It’s 2022 and the Magic Mouse still charges from the bottom

Apple launched a brand new Magic Mouse at this time, March eighth, 2022. It’s a slick-looking black model. It additionally nonetheless has its charging port on the underside — which means that six and a half years after its introduction, Apple nonetheless appears to suppose that the easiest way to cost the mouse is by flipping it over (rendering it ineffective) and plugging in a Lightning cable.

Right here’s a little bit secret: I copied and pasted most of that final sentence from an article I wrote about this actual concern practically a 12 months in the past, when Apple launched an entire line of colourful Magic Mice and had the chance to vary how they cost, however didn’t. Apple has stored this charge-on-the-bottom design since October 2015.

My former Verge colleague Nick Statt ridiculed the mouse’s design the December after it was launched, stating that Apple asks the mouse customers to “flip the machine on its again like a beetle with its legs within the air and plug within the cable.” I included a part of that quote in my article final 12 months, too, and am mentioning it as soon as once more right here as a result of I nonetheless suppose it’s metaphor for a way foolish all of it appears.

Most rechargeable wi-fi mice allow you to plug them in, so you need to use them whereas charging. However for some purpose, Apple steadfastly refuses to place a charging port anyplace however below the Magic Mouse. The corporate has proven a willingness to repair a lot of its different odd design selections — the newer Apple Pencil doesn’t want to stay out of a Lightning port to cost, for instance, and the brand new Apple TV Siri Distant dumped the outdated touchpad for a scroll wheel and a clickpad.

With the brand new Mac Studio, Apple even put a pair USB-C ports and an SDXC card slot on the entrance as an alternative of shoving all of them within the again, reflecting Apple’s latest willingness to offer folks ports they need in apparent locations (see additionally: the numerous ports on the brand new MacBook Execs). However the underside charging port for the Magic Mouse lives on.

To be truthful, Apple claims on its web site that the Magic Mouse’s battery will “energy your Magic Mouse for a few month or extra between prices,” so that you gained’t must plug the mouse in each week. However in my previous experiences with wi-fi mice, I might use them till their batteries have been utterly drained, after which would scramble to discover a charging cable so I might use them wired for a short time as they charged. With the Magic Mouse, I wouldn’t be capable to do this; I’d must shove it off to the aspect whereas it rested on its again to get some extra juice and hope that I’ve one other mouse or trackpad mendacity round that I might use within the interim.

For those who nonetheless need the black Magic Mouse despite its irritating charging state of affairs, you possibly can order one from Apple’s web site proper now — however it’s best to know that like the brand new black trackpad, it’s $20 costlier than the white one.