Magic Mouse Loses Connection

I just compared the difference between Energizer and Duracell, and noticed that Energizer's bottom part has a tiny bump at the center. Perhaps because of this bump, only that very small area is touching the contact on the mouse. Duracell doesn't have this bump.

I also noticed that Duracell's bottom contact sticks out more than Energizer's. Energizer's contact is almost flush against the plastic outer casing.

Interestingly we resolved our problems in a similar way but found that duracell were no good and switched back to Energizer which have been fine.

The interesting point is other people on this forum have found the reverse to be true, so maybe there are different batches or manufacturing plants?

We definitely have no problems on the energizer batteries but duracell flaked out constantly. Additionally you could see a black ring on the top of the removed Duracells where they had, had a poor connection.

Just to add this info: I'm having connectivity issues like crazy and I'm using

Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables.

I will never be using a wireless keyboard/mouse with non-rechargeable batteries. Did any of you guys ever consider the immense amount of waste you create by using new batteries ech time the old ones go empty?

I'm using my rechargeables that came with the magic mouse - and when those are depleted, I switch to a couple of cheapy Longs brand from CVS for just an hour or so till the rechargeables are powered up again. It is a waste for sure, but a single pair has lasted a long time since I just use them for short stints inbetween charges and then switch back to the rechargeables.

I have another set of "unmarked" rechargeables from a non-apple mouse that I tried to use in the magic mouse but they don't work at all there. So I guess I need advice on which commercially available rechargeables work on the magic mouse (or do I need to buy special Magic batteries). Then I won't need any spare non-rechargeables.

I don't know if it's a battery problem inherently is it? Because when this happens to me - i.e. Bluetooth Mouse stops working - I can replace the batteries but nothing changes. The only way I can get the Bluetooth Mouse to work again is by rebooting. (Sometimes logging out and in fixes the problem, not always).

So wouldn't this indicate a software problem? Or maybe hardware problem with the Bluetooth unit inside the computer itself?

I believe you're correct. The brand itself is no guarantee in itself although if you always got ones made in the same factory it might work for you. Because the batteries are made in different factories in different countries all over the world and shipped all over the world to different markets. One of the biggest I visited was in Gangzhou, China, was owned by Gillette and produced Mallory brand batteries. At a rate of thousands per hour! There are many other significantly big factories owned by different companies. Miniscule differences in the make and the actual setup of the machines used to make, fill and seal the cells, the thickness of the steel sheet supplied by the respective local or overseas steel mills, the manufactuiring tolerances and quality control regime in the factory etc etc - all these things can lead to variances that might show up in any brand and in any country. And you'll never know where they actually originated from.

So all I can report on is what worked for me and suggest that the battery dimensions might be suspect even though it's not apparent to the naked eye. You'd have to be looking for variances of a few thousandths of an inch and there may be similar tolerances at work in the mouse body itself. After all, it's just four contacts embedded in plastic! Add them together and you can see why some people get a problem and others don't.

It's worth a try to (a) change brand, (b) clean the contacts (c) pack the battery cells or the compartment with something non-conductive to inhibit or prevent movement of the cells.

I have put at piece of paper between the battery lid and the batteries and no more problems

After that i danced around the room to the sound of BeeGees, went to McD and had a nap. This might also have had something to do with the problem being solved.

The idea of placing a piece of paper between the battery and the battery lid is just brilliant! I'm very positive this issue has nothing to do with software, it's about lifting the mouse up when using it which causes the disconnection because the batteries tend to fall off a little bit. It's been an hour since I wedged the piece of paper in my MM and haven't seen a single disconnection since.

I had problems with my MM too. Using targus rechargable batteries but i doubt that's the issue since it works before with those batteries. The slip of paper idea was what finally fixed the problem. IDK why apple would make their mouse without considering that the batteries might fall out a bit, there's quite a bit of room in there. Oh wells, chalk one up for DIY solutions.

Hello,

We bought our new iMac with a wireless Magic Mouse. We had some intermittent connectivity issues with it (several times this happened when people near to our house were using their cellphones - we have a landline - but that might have been a coincidence); still, it worked fairly well. However, the batteries that came with the mouse stopped working in less than two weeks. We figured maybe they were run down when they sold us the machine and decided it wasn't worth contacting the store about their batteries. But the next set of batteries, bought new for the purpose of being used in the mouse, also quit in less than two weeks. We really feel this is a problem with the mouse, as the wireless keyboard is still working perfectly well with the original batteries.

We care very much about the environment, and we went out and got a USB-connected mouse so that we wouldn't have to keep wasting resources. The materials that came with our computer didn't say anything about needing a huge supply of batteries or Apple batteries or a piece of paper to go inside the mouse or anything like that. We've now asked Apple support twice for a credit or refund in the amount of the new mouse (for which we've retained a receipt); and, really, that's pretty nice considering the money we paid for batteries and the gas we used going back and forth for batteries and a new mouse. We're also happy to send back the new and undamaged Magic Mouse, which is worth more than the corded mouse we bought.

Admittedly, I don't like to call companies. You don't get a written record so the company can later say anything they want about the situation. That's why I wrote (and it was very hard to find a way to send a message to support, and I still don't know how to send an email message so that there is a record that I at least sent it). I'm still under my 90-day support agreement and one-year warranty.

Looking at various websites, I see that some people are claiming that Apple admits the Magic Mouse has problems and others are saying, in essence, "Tough luck. It isn't Apple's fault." I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with any of these statements, nor am I trying to create a problem. I just want to know if I can expect a refund or if I can expect to be ignored. This is my first experience with Apple customer support, and I really don't know what to expect yet. I'm really liking my Mac in almost every other way (I transferred from an 8.5 year-old PC a month ago). In most areas, I'm very happy with it, and I hope to remain a Mac guy in the future. But, because it has to do with wasting resources and customer service, how we're treated regarding this mouse issue will really make a difference with us in terms of future purchases.

Thank you to anyone reading this for your time and attention.

Idony (Scott Hill)

I have posted earlier in this discussion you can read a description of the issue I experienced in those posts.

Just to say that with this issue which i eventually had the CPU replaced on my macbookpro.This appears to have fixed the issue. this is a

Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7. state of the art machine. in a 15" macbook

issue still occured after upgrade to lion.

With my machine possibly their is a bottle neck related to usb. But this is speculation.

The bluetooth card on my machine was replaced. this did not fix the issue. Then the bt card and the CPU was replaced this fixed the problem.

Prior to that I did a clean install and just ran the computer with apple default applications and still experienced the BT issue. I had been experiencing bt dropouts since I bought the machine in February.

I went to a great deal of trouble to track down the issue as a hardware fault. If I had not it would still be remaining and driving me nuts. God help anyone with out my perserverence.

I will get around to trying to get apple to refund the $120 they charged me earlier as part of this process.

good luck to all others. just remember if you can't isolate it elsewhere it could possibly be a hardware fault. Unlikely but possible.

My Magic Mouse has lost connectivity many times since June (Lion 10.7.2, iMac Mid 2011), but always only when entering text in a web discussion forum (including Apple Discussions). It is annoying and, like with all the other annoyances of Lion, I grit my teeth, wait for it to return after 40 secs. and my previously high regard for Apple goes down another notch. Remember "it just works" and "computers for the rest of us"! Huh! Its done it again now. Bearing in mind the large number of complaints about the Magic mouse, and Lion having gone through two OS upgrades, I am very disappointed that Apple have neither acknowledged the problem nor fixed it. (AppleCare suggested keeping the batteries at above 50% charge ⚠, but no solution

I also found that the supplied batteries, and good quality standard replacements, lasted only about 10 days. I bought the Apple battery charger (which comes with 6 Apple batteries) and although the keyboard and Magic Trackpad batteries last for ages (the original as-supplied keyboard battery is on 42% after 41/2 months), the mouse's rechargeables are lasting 16 and 21 days. As there is no cost now in replacing them, I am reasonably content re. battery life, (although it is odd that the mouse batteries alone have a life so much shorter than the other two.

(The mouse has disconnected yet again 😠 I have left feedback to Apple)

My apologies: I should have mentioned that I'm using an iMac with Snow Leopard (I didn't want to download Lion until I felt it had been out there long enough to work the bugs out). I am also using a DSL modem. Since my Magic Mouse was refusing to connect (or stay connected) sometimes when people around were using their cellphones, could this just be a general wireless technology issue? Maybe Macs are just having a problem with multiple wireless devices.

Anyway, haven't heard from support yet (after first complaining about six days ago and being under a 90-day service guarantee). Maybe it's just because it's Sunday night; I hope to hear something tomorrow.

Yeah, I'm with some of you. I heard that Apple support and customer service were really good... but I've yet to see the evidence. As a new Mac user, I'm really not impressed.

Idony (Scott Hill)

I had the problem of the magic mouse losing connection every 2-5 mins. I was using Apple's rechargable batteries and when I replaced them with alkaline, the problem was solved. It may be the size issue, previously mentioned, or something else, I don't know for sure but at least the problem is solved.

I posted in this thread way back on Mar 12, 2011 12:09 PM.

My "solution" was one of snugging batteries down with some business-card-thick paper.

Eight months later and I can say that I've had zero problems.

There was nothing about "loose" batteries that I could have observed so I'm glad I just took the chance that others were right that miniscule differences in battery length or diameter were causing tiny, intemitent disconnects.

So, FWIW, in case anyone was still struggling for a solution and this was one yet to be tried - give it go. It worked for me.