namely Glenn Wolsey).
And wow, what a difference! I honestly can’t believe I’ve been using anything else over the past years. This mouse feels absolutely comfortable to hold, and has more features than ever imaginable. I’ve now set it up to have complete control over my iTunes, I can increase/decrease volume, skip forwards and backwards between tracks, play and pause the current track and even hit the “quick search” button to bring up CoverSutra’s awesome input box to skip to specific tracks by typing in keywords.
This is the best mouse I’ve ever held in my hand, and is in stark contrast with Apple’s rounded thing. If you’re considering a new mouse, then be sure to read more about the MX Revolution, and by god, think twice before grabbing the Mighty Mouse.
I love the Logitech MX Revolution Mouse. Been using it for quite some time. Much nicer than the mighty mouse.
After using a tablet, I don’t think I could ever go back to a mouse. I do wish there were some additional doodads on the pen though.
You’re so right about the Mighty Mouse. I had to return mine to the shop last week as the scroll ball wouldn’t scroll downwards. I was given a replacement mouse, which I’m planning to sell on ebay as I’ve found another mouse which suits me better.
i had the mighty mouse and it stopped working after 4/5 months of using it. piece of shit.
I’ve had a Mighty Mouse for 3 years, never had a problem.
Used the Apple Keyboard never had a problem. Maybe I’ve just been lucky but I use Apple products all the time and very rarely get a problem.
forgive me if it sounds stupid, but.. in my opinion every mouse sucks!
if you look for a real control over your environment you should try something like a pen tablet. check wacom.com for some examples…
Subtle plug there by ‘John Doe’.
Simon I believe you don’t use the mighty mouse or even the Apple Mouse any more as 1 your main IDE is PC and 2 You, like the rest of us, can’t live without right-click.
I personally can’t stand the MX because it’s too much like dough in your hand. Ergonomic, yes, but RSI, yes. Not saying I’m a fan of the MightyMouse though- it drives me mad as my palm spends most of the time dragging on the desk (Apple store), at least it muffles the deafening noise created as it slowly erodes the surface on the desk.
Anything not Apple SUCKS.
The mouse you bought I could never use, I’d have a cramp.
I totally agree… it’s funny cuz I use a Microsoft mouse with my Mac!
I do agree with you. I bought a mighty mouse 6 months ago and that bloody ball stopped working so I couldn’t scroll down. It happened many times before but this time all the approaches like blowing, cleaning, hardly pressing it or else were useless. I bought an MX mouse (which was only 10$ more expensive than that crappy mouse) but it’s working flawlessly. The only thing that makes me happy is the fact that I had a 100$ voucher and didn’t really pay for that silly mighty mouse! Apple has to redesign its mice and have more variety instead of offering that same piece of shit with or without a tail!
I can’t agree more! What a piece of sh*t… I have cursed it about a million times. My hand hurts, i click left when i want to click right, the dashboard comes up all the time and the scroll wheel jams. My sh*ttymouse lies in in a box and i use my old Logitech mouse!
The mighty mouse is giving me Carpal Tunnel syndrome. I just got a “Roller Mouse Pro” – expensive but good!
Its a nice mouse yeah but the down side is that its very heavy! I wish they can make it lighter in the future because it really makes my hand tired after hours of graphic design or tracing or drawing vectors…
Just shows Apple’s lack of quality control in the last few years.
I have a MX as well. And I love it. The second wheel on the left is perfect for the Vista 3d flip.
Steve’s getting old. My mice stopped working after 1 yr, exchanged it for another one at the apple store, and IT STOPPED WORKING >>>>AGAIN<<<< !!!!
Thank God I got Applecare when I bought my mac, because I’m working on my third “Mighty” mouse in less than 2 years. If the stupid scroll ball would work properly, I would love it. I’m not overly concerned with the ergonomics, and I don’t have a problem with right/left clicking. Aesthetically it’s pretty cool, and loads better than the previous Apple mouse, which had NO extra functions. But that damnable scroll ball is maddening.
The mighty mouse is a mighty pain in the ass. I don’t think I’ve had one work for more than a few weeks. How could it be released? I’ll mail it to Mac and tell them where they can shove it.
I use Macs for Internet/Email and XP boxes for audio/video production. I got the Macs just for the ease of use amongst the family/friends in my life and it is what I recommend to the Parents/Grandparents only because OSX is easier for someone who doesn’t know anything about a computer and safer because they always fall for social engineering type problems and at the moment Macs aren’t a big focus for the bad guys.
I am impressed by the latest desktops I have gotten for family members (couple of MacPros) esp. after several BAD hardware problems with 2 out of 3 of the last Apple laptops I have spent lots of money on. But I was shocked at the, with all respect, crappiness of the so called Mighty Mouse that came with the MacPros. It maybe because I am left-handed but I cannot get the thing to ‘click’ very accurately at all. I opened the other MacPro hoping maybe I just needed to RMA the first mouse but yikes it was just as bad.
My family members seemed to be fine esp. since they maybe click it 5 times a month but they started to complain a lot about the scroll ball/thingy getting dirty and not working right, and I’m sure they eat food and such at the computer, but still. So I bought a couple of logitech LX-8’s and I haven’t heard a peep. mouse related or OS related.
And since my family members don’t know anything about computers or even Macs they don’t care like so many Mac ‘die hards’ that the black mouse doesn’t match their box. They care that the mouse works well…
I hope Apple keeps making their great OS and I hope they don’t get too big or they will have the same problems PC’s have right now. I think if they would officially sell OSX for non Apple hardware they would rule the geek world because OSX86 was awesome, its just not supported or legal for that matter.
I’ve been using the MX Revolution for a while and I’m starting to get sick of it.
Don’t get me wrong it’s a great mouse, but after about six months my first one stopped charging completely, and logitech sent me another one. I’ve been using it now for about 6 months and I haven’t had any problems, this mouse is just getting old. While it is feature rich it’s not something that I can’t live without, and the scroll wheel is starting to bug me. When I remove my finger from the wheel after scrolling up or down the wheel retracts a little bit and it bounces the page the wrong direction.
It gets really annoying. I was thinking I would finally get a different mouse, and considered the mighty mouse when I came across this article. Needless to say I will no longer be getting the mighty mouse either.
I think I’m going to shop around and find a good gaming mouse. For some reason I’ve always had the best luck with gaming mice, and their high sensitivities make it very useful for graphic design.
I’m thinking about the G9 at this point…
I like the mighty mouse, the design, I like the side buttons, I do not have problems with secondary click.
But I do hate the scrollball. It is crap.
Come on, Apple! Fix it!
The scrollball sucks. Erconomic it’s OK. I used a standard mouse on PC for more then fifteen years. CAD drafting. RSI, worst senario. Changed to apple mouse (even on PC), no RSI, had to got used to one click only (the other click is click+keystroke, also on PC). When the scrollball would work fine, it’s a great mouse. But … that scrollball.
Most recent I changed to Apple completely. Imac 24 inch. Left AutoCAD and changed to VectorWorks. I’m in heaven.
… but that scrollball …
when it works, it’s great, better than a scrollwheel.
When it works.
I couldn’t agree more. I tried out the Mighty Mouse at the Apple Store and it does indeed suck tremendously. The store display model didn’t even respond well as I was trying it so why would I want to buy one? At the very least, Apple should give people an optional alternative. I was thinking about buying an Apple but one of the things that has stopped me is that stupid mouse. Yes, there are better alternatives that you can buy separately, such as this Logitech mouse mentioned, but why should I as a consumer have to pay for the crap Mighty Mouse and then pay for another working mouse on top of Apple’s already high prices? Steve Jobs, are you reading this? Is anybody at Apple reading this? If Apple wants to take a bigger bite out of MS and Dell, they need to start listening more to what their potential customers want. As it is, I’m seriously considering getting Linux instead because of things like this.
Seutonius: I think it’s incredibly foolish to not purchase a computer because of the mouse that comes bundled with it. All of us Mac users with common sense hate the damned thing but for some unknown reason the rest of the community love the scroll ball. So buy your iMac, sell the mighty mouse on ebay, and get the logitech. Done deal.
ONe of the most useless items I have ever had the misfortune to use is the ‘mighty’ mouse.
Such an inapopriate name for such an underwhelming piece of plastic junk.
As a tutor at a design Design College, I frequently hear the students complain about the lack of functionality, and the microscopic scrolling wheel, which, in terms of size is more suitable for a rats hand / foot.
If you have time to waste , get a mac mouse, but if you want to work CAD and most other programs efficiently and without developing muscular/skeletal problems, there are plenty of better options.
So the designers at Mac forgot the tried and tested Form Follows Function rule. They were tempted by the graphic beauty of the tiny dot on the oval shape, when it looked so graphically stunning, but perhaps didn’t do any prototyping before going into production.
The new mac keyboard is a masterpiece though. stylish and ergonomically excellent at the same time.
Happy I am not alone… I have Apple Industrial Design in very high regards but it really strikes me how can they ship this “Mighty Mouse”. Citing an addendum to wikipedia article I made:
“Depending on mouse tracking speed settings one may find the dragging function difficult to deal with on limited area (wrist range) surfaces. A user may find difficulty in raising the mouse from the surface, as soon as required to, while pressing a button in order to position the mouse at the opposite end of the mouse pad in order to proceed with the movement. This issue is ever more relevant along higher screen resolutions and/or dual-head set-ups. While mouse tracking speed is directly related with on-screen pixel precision, this setting is mostly used to deal with big screen areas affecting adversely the former. Three factors seam to intervene here: mouse weight, mouse grip and button pressure strength (may soften out with usage). A simple workaround is not to use mouse pads and keep a reasonable clear area for the mouse.”
Where’s the ergonomics here??
I think this Mighty Mouse may just have been designed by some tablet user who never meant to use the actual thing really. Maybe it could just be a marketing method, side a product with a terrible one in order to make the first one look/feel better. I don’t complain… a normal digit grip mouse on its way to side with the wonderful apple keyboard.
I have advocated Apple products since 1985 (first Mac), I have used a mighty mouse at work for a year, and now for 3 months at home, and I agree with the author on several points:
1 – It is not shaped properly for my hand (a fairly large hand, admittedly) and I frequently do things accidentally that I must undo.
2 – My scroll wheel stopped moving upward, but I was able to clean it by rubbing thoroughly in all directions with alcohol swabs. However, since optical mice arrived a few years ago, cleaning has become almost non-extant, so, I consider this an unnecessary pain.
3 – If anyone has seen the “Clean your mighty mouse” video on You-Tube – all I can say is OUCH – no, make that OUCH! OUCH! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jet7488UoSE
I have used several Logitech mice through my 20+ years of micro-computing experience and have always found them to be well designed – However, I refuse to use cordless mice after many painful experiences with them about (all Logitech) about 8-12 years ago. I too use a Microsoft Mouse as my backup – excellent and very cheap.
I’ve bought at least 3 mighty mice now and each one has stopped working. In all cases, the scroll ball on it has stopped working. It is the worse mouse ever. I agree with the author, I have Logitech mice now and they are very designed and there are many different models to suit different hand sizes and preferences.
I have had MX mice since they hit the market. I have loved all the features at my finger tips. But I would not recommend. One is now “dead” because it will not recharge at all (died after ~2 years) and the other is now struggling to charge. Seems that the built in rechargeable batteries have ~2 to 3 year life if heavily use. Unfortunately, the batteries can not be replaced.
Yep, it’s a piece of shit, alright. Just destroyed my 2nd one in frustration. Will try the Logitech suggested.