Apple finally addresses its most infamous design crime

Ah, the Magic Mouse 2. Apple's wireless mouse for Mac has its fair share of detractors, and arguably isn't a contender for the Apple design hall of fame. The most glaring issue is that once the thing runs out of juice, it's rendered utterly unusable while charging – since the port is on the bottom of the mouse, you have to flip it upside down to charge it up.

In a new interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook at WWDC 2024, YouTuber Marques Brownlee listed a series of Apple products and asked for Cook's views on where it sits in the company's pantheon. Somewhat mischievously, he includes the Magic Mouse. Was Apple's CEO about to admit that the company made a mistake? 

You know the answer to that one. Of course he didn't. Instead, Cook rather hilariously described the creation of the Magic Mouse as an "incredible moment", referring to the importance of "getting the ergonomics well done". Which, as many amused viewers have commented, is exactly what Apple arguably didn't do. How Brownlee managed to keep a straight face remains a mystery.

"This is an internet Hall of Fame moment," one X user comments, while another adds, "This is probably why I couldn't hack it as a interviewer. I'd have broke and laughed." 

While we would hardly expect Tim Apple to come right out and say the design is terrible, his actual answer does feel a little disingenuous give the meme status of the mouse. And Apple has in fact shown some form when it comes to backtracking on its creative decisions lately, apologising last month for an iPad ad that "missed the mark".