Okay, so here’s the deal: Apple’s Magic Mouse. You know the one. That flat, sleek, infuriatingly beautiful piece of plastic that usually costs an arm and a leg, and then some. Well, guess what? It’s on sale. Engadget says it’s down to sixty-eight bucks. Sixty-eight! And you know what? That’s still kinda wild, even for Apple.

The Mouse That Time Forgot (and Apple Still Sells)

Look, I’ve been doing this gig for a while, seen a lot of tech come and go. And the Magic Mouse? It’s like a relic. A design choice that feels like it was made on a dare back in 2009 and then, because it’s Apple, they just… stuck with it. Forever. You gotta give ’em credit for that stubbornness, I guess.

The thing is, it’s not just a mouse. It’s the Apple mouse. It’s got that minimalist vibe, the smooth multi-touch surface that’s actually pretty cool for scrolling and swiping. And yeah, it just looks right next to an iMac or a MacBook Pro. It fits the aesthetic, you know?

But then you remember the charger. Oh, that charger. You flip the mouse over, and there it is, right on its belly. So, when it’s charging, your fancy sixty-eight dollar mouse (or ninety-nine dollars, which is its usual price, let’s not forget) is completely useless. It’s like buying a car that needs to be towed to fill up its gas tank. Who thought that was a good idea? Seriously, I wanna know. Was it a Monday morning decision? A Friday afternoon “let’s just get this done” moment? It drives me absolutely nuts.

A “Steal” For Whom, Exactly?

Now, the Engadget piece calls it a “steal.” And if you’re comparing it to its usual price of, what, $79 or $99? Yeah, okay, twenty or thirty bucks off is a discount. A deal. But a “steal”? I mean, it’s still sixty-eight dollars for a mouse with a design flaw that’s been mocked relentlessly for years. This isn’t like finding a vintage Rolex for fifty bucks at a yard sale. This is more like getting a slightly less expensive ticket to the same rollercoaster that sometimes stops mid-loop. It’s a deal, sure, but you’re still getting on that rollercoaster.

Does Anyone Actually Love This Mouse?

Here’s the thing: I know people who swear by it. Like, swear by it. They love the gestures, the look, the feel. And if you’re used to it, if you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem, it just… works. It integrates. You don’t have to think about it. And for a lot of folks, that seamless experience is worth a premium. Even with the charging situation.

But I’ve also seen plenty of people, myself included, ditch it for something else pretty quick. Something with an actual ergonomic curve, maybe some side buttons, and for god’s sake, a charging port that doesn’t render it inoperable. I’ve got a friend, bless his heart, who keeps buying them. Every time he gets a new Mac, he goes through the same cycle: “Oh, it’s so sleek!” then two weeks later, “Ugh, my wrist!” He’s probably bought five of these things over the years. He’s part of the problem, I tell him.

“It’s not just a mouse; it’s a testament to Apple’s ability to sell you an experience, even if that experience occasionally involves a maddening charging ritual.”

The Apple Premium, Still Premium

So, this $68 price point. It’s interesting. It’s not a fire sale, it’s not like they’re clearing out old stock because a new Magic Mouse 2.0 (with, dare I dream, a front charging port?) is coming out. It’s just a regular sale. And it highlights something we all know about Apple: their stuff costs more. Always has, probably always will. You’re buying into a brand, an aesthetic, an ecosystem. You’re not just buying a mouse, you’re buying the Apple mouse. It’s status. It’s a statement. And yeah, it’s sixty-eight dollars.

I mean, you can get a really, really good, super ergonomic, feature-packed mouse from Logitech or MX Master for probably around the same price, sometimes even less. One that you can use while it’s charging, for starters. One that won’t make your wrist ache after an hour of Photoshopping. But those don’t have the glowing Apple logo, do they? And they don’t have that specific multi-touch magic, which, when it works, is pretty good, I have to admit.

What This Actually Means

This “deal” isn’t about saving a few bucks on a peripheral. It’s about Apple, once again, successfully setting the bar for what a basic computer accessory costs, even when it has some pretty obvious design flaws. It’s about consumer loyalty, about the power of the brand. And it’s about the fact that if you want the full Apple experience, you’re probably just gonna fork over the cash, even if you grumble about it. We all do it, don’t we? We complain, we roll our eyes, and then we click “add to cart.” Because for all its quirks, there’s just something about that Apple shine that keeps pulling us back in. Sixty-eight dollars for that? Well, I guess it depends on how much you value seamless integration… and how often you forget to charge your mouse.