Can I use a mouse with a MacBook Pro?

Remember that your new MBP will have USB-C ports and you may need an adaptor for a mouse with a conventional USB connector. Like this adaptor:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TCCADPU3/

Shop around. Some USB-C adaptors can cost twice what a third-party mouse costs.

I use a bluetooth Apple MagicMouse with my MBP. It preserves most of the functions and handy "swipe" moves from the trackpad. And you don't have any port issues.

The current Magic Mouse 2 is not cheap but will provide many more functions than the third-party stuff.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MLA02LL/A/magic-mouse-2-silver?fnode=56

I am at my MBP running High Sierra.

I finally found that option. It is in System Preferences > Accessibility. Select "Mouse & Trackpad" to find:

No mention of whether this hold true with wired mice.

darpa wrote:

Do you mean an Apple "Magic Mouse" that I use with my iMac?

You can use almost anything including non-Apple devices. I prefer the Logitech M325 wireless mouse, although the wireless receiver would need an adapter/hub/dock to connect to the USB-C port on a newer Mac. You could also use a standard Bluetooth mouse.

My wife kind of freaked out when she realized that her new MacBook Air only had USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. I got her a package with a Lightning cable and a USB-C to USB-A passive adapter, and she uses the adapter for her wireless mouse receiver.

I;m not at my MacBook Pro at the moment to verify but I believe there is in system preferences a setting "Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present"

Someone will likely verify that the setting exists or not.

Allan Jones wrote:

Shop around. Some USB-C adaptors can cost twice what a third-party mouse costs.

Long term, USB-A devices are so ubiquitous that I would think that a hub or dock with USB-A ports would be a good investment.

darpa wrote:

Rethinking MBP. I now have a 27" iMac. Looking at the 21"— The idea is to be slightly more "mobile" these days. In this case I have my answer.

Also, the replies to my original question about the mouse have been extremely helpful.

If you want to be the most mobile without dongles/hubs/adapters, etc, then some sort of Bluetooth mouse is going to be the most convenient. Still - since USB-A devices are so ubiquitous and aren't going away any time soon, I'd recommend getting something that would allow use of USB-A devices. The best thing about USB-C is the flexibility of USB backwards compatibility.

Rethinking MBP. I now have a 27" iMac. Looking at the 21"

You'll need to up-spec a 21.5-inch iMac quite a bit. RAM is not designed to be user-upgradable in that model so you must order it with the RAM you'l need down the road--16GB min in my opinion. Think of it as your "forever RAM."

We see a huge number of complaints here of slow 21.5-inch iMacs and most of those are due to the bottleneck their badly under-powered mechanical hard drives create. Apple has been installing slow, 3GBps 5400RM drives in 21.5 iMacs with a fast 6GBps drive bus since 2011. I'm not comfortable with the Fusion drives so consider the factory SSD. I did for my most recent iMac and the steep cost has been worth every penny.

I would also avoid the base model. Go for the 4K with discreet graphics instead of integrated graphics. Buy as much processor as you can afford.

Yes, use a usb mouse.

Any mouse. You could also use a Bluetooth mouse.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=macbook+pro+mouse

I would not use an adapter. If I had only USBC ports on my computer I would nuy a USBC mouse.