Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in one of his newsletters this month that Apple is working on a new version of the Magic Mouse, and now a Korean leaker has suggested that it will include “voice control.”
While Gurman hasn’t heard the same information from any of his sources, he did chime in on X to say he thinks it makes sense “in light of AI” and the fact that Apple likely intends this iteration of the Magic Mouse to have a long life, just like its predecessor.
Voice control in the new Magic Mouse I wrote about this month makes sense in light of AI — and the fact that Apple is on a decade-plus cycle. From what I’ve heard, big focus is ergonomics and gestures (relocated USB-C too). I’d expect a new keyboard too. https://t.co/FtUcR2Yqdj
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) December 30, 2024
The phrase “voice control” is a little odd, however. We’re not talking about controlling the mouse by voice; we’re talking about accessing voice-controlled features on your PC like Siri through the mouse. Your computer will still be doing all the work so, rather than having voice control, it might be more accurate to say the new Magic Mouse will have a microphone. Admittedly, this does sound a lot less exciting.
If you wanted to talk to ChatGPT on a desktop PC right now, you’d need to use the microphone from a webcam, a headset, or a standalone microphone to get the job done. If a mic was just hiding away in your mouse, on the other hand, you’d always have access without needing to turn anything else on. That probably means, however, that Apple should extend the same accessibility to Magic Touchpad users and stick a mic on that as well.
Aside from microphones and voice control, Gurman believes that the main focus will be on ergonomics and gestures. The shape of the original Magic Mouse is one of the main things people hate about it since it pretty much ignores the shape of the human hand and just focuses on what looks cool instead.
The same goes for the infamous charging port, which is hidden on the bottom of the mouse to avoid it hurting the aesthetics. Gurman has already mentioned that Apple plans to finally change this placement, however, and it will be interesting to see what kind of solution it comes up with. After the latest placement debacle with the M4 Mac mini and its power button, there’s a distinct possibility that Apple could get this wrong again.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.