RUMOR: Apple discontinuing Magic Mouse in favor of Magic Trackpad

“We’ve gotten word from a previously reliable source that Apple is discontinuing the Magic Mouse in favor of the Magic Trackpad,” Alex Heath reports for Cult of Mac.

“Our retail source has informed us that Magic Mouse inventory is not being replenished for Apple stores, and that Apple is finally phasing out the Magic Mouse,” Heath reports. “In OS X Lion, Apple focused heavily on gestures. To take full advantage of Lion’s speed and efficiency, a trackpad must be used that works with the intuitive gestures Apple has implemented.”

Advertisement: Apple’s Magic Trackpad. OS X Lion’s best friend. Just $69. Fast, free shipping.

Heath reports, “It makes sense that Apple would phase out the Magic Mouse, as OS X is clearly becoming a gesture based OS.”

Read more in the full article here.

UPDATE: August 5, 2011, 8:34am: Please see: Rumors of Apple Magic Mouse death may be greatly exaggerated; new model on the way?

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
 

55 Comments

  1. i find my hand gets very tired using the track pad. The mouse gives me something to rest it on. I cannot use the trackpad for long periods of time. Anyone else experience that?

    1. Yes! But I much prefer the trackpad. I think if I would learn to just rest the hand on it or if maybe I could put something under my arm to keep from reaching up from the wrist area it would help.

  2. At first, I thought that this would be a bad thing, because it would be good to have both a mouse and a trackpad. But at the same time, Apple isn’t killing support for mice, just their own proprietary mouse. You can still get a third party mouse if you really want one.

  3. Hey, maybe Dvorak was right after all . . . “The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”

  4. THERE WILL BE A NEW KEYBOARD ALSO… all touch screen like a virtual key pad COMBINED with a track pad… THE MOUSE IS DEAD – iSlate – a keyboard and track pad TOUCH driven – and who knows – perhaps with memory and wifi and or bluetooth so IT is a basic iPAD.

  5. Having used the mouse for some 30 years, and all the other experimental contraption, I can say for sure that I will always use a mouse with wheel over a trackpad, as it gives me 2 times the speed of control.

    Trust me, u don’t want that cramp of hovering your hand over a trackpad for 10 hours a day.

      1. Actually it was a mouse that gave me RSI type problems a few years ago and for a few years I switched to a track pad. You are correct that you sacrifice some speed at the begging but for me it was a choice between no computer at all or a track pad. After 2-3 years of track pad use I switched to a Logitech trackball and that works for me best. I am thinking of giving an Apple track pad a try but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. After I upgrade my Macs to Lion I might do that.

    1. Serious photo editors tend to use a tablet device – from my experience at least. Intuos or however it’s spelled needs to support Apple gestures rather than reinventing the wheel.

  6. Good riddance! Farewell to sticky balls!

    I really loved the Magic Mouse at first. Got a couple of them.
    Then I had to start cleaning dirty balls.
    First it was possible without opening them… then I had to crack them open to pull the dirty balls out. It seemed like the more I cleaned, the quicker the balls got sticky. Maybe they were just sweaty.
    Don’t even get me started on the hair-trigger side buttons.

    Anyway, I eventually I got sick of cleaning tiny mouse balls, and got a Logitech wireless (M305). Now I can’t remember what I ever saw in the magic mouse.

    1. Um, that was the MIGHTY Mouse, not the Magic Mouse. The Mighty Mouse has been discontinued, and the Magic Mouse does not have a ball, it is a limited multi-touch device (and has no side squeeze buttons).

      I had issues with my Mighty Mouse as well, got really irritated having to clean the ball. The Magic Mouse however, has been great, and I’d hate to see them discontinue it.

  7. New Microsoft Touch Mouse coincidence? When Microsoft finally invents their own Magic Mouse, you know it’s not Apple trendy anymore. Magic Mouse is definitely on the way out.

    The Magic Trackpad is remarkably nice. I’ve grown used to it rather quickly and prefer using it for casual computing. I only need the mouse for precision work or most games.

    1. iPhone app froze, didnt mean to post that :s .
      The ordinary mouse is kinda pointless now the Magic Mouse is out cos the magic mouse does everything the ordinary one does but better. The only good thin about the ordinary mouse is that its cheaper.
      They wont axe the magic mouse because they need a mouse for people who dont like trackpads, and the Magic Mouse is the best mouse they’ve got.

  8. The Magic Mouse takes some getting used to. What I don’t like is when I use a keyboard shortcut, and place my hand back in the mouse, it scrolls inadvertently, this takes some retraining of pacing your finger with out swiping. It can be annoying, but I think I am getting the hang of it.

  9. I’ll never own one until the make a wired version. Why do I need a wireless device that sits 12 inches from my computer?

    It violates good design principles.
    1. adding complexity with bluetooth which doesn’t always work.
    2. adding batteries, which always seem to die when you are in the middle of something important.

    Nope. Give me a USB version or no sale.

    1. macro
      If you don’t like it or found a better alternative, great, but you seem to have never used a Magic Mouse.
      Good design principles? Mine are ‘the fewer wires, the better, if performance is not affected’.

      1: I rarely have a problem with my bluetooth mouse or keyboard. Next to never, almost.
      2: It gives me enough warning of low battery life that I can actually charge two more before it ever runs down (although I generally have two ready in my Apple battery charger).

  10. This is a rumour. If it is true, it will be a huge mistake. The magic mouse is awesome. I use Better Touch Tool and am able to do any kind of gesturing I want. If they discontinue the MM, I will gesture with a middle finger.

  11. I look after some suites of Macs at a Uni. There’s no way we can have wireless devices as they’ll just get stolen (and/or their batteries will). If Apple don’t come up with any wired versions of their devices, I’m afraid I’ll be buying third party mice and all the gesture stuff in Lion will be impossible.

  12. Bad choice!!!!!! It’s only a rumor, it’s only a rumor.

    I already have a trackpad on my brand new MacBook Pro. My finders get sore from the trackpad with all the PhotoShop and other work I do, I NEED an alternative!
    Besides, the trackpad isn’t good for drawing selections.

    Just when Apple starting making the best mouse in the world. Oh well, there’s always the Microsoft mouse.
    . . . I can’t believe I just said that.

  13. I bought a magic trackpad and almost never use it. For me, the it is too hard to use. If you can use the magic trackpad, more power to you, but for me It’s a mouse or nothing.

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