Apple upgrades Macs, tweaks MacBook, introduces mouse

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 00:49

Your IT - Home IT

The last announcement is of a product that probably has to be used to be appreciated -- the wireless (Bluetooth) Magic Mouse with the same multitouch capabilities found in Apple's latest notebooks.

In MacBook Pros (and now in the MacBook), the trackpad is a glass surface that enables the operator to use various finger motions, using one or more fingers, to perform common actions.

The trackpad also serves as the button -- you press the entire surface to click or double-click.

Similarly, the entire surface of the Magic Mouse is touch-enabled. You can drag a finger across it to scroll horizontally or vertically, use two fingers to move through photos or Web pages, and use it with the Control key to zoom in and out.

Furthermore, the entire surface of the mouse is the button, with one user-customizable corner serving as the right-click button.

A video showing how the multitouch capabilities work is available toward the bottom of this page.

Mulitouch Magic Mouse. Click for larger image. Courtesy Apple.

The Magic Mouse comes with the new iMacs and also is available by itself for US$69 or AU$99.

It requires the latest version of Leopard or Snow Leopard and a Wireless Mouse Software update.