Magic mouse + rechargeable batteries: problem and fix.

Many people have reported that rechargeable AA batteries don't work in the original Magic Mouse. Most folks blame the voltage being a tad low, shrug, and go back to buying boxes of AA alkalines.

The actual problem is that the positive terminal on many rechargeables is just a hair shorter than it needs to be to reach the mouse's battery contacts. I ran into this issue when I replaced my old white Eneloop batteries with the newer black version. It took a lot of fiddling, removing, and re-inserting the batteries to get them to work.

One reported solution is to cram small wads of aluminum foil into the recesses where the + battery terminals go. This may or may not work - didn't work for me, at any rate. My solution was to "tin" the + battery terminals with a layer of solder. You need a soldering iron, or a friend who's handy with one, but once this is done the batteries work perfectly. It's a neat, permanent solution.