i’m not saying i agree with apple’s decision, but i find the perspective interesting.
But swapping tooling and retraining staff on assembly is extremely disruptive for a manufacturer. That disruption is passed back to the 1st party brand in incremental FOB and per-unit surcharge.
The incremental cost eats at your margin, which eats at your profit, which eats at your street price.
So, if you’re forced to choose between margin erosion and incremental cost for a product that has little effect on sales growth, you save the money and recycle the design.
People will bitch about the port on that mouse while they walk to the Apple Store to buy a new Mac that comes bundled with said mouse.
Apple will save millions annually by not optimizing a product that doesn’t really make them any money on its own.
When it’s reasonably cost effective to make a better peripheral, they will. Until then, they’re going to pay more attention to their books than people’s complaints, because mice don’t drive their business.
That anyone uses this mouse for an extended period is insane. It’s heavy a fuck, not ergonomic in the slightest, has insane uncomfortable edging, and cannot be used plugged in.
This mouse has no redeeming qualities at all.
Also that's Apple we are talking about, they are huge and can use manufacturing processes no one else can afford to use. And if it can improve their design even a tiny bit, they do. For example, when designing injection molded plastic parts, most designers feature what is called a draft angle, which mean the walls are not straight and parallel but at an angle, this is to help the part come out of the mold easily. Not Apple. Apple want its walls straight because they think it looks better, and they do what it takes to do it, even if it is much harder and expensive.
So, no, I don't believe Apple will compromise its design for technical details like swapping tooling and retraining staff, especially considering that the product has been out in its current form for more than a decade. They have more than enough resources to do exactly the mouse they want.
I also don't believe the "it comes for free with an iMac so no one cares" argument. Again, Apple attention to details is legendary and people pay good money for that, and it is not like they are bundling a cheap plastic mouse like most manufacturers, it is one of the most premium looking mouse on the market, with unique features.
All that to say that it has to be a deliberate choice, not a quirk of the manufacturing process.
It's the Tim Cook playbook. FFS they regularly sell years old computers.
Seriously though. This is absolutely correct. I get that some people don't like it, but I really don't get the obsession with the charging port.
I guess I should be glad that these people didn't complain the Apple Watch can't be worn while it's charging.
The wireless mice I've had with optionally connected cords for data/charging do tend to have a big glob of plastic at the end that locks into the mouse housing so none of the strain is on the actual USB connection.
Things like these:
https://www.amazon.com/Gaming-Mouse-Cable-Meters-Copper/dp/B...
They just want to control exactly how you use their products
The obvious response is that the mouse should be thicker to accommodate those batteries, but that goes against Apple's entire ethos.
I always shake my fist in the air and curse "Eric Seifert's Mouse" semi-silently in frustration!
The constant need to have lithium ion is really terrible. Battery life is less of an issue when I can swap batteries quickly with common sizes.
I found having to always keep a supply of batteries at hand was more inconvenient than just plugging in the mouse once in a while.