“I purchased the Mighty Mouse, eventually, with skepticism, chiefly from reading an equal share of both positive and negative reviews. I remember taking a trek down to the Apple Store in Regent Street, London, with a couple of friends—who had iPod issues they were looking to sort– to buy this little rodent of a computer device. I got home that day, plugged it in, installed the drivers and I was away,” Aaron Wright writes for Apple Matters.
“My first reaction? Wow, excellent! I couldn’t understand why so many people were knocking this mouse, it was sort of a revolution as far as Apple products go, we finally had a two buttoned mouse,” Wright writes.
“However, that joy wasn’t going to last. I believe I purchased my Mighty Mouse around September 2005 and used it pretty much daily until about two weeks ago, when I finally decided enough was enough. I wasn’t fed up with any of the software functions of the mouse, nor was I disappointed with anything else the mouse had to offer, as such,” Wright writes. “I was actually fed up of using the little white piece of plastic because the scroll wheel [Scroll Ball] had completely clogged up. It had ceased to function and I was angry and frustrated that I could no longer take full benefit of the £40 I paid for it. I’m now planning to return it to the Apple store this weekend to see if I can get a replacement, but then I got to thinking, is there any point?”
“I look after my computer equipment quite well, especially considering the amount of money spent on it, I think it’s only right. But no amount of cleaning could prevent the [Scroll Ball] getting clogged up,” Wright writes. “Here’s something I now fear. Every new iMac sold since January, I believe, comes equipped with a Mighty Mouse as standard, no more singled-buttoned ‘Mouse.’ I’ve had my Mighty Mouse less than a year and it’s already gone [bad] on me, so what’s in store for all those iMac buyers out there? It’s a worrying thought for Apple if other users out there experience the same issues I’ve had with mine.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s Mighty Mouse is a great mouse when it’s clean. It’s the only mouse we’ve found that we actually use the scrolling feature routinely… when it’s clean. We’ve had multiple Mighty Mouse units in action since last August. On average, they have each been cracked open and the Scroll Ball’s tiny magnetic rollers cleaned approximately six (6) times in the past 11.5 months. That’s way too much, Apple. We don’t know how to fix the clogged Scroll Ball issue, but Apple should really work on this problem. Our hands are generally quite clean; we do wash frequently. We can only imagine how quickly a Mighty Mouse in a classroom setting would clog. This whole thing reminds us of one thing: time to go crack open another Mighty Mouse and clean the ball’s tiny magnetic rollers once again. Sigh.
[Update: 1:04pm EDT: We’re back. Cleaning accomplished. Again. Aren’t we fast? We’ve had a lot of practice. A clean Mighty Mouse is a joy! Anyway, for those in need, Apple has an impotent, impractical “How to clean your Mighty Mouse” doc and video on their site, but real instructions on how to clean your Mighty Mouse can be found here.]
Related MacDailyNews articles:
ZDNet UK review gives Apple Mighty Mouse 6.6 out of 10 – August 31, 2005
Dr. Mac: ‘Mighty Mouse is the finest mouse Apple has ever produced’ – August 09, 2005
The Boston Globe: first shipments of Apple’s Mighty Mouse ‘sold out almost immediately’ – August 08, 2005
Mercury News: Apple’s Mighty Mouse looks ‘like the world’s most carefully crafted bar of soap’ – August 08, 2005
AnandTech: Apple’s Mighty Mouse ‘isn’t exactly perfect’ – August 05, 2005
NY Times’ Pogue: ‘I certainly prefer the Mighty Mouse’ to Apple’s standard one-button mouse – August 04, 2005
Apple’s Mighty Mouse dissected (with image) – August 04, 2005
The Motley Fool: ‘Mighty Mouse may be the next step in Apple’s quiet crusade to lure Windows users’ – August 04, 2005
Mossberg pans Apple Mighty Mouse, says Microsoft’s latest mouse is better – August 04, 2005
Review: Apple’s Mighty Mouse – Third-party USB mouse makers should be very afraid – August 03, 2005
Apple introduces multi-button ‘Mighty Mouse’ with ‘Scroll Ball’ for Mac and Windows – August 02, 2005
Apple’s new ‘Mighty Mouse’ provides audio feedback for clicking and scrolling – August 02, 2005
Apple’s mythical two-button mouse – March 19, 2005
RUMOR: Apple may soon debut two-button mouse – March 15, 2005
Apple’s Pro Mouse is truly a joy to use… for about five minutes – May 29, 2004
The time has come for Apple to ship a two-button scroll mouse standard – June 09, 2003
Should Apple reconsider the one-button mouse? – October 23, 2002
Ok, I’ll bite. How do you crack open the mighty mouse?
my girlfriend hates dirty balls!
Design over function! Overheating MacBooks and non-functional mice, but hey they look smooth, shiny and hip, so what if they don’t function correctly?
Pfft.
How do you crack the MM open? Is there a website that shows this.
I have had a scroll ball for almost a year and have not had to clean it. It still is working fine. (I know I’ll need to clean it sometime). I’m waiting for the dogone wireless MM. C’mon hurry up Apple!
Try spraying some air on it. That’s what my friend Brandon does with his.
http://www.cafepress.com/stenar/901766
I’ve had two mighty mouses, I just got a new one with my new iMac about four months ago, and then one a few months after the first one came out. I use them lke crazy. No clogs here. Someone needs to wash their hands. Dirty people. YUCK, take a bath.
This is shamefull
I dunno. Never had a problem with my Mighty Mouse. Don’t eat Cheeto’s and mouse at the same time!
Have you tired to turn the mouse upside down and clean it like Apple’s website suggest? That does it for me. I’m not too happy about having to do it ever month or so but I’m on my computer about 60 hours a week work/school/projects/play.
“my girlfriend hates dirty balls!”
Yeah, that’s what she told me, too.
Enough of all you whiners and fault-finders. Enough!
The rest of the computing world has leprosy, but when Apple gets a pimple you scream bloody murder. Dell’s portables catch on fire, but when the Mighty Mouse doesn’t live up to YOUR expectations, it’s the end of the damn world.
FYI: I’ve had an MM since January, with no problems whatsoever.
I will continue to come to this site to read the headlines–but little more. You guys can continue to feed on each other and highlight every little boil on the world’s ass.
You deserve each other.
Methinks someone is picking their nose while taking glimpses at porn.
“my girlfriend hates dirty balls!”
Yeah, that’s what she told me, too.
funny!, mine didnt bother her!
If you quit picking your nose when using the mouse, it will work great.
I bought mine they came out and use it approx 9 solid hours a day for work. The track ball is one of the features I use the most on my mighty mouse. I’m not very carefull with it and I even use it after eating food (I eat my lunch at my desk, UGH!) and the track ball only gotten stuck once. I went to the Apple Disscussions board and quickly found the solution to the problem. All you need to do is blast the ball with a can of compressed air (you can get a can at any computer / office supply store). It didn’t take much to get the ball moving again. I’ve never had any problems with it since then.
GIVE ME A WIRELESS MIGHTY MOUSE.
I am on my 3rd mouse. They last about a month then clog up.
So to sum it all up… If your balls get clogged just have them blown off.
I have been annoyed by malfunctioning scroll ball on my mighty-mouse too….and cleaning often only works for a month or so before it gets sticky again. Why doesn’t Apple spend the extra buck and put in an optical scroll sensor?
I’d like to cross reference people with scratched iPods and people with sticking keyboards and people with clogged mice.
Are we talking about all the same people that just so happen to get the worst of any technology they purchase? And don’t get me started on that Blog guy (don’t know his site, took it off my bookmarks) that has broken… er, has HAD every Powerbook he’s had break on him.
“my girlfriend hates dirty balls!”
Yeah, that’s what she told me, too.
funny!, mine didnt bother her!
Yaah, when I was with her last night she said they actually did.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed many beautiful buildings and houses in the early 20th century. Many of them are considered as works of art. Unfortunately a lot of them have suffered water leaks in the roof (for example, Johnson Building), few had structural problems (Fallingwater), but the owners of those buildings and houses never complained about the overall experience of owning a Frank Lloyd Wright designed building. Sounds familiar?
And everyone has forgotten how the Bluetooth wireless mouse chews thru batteries too I expect?
Using 2500mAh rechargables, I have to swap my batteries once a week (yes, it’s used heavily, 14+ hrs/day, but even if it’s not used, they still run down!)
I just turn mine over and with an alcohol pad roll the ball around for a minute or two and then take some tissue and rool the ball for another minute until it’s dried all the alcohol out of the ball-whole. Done. Good for another couple months!
Other mice manufacturers allow me to pick my nose whilst browsing porn. Why not Apple? I thought they designed with the user in mind?
My MickyMouse, just disconnect it, turn it around rubble it, click it with a antistatic cloth, and it is ready to go for .. weeks ! Got it almost a year ago.
I just have problems when I get AstroGlide all over my mouse,
I have had two for well, since they came out. During lunch I work while I am eating, so I get oils and stuff on my fingers. It does clog, not often but it cleans easily if I unplug it, turn it upside down and roll that little sucker like crazy.
The only bummer was I thought I’d give a two button mouse a try, that lasted about a month. I can’t do two buttons, contextual menus popping up everywhere. So I am back to control+click.
– Press MMouse against lips.
– Gently blow on uniball, twice.
– MMouse is ‘unclogged’, and responds happily again.
I’ve had a mighty mouse ever since they came out last year. Never had the problem listed here. I wouldn’t give up its scrolling capabilities for any other mouse out there. I wish it conformed to my hand a bit more than it does but still the best mouse that I have bought in years.
Well, I’ve had pretty much the exact same experience as Aaron Wright. I love my Mighty Mouse, I really do, but I’ve given up on expecting its scroll ball to work consistently, or, recently, at all. I can scroll the ball all I want, but the mouse doesn’t make a sound, and the page doesn’t budge. When it does work, more often than not it’s just horizontally, or only up and not down.
I can only assume that this is the result of the scroll ball being ‘clogged up’, as so many people have complained about. I began to notice problems not that long after buying the Mighty Mouse (about a year ago, like Mr. Wright), and the scroll functionality has become steadily less consistent, finally finding a kind of consistency in not functioning at all.
At least the problem I had at one point, where the mouse registered the centre mouse click as always depressed, vanished. It appeared gradually, stuck around long enough to be damned irritating, and then vanished completely for no apparent reason.
I’m sorry, but I have to label the Mighty Mouse the one example of a failure by Apple to meet its own standards. I’m a Mac user and an iPod user; I’m used to products I buy from Apple offering intuitive function where the competition is inelegant and unreliable, not finding myself in situations where apologists defend the product by telling me i just need to purchase a can of compressed air or pull the entire product apart.
The Mighty Mouse is, essentially, to other mice what Windows PCs are to Macs: it doesn’t ‘just work’ like it should. I’ve never encountered another mouse which got confused as to what the user was clicking or simply refused to scroll. It has looks and ergonomics going for it…but nothing else. Sorry, Apple, but you’ve got a less-than-satisfied customer on this one, and I’m not the only one.
Magic Word: age, as in “the Mighty Mouse doesn’t age well.”
“my girlfriend hates dirty balls!”
My girlfriend LOVES sweaty balls!
1. If you have a defective mouse, call Apple, I can’t help you. This begs the question, have you communicated yer present difficulties with Apple? You know, Apple might even send you a replacement mouse.
2. If you can’t or won’t perform the simple task of routinely cleaning of yer mouse, you should hire someone to clean it for you. Set up a bi-weekly schedule with a trained and reputable mouse cleaner to surgically remove the gunk.
3. If hiring an experienced and board-certified mouse cleaner to obliterate the grime in yer mouse is too expensive, buy a trackball.
The advice provided is not intended to replace sound and sensible judgment in maintaining the proper function of the Mighty Mouse; and does not apply to mice that have been damaged by neglect, abused in fits of pique, tampered with by unskilled primates, or subject to physical conditions that exceed manufacture’s recommendations.
Cubert,
Don’t you find they leave sweat stains on her chin?
I know I’ll be crucified for this, but you all should try a Microsoft mouse. I built a PC about 4 years ago, and I’ve had the same Microsoft mouse since, and I couldn’t be happier with this mouse. Probably many will have problems with purchasing anything Microsoft out of principle, but I like my mouse. Logitech makes good stuff, too, and stuff customized for Apple computers.
The mighty mouse blows. I love Apple stuff, but that thing is total crap. I’ve got a simple MS mouse, and it’s hands-down the best mouse I’ve ever used. Simple, wireless, ergonomic, and without an endlessly long USB plug.
That little ball irritates the fsck out of me when it gets dirt on it. One grain of sand is enough to render it inoperable. Nice to see that it wasn’t just me.
This is a maintenance issue, not a design flaw.
I got one of the new iMac Core Duo’s when they first came out, which came with a Mighty Mouse. After about 4 months, the scroll ball stopped scrolling down, but would scroll in any other direction. I dealt with it for a few weeks until I could get a chance to go to an Apple Store, since the closest one is almost 2 hours away.
A couple days before my trip, I was on a Mac Forum I frequent, and noticed a thread complaining about the exact same thing, the scroll ball would not scroll down. There were several people in the thread experiencing this problem. I decided to check out Apple’s website to see how long the warranty is on the MM, and noticed a very large number of reviews complaining about the same issue. A few of the reviews suggested cleaning the scroll ball with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip.
I decided to try this for myself. I soaked a q-tip in rubbing alcohol, and used it to spin the scroll ball rapidly in every direction. After doing this, my MM worked perfectly again. You may have to do it a couple of times if it is really bad, but it doesn’t take long at all. It took about 5 minutes the first time, and now I just clean it once a month and it only takes a minute or two.
Thanks MDN for the cleaning links. I LOVE my Mighty Mouse, and wouldn’t want to go back.
It does work better with Aperture than PhotoShop, I need to scroll around photos, not zoom it. Adobe should fix that.
Thanks also to G-ZUS, and Hoolahan. I’ll try your suggestions as well.
My boss, a lady, complains that her Mighty Mouse “tit” does not work properly. Kind of makes it more fun to use.
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wash your hands dirt asses… I’ve had my mighty mouse since launch and had NO problems with the ball.
from Hoolahan:
“- Press MMouse against lips.
– Gently blow on uniball, twice.
– MMouse is ‘unclogged’, and responds happily again.”
you expect us to give a blow J to MM for real?
I’m a going to say this once:
MACMICE’S “THE MOUSE” IS THE BEST MOUSE AVAILABLE FOR THE MAC.
That is all.
Could not say how mine works. NEVER use it.
I got a Logitech keyboard and laser mouse (usb wireless) and been quite happy. Its mouse has a standard MS type roller in the middle.
Actually the keyboard is programmed with lots of pre programmed buttings but most work quite well too.
Later,
Just had my MM scroll ball cleaned last week; the Genius recommended just using a cotton swab with a little bit of rubbing alcohol once a month or so.
I really like the MM overall; it’s great to have the right click feature (I use it a ton on Firefox), the scrollball makes it much easier to view long pages (or to get past all the ads on MDN), and I’ve got the side squeeze buttons set to bring up Dashboard so I can quickly check the MDN headlines on the MDN Widget or my Gmail on the Gmail Inbox Widget (yeah, I like Dashboard — wanna make something of it?).
I too am waiting for the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse to go with the Bluetooth keyboard…
EEEEEEWWWWW MICE?
Forget the damn mice!
Get the Kensington Expert Mouse with the scroll ring and 4 programmable buttons. Excellent driver software, too!
http://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html
The ball has optical pickups. When crud gunks it up, pop out the ball and brush them off… 10 seconds on a slow day.
What Kensington needs to do is release a Bluetooth mode! THAT would be perfection!
Must be a lot of dirty hands around — mine gives no problems, despite going on laptop trips to faraway places.
Dirty balls? A lick or two cleans them up fine…
Mr. Reeee (If that is your real name):
My father’s Kensignton trackball failed 2 years ago. He sent it back to the company for repair. I’m not certain if the device was still under warranty or not. Kensington sent him a completely new and upgraded trackball. He’s been a loyal fan of Kensington ever since.
I want a wireless mighty mouse that has a recharging station!!
There are many people on this site that are claiming that they’ve had no problems with their Mighty Mouse “tit” (I’m not including myself in that category, but it is working now without breaking it open)
Maybe Apple quietly improved the mouse and the new ones don’t have the problem as much.
I finally switched when the iMac Core Duo came out and got a 20″ along with Apple Care. Being a Windows EX, I was no stranger to cleaning mice balls, but finally gave up and Apple sent me a new Mighty Mouse. It has hung up only once, and cleaned easily. My problem may not even be related to the mouse, but the cursor will jump halfway across the screen once or twice and hour. Did this with both mice. Annoying sometimes. Any ideas?
TowerTone:
Try a new mouse pad or a sheet of paper.
I’ve never had this problem. Wash you hands, nerds!
I do, but they sweat when I read stupid post.
Thanks Luke
Brings back (not-so) fond memories of my Kensington TurboMouse. I absolutely loved the thing EXCEPT that the rollers under the ball would constantly gunk up and need to be cleaned. The fact that the Mighty Mouse does the same doesn’t surprise me but this type of problem does NOT affect only Macintosh products.I get tired of reading about problems with Mac products that ALSO affect every other like Windoze products the same.
“This is a maintenance issue, not a design flaw.
—> Have to respectfully disagree here. Cleaning mouse balls became an extinct practice after the death of the optomechanical mouse. Yes, I know this is a top scroll ball and not an underside ball, but IMHO the Mighty Mouse sucketh *mightily*. To each his own I guess. Apple can build a better scroll system than this that does not need cleaning (read: wheel instead of ball).
Check this out – here is a picture of the *first* mouse invented in 1963(!) by Douglas Engelbart:
Mine? It likes to “click” on it’s own sometimes. Goes crazy if my fingers even get fairly close to the top of it. Then it goes away.
And then it comes back.
It seems to be timed to humidity. And this is the third Mighty Mouse I have had that has this issue. As well as the cloging.
I like the mouse but it’s got issues that need a little ironing out.
[I got one of the new iMac Core Duo’s when they first came out, which came with a Mighty Mouse. After about 4 months, the scroll ball stopped scrolling down, but would scroll in any other direction.]
Exact same problem, and admit Hoolihan’s (above) advice works.
Only, I just think of the scroller as ‘the little man in the boat’ whenever I need to get her to respond happily.
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Oh, and I forgot the speaker inside of the MM makes a faint ‘ticking’ whenever my neighbor uses his Ham radio.
i have a mighty mouse, and i love it. occasionaly it does stop scrolling down, but it doesnt bother me. i just turn it upside down, give the ball a little scroll, and its good as gold!
the mighty is the best mouse i have ever used, and when i use other macs without a mighty mouse, i find myself trying to scroll and right click on it.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> but yea, i couldn’t operate without one.
5/5 in my books.
you find with everything, your going to have to clean it every now and then. so stop complaining.
I thought this was a huge problem, too, when my own scroll ball stopped working after a month or so.
Then I read the trick of turning it upside down and rolling it around over a cotton cloth while pressing down (so that the scroll pea is depressed while it’s rolling). Works like a charm.
Every month or so, when it starts to have trouble, I’ll just turn it over and roll it around on my pant leg or T-shirt. It takes about four seconds and it works every time.
I just cleaned my MM for the first time since I had it (bought it when it came out). I opened it up, so it is now spotless on the inside. Unfortunately opening it means breaking the glue spots where the collar is glued to the top. You can either glue the collar back on or you can use a few small strips of adhesive tape to hold it in place.
As to the invention of the mouse: that was 1968, not 1963. Doug gave a brilliant demonstration of personal computing at the ACM conference, using a mouse, hypertexts, windows, multimedia and even collaborative work through the network with the remote person moving a second pointer on the screen. See
http://devwin.acm.org/awards/citation.cfm?id=7929781&srt=all&aw=140&ao=AMTURING
(or Google forthe words:
acm mouse demo engelbart
and use the first link)
You can find a link to videos of the demo on that page.
I saw them at the 30th anniversary of the demo in 1998.
What most people do not know is that Doug still uses the “other” device: a chord keyboard. When he uses the keyboard he uses two hands on the keys, but when he grabs the mouse with his right hand, he also moves his left hand to the chord keyboard sitting to the left of the keyboard. He can continue “typing” there using chord presses.