Replacing mouse on iMac
May 16, 2017 4:53 PM   Subscribe

I want/need a new mouse for my iMac of roughly 2014/2015 vintage. It came with a battery-powered mouse...can I swap it for something rechargeable or plugged in?

So I have an iMac, picked up cheaply from a friend...I want to say it was current in 2015 or so. It's a large-screen mac which I cannot find any identifying marks on the outside, and currently it won't boot all the way because it cannot find a mouse.

The batteries in the mouse leaked (something which has been happening to me a lot with double-A batteries for whatever reason recently), and it died. I took it apart and cleaned it, but no luck.

I am frankly not sure if this is a "retina" iMac or the previous model which largely looks identical.

I'd like to replace the keyboard as well. So, Mac aficionados, what should I buy that will "simply work" to get this machine back up and running, with the caveat being it cannot rely on consumable batteries?

I use a wacom tablet with pen on my windows box, and like that format as a "mouse" interface, but frankly with pen life of less than a year these days, am not thrilled at the idea of giving them any more money.

I like the aesthetics of small aluminum keyboard the mac has but it is also AA-powered and frankly it's kind of ridiculous as a "real" keyboard. That said, I use this machine mostly to see how badly something is failing in Safari and occasionally opening something in a Mac-only program, so keeping the mouse and keyboard "standard" Apple stuff is fine with me...I just don't want to rely on AAs.
posted by maxwelton to Computers & Internet (16 answers total)
 
Any USB mouse and keyboard will work. If you want to keep the Apple aesthetic, they make a wired keyboard and mouse you can buy from them; the full sized wired keyboard even has a number pad. But, really, any wired USB keyboard/mouse you buy today will work with the iMac. Almost all wireless mice and keyboards, too.
posted by Betelgeuse at 5:09 PM on May 16, 2017 [2 favorites]


If you get a keyboard that is designed for Windows you might want to move the modifier keys (control, command, and option) to where they are on the Mac, which is easy to do (System Preferences→Keyboard→Modifier Keys). But (upon preview) Betelgeuse is right, pretty much any USB keyboard or mouse will work.
posted by Ampersand692 at 5:10 PM on May 16, 2017


Any USB mouse will work. I prefer Microsoft keyboards and mice to use with our Mac. Very good quality.
posted by My Dad at 5:56 PM on May 16, 2017


The Apple Magic Mouse is good, but it recharges with a lightning port under the goddamn mouse because for some reason they forgot how to design peripherals. Other than that, any mouse should work, although I'm actually partial to the Magic Touchpad because I like gestures.

On the other hand, I cannot recommend this Logitech keyboard enough. It types well, has a real number pad, and even though I keep it in a dark room almost all the time, it always has a charge. (Added bonus, of course, is its keys are laid out correctly for MacOS). It also almost looks like a Mac keyboard for the most part (a nice touch of Logitech to do faux aluminum/white).
posted by General Malaise at 6:52 PM on May 16, 2017


what should I buy that will "simply work" to get this machine back up and running, with the caveat being it cannot rely on consumable batteries?

If you don't mind paying, the latest gen bluetooth mouse and keyboard should work. I literally just bought this last week. The things both recharge with lighting. The keyboard is small (i.e. no number pad on the right, but nearly full sized function keys) and a little flat but otherwise they are great and no batteries. And yeah you can't use them while charging which is sort of on purpose but still annoying with Apple's generally good design aesthetic.
posted by jessamyn at 7:14 PM on May 16, 2017


Although I like the very best top-end Macs, I still use what it says here is a "Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse" which is probably one of the cheapest available. This one's four or five years old and still works perfectly.

Any wired mouse will work perfectly. Almost all wireless ones will too. Ditto keyboards. If you're an old-school typist check out the Das Keyboard 4, which is as close to perfect as I've ever found (even better than the original IBM PC keyboard).
posted by tillsbury at 7:14 PM on May 16, 2017


This is well-reviewed (if only 80 reviews), wired and costs about $25. Here's a cheapish mouse ($12) from the same company.

If it's in your budget the newer wireless keyboard and mouse use batteries, but it's a built-in li-on cell, not AAs. Of course the cost is significantly higher than $36
posted by O9scar at 7:30 PM on May 16, 2017


I have been using a Logitech Wireless Mouse M185 for a few years, and have no complaints at all. Run you less than 15 bucks on Amazon. A friend of mine recently got an Anker 2.4G wireless vertical ergonomic optical mouse and loves it. That will run you 20 bucks.
posted by old_growler at 8:30 PM on May 16, 2017


You can use any mouse you want. I personally prefer wired mouses -- wireless mice are more popular. I generally use Logitech. Get one that fits your hand nicely.
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:39 PM on May 16, 2017


I'm pretty fond of the Logitech M510 (though it's gotten so cheap now I'd have to suspect the quality). It's wireless with a dongle - and yes, you have to replace the battery but it lasts forever. The newer Apple Bluetooth is pretty serviceable, but it's expensive, and as others have mentioned, when you charge it, the charge port is in the bottom of the mouse. I've also been playing with one of the last Apple corded mice a bit, and I'm thinking that I may try using it as a daily driver - it's pretty good in limited use. Unlike most other peripherals, Macs are remarkably unpicky about mice.
posted by wotsac at 9:05 PM on May 16, 2017


You need to own the One True Mouse.
posted by flabdablet at 3:30 AM on May 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


I also recommend the Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse. It's cheap, robust, and just works.

If you don't mind the price, the Matias Pro is supposed to be the one true apple keyboard. They also make quiet and wireless versions.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:21 AM on May 17, 2017


The Matias wireless keyboard has a rechargeable batter, and claims to run for 1 year on a single charge. It is also aluminum to match the Apple aesthetic and $50 cheaper than the Matias Pro.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:34 AM on May 17, 2017


The Apple Magic Trackpad is amazingly good. I haven't used a mouse in years now.
posted by w0mbat at 12:10 PM on May 17, 2017


I've tended to prefer the higher end Logitech mice in the past fifteen or so years. With several Mac and PC's, we had found the Logitech MX1000 Laser to be a great mouse with just a few quirks back in the mid-2000's, including its atrocious charging stand. It fits the hand so well, though, and performs very well. Unfortunately, with feet failing, batteries dying, stand contacts requiring twiddling with every charge, etc., I decided to look at the MX Master, and I am so very glad I did.

They sell normally for around $100, but often on sale for $70, and I found a buy-three-get-an-extra-$10-per-off deal at Best Buy. For $60 it's a great desk mouse.

First off, it's Bluetooth, capable of pairing with up to three different devices, selectable via a pushbutton on the bottom. It comes with a USB bluetooth receiver in case your PC isn't Bluetooth. It worked a little oddly with one older Mac running OS X 10.9, where Bluetooth would freak out and drop the mouse every few months, but no problems on more modern Macs.

The hand feel of the MX Master is different than the MX1000. The buttons feel a bit cheaper but the scrollwheel is very solid. It has fewer of the special function buttons that the MX1000 was loaded with, which isn't a big loss in my book. Lacking a base, it would at least be possible to use it with a portable laptop, but it is a large mouse, so it is more of a desk mouse.

But the charging? This is the thing Logitech got right. The previous MX1000 was a great mouse, but the charging stand sucked. Because it could go weeks between charges, people tended to leave the mouse off the stand, and not notice it was dying, or, worse, put it on the stand but it'd slip a bit and stop charging. This means you could sit down to a dead mouse. That SUCKED.

The MX Master is supposed to be good for several weeks (they say up to 40 days) on a charge. But the good part is this: The mouse charges over micro USB. The micro USB is at the top of the mouse, where a mouse cord would normally be, and the mouse can be used while charging. Even better? If that's not good enough, you can hook up the USB for about a minute to charge it, and the mouse will run for at least an hour or two off of that.

This may well be overkill, but it's a really nice mouse and worth a mention.
posted by jgreco at 1:14 AM on May 18, 2017


So I have an iMac, picked up cheaply from a friend...I want to say it was current in 2015 or so. It's a large-screen mac which I cannot find any identifying marks on the outside

For many models of iMac, the identifying marks are on the underside of the base.

See Apple's Identify your iMac page for more info on this.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:20 AM on June 13, 2017


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