One engineer decided he could do it better than Apple, and set out to fix the charging port and ergonomics problems with the Apple Magic Mouse
Apple products are usually praised for their design. The company has acquired many life-long loyalists thanks to the user-friendly and accessible nature of devices such as the iPhone or iPad. The wireless Magic Mouse, however, was one area where Apple didn’t quite hit the mark – so one enterprising engineer took it upon himself to solve the flaws in the Magic Mouse.
Over on Twitter/X, an engineer named Ivan Kuleshov announced that he had hacked the Magic Mouse. What this referred to was a project to, in his words “create the world’s first ergonomic Magic Mouse with no weaknesses.”
Magic Mouse gets a cool mod to fix Apple’s mistake
Since its launch, the Magic Mouse has been met with criticism. Though many praised its aesthetics, reviewers were less kind to the functionality, noting that the low profile of the mouse it uncomfortable for many users.
One major downside was the location of the charging port for the battery – which was inexplicably placed on the underside of the mouse, meaning the mouse could not be used whilst it was charging, unlike many other rechargeable wireless mice.
It was Kuleshov’s mission to rectify both of these problems. Firstly, he designed a new enclosure for the mouse, and after at least eight attempts at 3D printing something suitable, Kuleshov finally hit on a design he was happy with.
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Next was the task of re-engineering the charging port. Kuleshov was careful to ensure that the battery was being charged directly, so it didn’t turn off when charging.
This does come with the unusual quirk of making the OS believe that the mouse is still running on battery, even though it is plugged it, but at least users can enjoy having the USB-C charging port in a sensible place.
I have written a short article for those interested in learning more about my Magic Mouse hack. Enjoy reading it.https://t.co/B0zHxnAn2eThank you for your attention! pic.twitter.com/v9c1GVRyt4
— Ivan Kuleshov (@Merocle) November 17, 2023
To add even more flair to the Magic Mouse, Kuleshov installed some customizable RGB backlighting, to make it fit in with many other gaming products on the market.
Kuleshov documented his project on the Hackathon website Uptime Lab and has stated his intention to make documentation and 3D print files available on GitHub, so other users will be able to hack their own Magic Mouse.