If you’re looking for a new mouse for a Mac or MacBook, you’ve got plenty of options beyond Apple’s Magic Mouse (though we do have a soft spot for Apple’s peripheral despite its silly charging port on its base).
These days most mice will work on either Mac or PC, so you’ve got access to just about the entire PC mouse market, from wired to wireless, trackpads to trackballs, and even the over-the-top dedicated gaming mice.
A lot of people prefer using a mouse to their laptop’s trackpad, and so – especially when working all day on a MacBook – a mouse makes things much easier.
Beware the cheapest wireless mice out there. Many require a nano receiver to plug into a USB port on the computer, and newer MacBooks have just one or two USB-C ports, rather than the required old-school USB-A. Look for Bluetooth only for connection to a MacBook.
But what if you’re looking for something special to enhance your Mac browsing experience? We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite mice below – from Apple and beyond – so take a look.
If you are wondering how to right click on a Mac read this.
1. Logitech MX Master 2S
The successor to the original MX Master, the Logitech MX Master 2S is the latest mouse released by the company – and possibly the best to date.
First up, the design is gorgeous – and when can you say that about a mouse? It’s comfortable and the curves fit perfectly against your hand.
It utilises a Darkfield lasor sensor, allowing the mouse to track perfectly on almost any surface including glass. It also boasts an improved 4,000dpi compared to 1,000 on the first-gen mouse.
The MX Master 2S can be used via a wireless 2.4G (using a supplied USB dongle), Bluetooth or wired connection via microUSB, and can connect to three sources at the same time. Remember that you’ll need Bluetooth when using with a MacBook as there’s no compatible USB port on the laptop.
The biggest improvement is Logitech Flow, allowing you to seamlessly move your mouse between displays – even when they’re separate computers running different operating systems. It makes copying and pasting files and working across a multi-computer setup a breeze. The gesture controls that made the first-gen mouse so popular are still around, too.
Battery life is an important feature to consider when buying a wireless mouse, and the 2S has that covered. Only three minutes of charge will get you a full day of use, and when fully charged it lasts around 70 days. What’s not to like?
2. Apple Magic Mouse 2
Buy one of Apple’s new iMacs and you’ll be given the option of the updated Magic Mouse 2, the latest take on Apple’s wireless mouse design.
It’s a design that’s divided opinion: many find that flat, sleek, symmetrical body shape too insubstantial to be comfortable in the hand, and this can in turn make activating its gestures tricky. But plenty of others enjoy the Magic Mouse, and peripherals are after all a thoroughly personal matter. Try it before you buy it, we’d say.
It has one glaring design error, unfortunately – to charge it you need to turn it upside down to connect the Lightning cable, thus rendering it useless while it powers up!
The mouse is also available to buy in sexy Space Grey – previously exclusive to the iMac Pro – but that brings with it a £20/$20 markup, taking it to £99/$99. You can buy something similar a lot cheaper, if you consider Satechi’s M1 Wireless Mouse, reviewed below.
If you’re interested and want to find out more about the Magic Mouse 2, read our full review here.
3. Satechi M1 Wireless Mouse
Satechi’s USB-C Aluminum M1 Bluetooth Wireless Mouse comes with an old-fashioned scroll wheel, which the company claims offers faster and more accurate scrolling and tracking.
The cursor fairly flies around the screen as I move the M1 – much faster than my Apple mouse, and almost disconcertingly at first. It feels like it floats across my desk. Although I am equally happy with Apple’s touch-sensitive mouse top, the M1’s scroll wheel does allow for stepped, more-accurate scrolling than Apple’s.
As it can also be a Windows mouse, it has a right button for the extra controls you need to add a control-click with Apple’s one-button device.
The M1 mouse has a pleasingly curved ergonomic design, making it fine for both left- and right-handed users. Its aluminium body is available in silver, space gray, gold and rose gold colours so can attractively match your Mac or MacBook.
There’s no removable batteries, so you recharge via USB-C (cable included), which is better placed than that on the Apple Magic Mouse 2, which is frustratingly unusable while recharging. Satechi’s use of USB-C rather than Lightning cable is also a more modern move.
It uses Bluetooth 4.0 so has a range of 32 feet.
The Aluminum M1 Bluetooth Wireless Mouse costs £29.99 / US$29.99, so is much cheaper than Apple’s wireless mouse (£79 / $79). To be fair to Apple, its mouse does feel more substantial – as it should for more than double the price. If based outside the US, look for free shipping via Amazon.
Apple charges even more for its lovely space-gray Magic Mouse 2 (£99 / $99), so hats off to Satechi for charging the same much-lower price for all its colours. And Apple doesn’t offer gold or rose-gold mice.
Satechi also offers an Eco-Leather Deskmate (in black, midnight blue or saddle brown) that can act as a mouse mat, or reading/writing surface. It is also priced at £29.99 / $29.99.
4. Logitech MX Anywhere 2S
Logitech’s updated take on its portable mouse features a few hardware and software tweaks that make it one of the best wireless mouses on the market.
It features a Darkfield sensor with up to 4,000 DPI that works on just about any surface you try, and Logitech boasts that the batteries will last about 70 days.
The slim design boasts five buttons, including a scroll wheel that can swap between smooth and clicky scrolling, and it’s available in three different colours.
All of that would be impressive enough, but we haven’t even mentioned Flow, the new software innovation that allows the MX Anywhere 2S to connect to up to three devices at once and seamlessly move the cursor from one device to another, just as if they were multiple monitors for one computer.
It even works across both macOS and Windows, and it lets you copy and paste from one device to another.
5. Apple Magic Trackpad 2
The second in Apple’s raft of ‘Magic’ branded peripherals, the Magic Trackpad 2 brings Force Touch to desktop Macs for the first time. It comes at a cost, mind you.
The design is beautiful, with the whisper-smooth white matt top surface a particular highlight, and the ability to use harder Force Clicks to activate application-specific special commands, while a little confusing at first, is lots of fun and occasionally genuinely useful. This will only get more useful as more software companies develop for it.
Like the Magic Mouse 2, the Bluetooth trackpad has a rechargeable battery that’s charged via a (bundled) Lightning cable, and pairs with a Mac automatically the instant you plug it in. Assuming the Mac is running El Capitan or later, that is.
Also like the Magic Mouse 2, the Trackpad is now available in Space Grey, but that version costs £149/$149.
For more, read our Magic Trackpad 2 review.
6. Penclic R3
Here’s one for anyone fed up with mice that look like, well, mice – or, more importantly, anyone worried about repetitive strain injury (RSI).
Penclic claims the R3 helps stave off RSI by allowing your wrist to rest at a more natural, comfortable position on the desk, rather than hunched up into a claw. The base operates essentially like a normal mouse, which you move across the desk, but you hold the stem much like you would a pen.
We haven’t developed RSI yet, but that probably doesn’t tell you much. What we can say is that after a tricky adjustment period of a couple days we learnt to use the R3 just as quickly as any other mouse and found it impressively comfortable to use.
It’s powered by a single AAA battery, and comes with a rechargeable one included, topped up via Micro-USB.
The R3 comes with three buttons and a scroll wheel, but if you want something with more functionality the R2 is essentially the same but comes packed with five buttons.
This connects to your Mac wirelessly through an included USB dongle, but if you prefer there are also versions that connect by Bluetooth or wired. MacBook users will need Bluetooth, remember.
7. Logitech Ultrathin Bluetooth Mouse
Logitech’s Ultrathin Touch Mouse T630 for Mac is a neatly designed little device that combines elements of both a conventional mouse and a multi-touch trackpad.
It lives up to its name too, with a slim, wedge-shaped design that measures just 0.7 inches (18mm) at the thickest, front edge of the mouse.
The brushed metal design makes a good match for most Mac models and, like Apple’s Magic Mouse, the entire top panel of the T630 acts as a mouse button, but it’s also touch-sensitive so that you can use it like a trackpad as well.
It uses Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, and scores extra brownie points for including its own rechargeable battery, so you don’t have to spend any money on batteries yourself.
Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Learn more.
Via MACWORLD
If you are in search of the best mouse for fusion 360 then you have come to the right place because in this articlethe most professional and helpful list for getting the best mouse for fusion 360.
ReplyDelete