I've Given Up

I've given up on thinking that Apple's Magic Mouse is ever going to work reliably with my MacBook Pro again. It's just one of those things that's broken and apparently can't be fixed no matter how much Apple mucks around with it. While it worked flawlessly and the Bluetooth connection was rock solid under Snow Leopard, I can say with certainty that it hasn't worked properly since Lion, and the problem has become insufferable since Mavericks. I keep hoping that with each new OS release/patch that the obvious bluetooth issues are going to go away, but nooooooo…

At first I believed (based on what I'd read online) that the issue was the batteries flopping around in the battery compartment, causing the mouse to lose power for a moment and drop connectivity. Who knew at AA batteries weren't all the exact same size? Sure enough, different brands did fit differently, but the issue never resolved itself no matter what brand I bought. Even when I gave up on AA cells completely and bought the rechargable Mobee power pack (which fit very snugly in the battery compartment of the mouse) it would still drop connection.

And by drop connection, I don't mean that it would disconnect and reconnect a few seconds later. I mean it would disconnect, and the only way to get it talking to the laptop again would be a complete reboot. Until it happened the next time. Ad nauseum.

So when the Magic Mouse 2 with it's integral rechargeable battery came out a few months ago, of course I jumped on it. And to be fair, the problem did clear up for the most part. But lately it's come back and it's as infuriating as ever.

(This problem happens even with a fresh, virgin load of the OS, so it's not some other piece of software interfering with the functionality. And BTW, there are reams of discussion online regarding this issue.)

So why do I insist on sticking with the Magic Mouse? Because—ironically—while I hated how it felt in my hand when I first got one all those many years ago, I now prefer the ergonomics. I also like the inertial scrolling, which Apple only seems to make available with that particular model.

"So why are you using a mouse at all? Why aren't you using the trackpad on your laptop?"

Because even with as excellent as the Apple trackpads are, I've used a mouse most of my adult life and far and away prefer it over the pad. I will use the trackpad if I'm away from a hard surface, but using a mouse is still my preferred method of moving around the screen.