There’s a logic to Apple’s laziness

I can’t help but smile as the internet erupts with anger. The reason this time? Apple has switched its Mac accessories from Lightning to USB-C… and declined to take this opportunity to relocate the charging port on the Magic Mouse.

I like to imagine that Tim Cook and the gang were sitting in a meeting and someone said, “Can’t we just troll everyone and keep the charging port in exactly the same place?” Whereupon Cook nodded his head in agreement and said in his mild Alabama tones, “I think they’re going to love it.”

Don’t get me wrong, the Magic Mouse’s charging port is perhaps the silliest tech product decision since Philips tried to launch AmBX, a system that turned your desk into a maelstrom of cords, fans, speakers, and lights. But Apple chose not to correct this mistake, and I can’t help but find this rather charming. The company that strives for perfection and quality simply shrugs at the world’s worst-placed charging port and tells us to get over it.

Unsurprisingly, this has not proved popular, and the internet is full of tech writers calling Apple’s decision into question. Tom Warren from The Verge wails “Whyyyyyy” on Twitter (now X). Marques Brownlee announced the move using the words “I have bad news.“

So what’s the thinking? Is it really an attempt to troll us? My guess is that Apple considers charging ports to be a necessary evil and something that should be as invisible as possible. The fact is that a fully charged Magic Mouse lasts about a month, and just 10 minutes of charging will give you days of use. Is it so difficult to charge the mouse when it’s not in use?

For that matter, if Apple redesigned the Magic Mouse and put the charging port in plain sight, there’s a decent chance that the internet would now be filled with loud complaints that “They ruined the look!” How does that saying go again? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

And there you have Apple’s biggest problem. No matter what the company does, someone will always complain. That a product doesn’t feature the absolute latest features, or that the placement of the charging port disturbs their aesthetic sense and now requires years of therapy to work through the trauma.

How many companies have created the perfect product that everyone likes? I can’t think of a single one. We can’t agree on anything. If Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in the Internet era, someone would be pounding away on their keyboard right now, complaining about the taste.

But it’s time for me to wind up this column. I can’t work anymore, you see. I have to charge my Magic Mouse.