Unless you have a particular love of trackpads, a mouse is still the best input device for your Mac. The precision and comfort is dramatically higher, especially for extended use, and there’s no better option for video games or graphic design software.
Apple’s own Magic Mouse is a popular choice, but while it’s a good pointing device in its own right, there are better alternatives out there. Some are more ergonomic, some have better performance and precision for gaming, and some are definitely cheaper.
Whether you’re after a budget pick or the best that money can buy, these are our recommendations for the best mice for Macs right now.
- Size: 4.9 x 3.3 x 2.0 inches
- Battery Life: Up to 70 days
- Connection Type: Bluetooth
- Sensitivity: 8000 DPI
- Size: 5.2 x 3.9 x 2.0 inches
- Battery Life: Up to 70 days
- Connection Type: Bluetooth, USB dongle
- Sensitivity: 2048 DPI
- Size: 4.9 x 2.7 x 1.7 inches
- Battery Life: Up to 100 hours of active gaming
- Connection Type: USB dongle
- Sensitivity: 18,000 DPI
- Size: 6.3 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches
- Battery Life: up to a month
- Connection Type: Bluetooth
- Sensitivity: -
- Size: 4.5 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches
- Battery Life: up to a month
- Connection Type: Bluetooth
- Sensitivity: 1300 DPI
- Size: 4.7 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches
- Battery Life: up to 500 hours
- Connection Type: Bluetooth, USB dongle
- Sensitivity: 1200 DPI
Best Mouse for Mac: Logitech MX Master 3S
The Logitech MX Master 3S tops our list for one simple reason: it’s one of the few mice not made by Apple that’s designed from the ground up to work exceptionally well with the Mac.
One of the first things you’ll notice with this mouse is its unusual form factor. Any doubts about its effectiveness will fade away once you rest your hand on it, however: the MX Master 3S is one of the most comfortable mice we’ve ever used, with that distinctive thumb rest being an especially nice touch.
The sensitivity of the MX Master 3 is pretty high for an everyday mouse at 8000 DPI, and you can even use it on a glass surface if you’re not one for mousepads. Charging is handled via a standard USB C cable, and the inbuilt battery lasts up to 70 days from full.
Beyond the precision and comfort, though, we particularly love the extra utility on offer with this mouse. Our favorite is gesture support, allowing you to use the same gestures as on the trackpad to access shortcuts like swiping between pages or launching Mission Control.
Several customizable buttons are available, which you can map to a wide range of functions. There’s also a small wheel on the side, which is ideal for quickly controlling things like music volume or horizontal scrolling.
The only drawback of the MX Master 3S is that it’s bigger and heavier than your typical mouse. It’s not that it’s too big to travel with (we’ve used them while on the road for months at a time) but it’s certainly bulkier than our top travel pick below.
If you don’t mind the extra space in your bag, however, or don’t plan to take it outside your home or office, that’s just a minor blip on what is otherwise the best alternative to the Apple Magic Mouse.
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Best for Ergonomics: Logitech MX Ergo
The best ergonomic mouse is one that minimizes hand movements as much as possible, and the Logitech MX Ergo is designed to do just that. Central to this goal is the trackball, which lets you control the on-screen pointer with your thumb instead of moving the mouse around with your hand.
If you haven’t used a trackball before, there is a learning curve to it. That’s the biggest drawback of the MX Ergo, albeit one you’ll overcome relatively quickly. There’s a small button beside the trackball that lets you adjust the sensitivity on the fly, at least, which helps you hit a tracking speed that you’re comfortable with.
An added ergonomic bonus with the MX Ergo is the magnetic metal hinge that comes in the box. Attached to the bottom of the mouse, it lets you tilt its angle by 20 degrees to help find a comfortable resting position for your wrist.
All buttons, including the left/right click and the scroll wheel, are sensibly laid out relative to the trackball location. As usual with Logitech, most of the buttons are customizable, so you can assign often-used functions to them and help reduce movement even further.
You can connect the MX Ergo via the bundled wireless USB-A dongle if you’ve got an older Mac, or Bluetooth if you have a newer MacBook model that only has USB C ports.
Overall, if you’re a Mac owner looking for a more ergonomic pointing option, the Logitech MX Ergo is the best tool for the job. The small effort to learn the trackball interface will pay big dividends in your longer-term comfort.
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Best for Gaming: SteelSeries Prime
The SteelSeries Prime doesn’t look like much from the outside, but on the inside it’s full of features that ultimately make it the best wireless Mac mouse for gaming. Rather than relying on bells and whistles like interchangeable plates or endless buttons, as other gaming mice do, the SteelSeries Prime focuses purely on performance.
This is a lightweight competitive gaming mouse, weighing around 2.9 ounces. This helps increase precision and avoid fatigue, making it a superior choice for first-person shooters (FPS), multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), real-time strategy games, and other competitive genres where mouse speed and accuracy is essential.
The high 18,000 DPI sensitivity ensures that even the fastest movements are captured accurately. That’s helped by the Prime’s matte finish, which ensures you’ll keep a firm grip on the mouse even with sweaty hands in the heat of battle.
There’s no Bluetooth support, which is somewhat common with gaming mice due to the inherent lag. Instead, the SteelSeries Prime uses a USB C wireless dongle that plugs directly into modern Macs. It’s way larger than the one that comes with most wireless mice, so you’re less likely to lose it, but it’s not the most subtle accessory we’ve ever seen.
Even so, the SteelSeries Prime proves that when it comes to a gaming mouse, performance and precision beats bells and whistles any day.
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Best Trackpad: Apple Magic Trackpad
The Apple Magic Trackpad is still the best external trackpad option for the Mac. Redesigned slightly for the latest model, with more rounded edges, it’s the gold standard to which others are compared.
Two features stand out. First is the form factor, which is ultra-slim and visually attractive. Despite being noticeably larger than the MacBook touchpad, it’s very thin and lightweight. If you travel or work from different locations, it fits easily into a laptop sleeve or backpack.
The other is the multi-touch surface that supports Apple’s Force Touch. Just like the MacBook touchpad, it detects the amount of pressure you apply, which can correspond to different functions. Pressing harder on the trackpad, for instance, brings up a “force click”, similar to having a third mouse button.
Other than these two features, the Magic Trackpad just works exceptionally well. It’s very responsive to taps, and the on-screen cursor moves smoothly and effortlessly in line with your finger movements. Being an Apple product, it integrates tightly with standard macOS functions like gestures.
Connecting with your Mac or iPad happens automatically and instantly via Bluetooth, and the battery life is impressive, lasting up to a month per charge. While it’s expensive (it’s an Apple product, after all), the Magic Trackpad is our top trackpad choice for the Mac.
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Best for Travel: Apple Magic Mouse
The Apple Magic Mouse isn’t at the top of our list of the best Mac mice, but if there’s one thing that it does excel at, it’s portability.
Its slim form factor is the Magic Mouse’s best quality: it’s barely larger than the average hand, and way thinner, too, so you can easily slip it into your laptop bag or even a purse when you travel. Despite the small size, though, it’s surprisingly comfortable to hold and use.
Being an Apple product, the Magic Mouse also integrates perfectly with the Mac. That means features like gestures are fully supported, and it connects quickly and automatically via Bluetooth.
The internal battery charges quickly via its Lightning port, and you won’t need to do it all that often: expect around a month between charges. There’s a USB C to Lightning cable in the box.
It’s not all good news when it comes to charging, however: Apple made the strange decision to put the port on the bottom of the mouse, though, which means you can’t use it while it’s plugged in.
The sensitivity of the Magic Mouse also isn’t great: at only 1300 DPI, it’s significantly lower than average for the price. The mouse’s low height also isn’t ideal for ergonomic comfort, which is something to be aware of if you’ll be using it for long periods.
If your biggest priority is a small, lightweight, and highly-compatible travel mouse, the Apple Magic Mouse is the way to go. Just know its limitations ahead of time!
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Best on a Budget: JETTA Wireless Mouse
If you’re looking for a cheap, no-frills wireless Mac mouse, this JETTA model is the way to go.
It has reasonable sensitivity for the money, with three adjustable DPI options (800, 1200, and 1600). It’s also fully wireless via Bluetooth or a 2.4Ghz dongle that’s neatly stored on the underside of the mouse when not in use. That dongle is USB-A, though, which isn’t ideal for the latest Macs: you’re better off using Bluetooth instead.
The mouse charges via a microUSB port on the front. Most people have an old wall charger lying around to plug the included USB cable into, but if not, connect it to your Mac (via a USB C to USB-A adapter if necessary.)
The rechargeable battery lasts up to 500 hours (three weeks) on a single charge. An auto-sleep function turns the mouse off when idle, a helpful feature to extend its battery life. It can take a few seconds for the mouse to wake up afterward, though, which can be a minor inconvenience when you’re in a hurry.
We’d prefer that both the wireless dongle and charging port were USB C, but even so, given that it’s cheap, looks good, and gets all the basics right, the JETTA is still the best budget Bluetooth mouse we’ve found for Macs.
If you plan to use a mouse regularly, you’ll be better off with one of the higher-quality models discussed above. For occasional use, however, you can save a bunch of cash and go with this one instead.
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Wrapping Things Up
Choosing the best mouse for your Mac isn’t that different from picking one for other platforms. It all comes down to your budget, expectations, and intended use.
If you have the budget, we suggested going for the Logitech MX Master 3S. Its rare combination of ergonomics, functionality, and full Mac compatibility makes it the best on this list. For gamers, the clean, no-frills SteelSeries Prime provides the precision and performance needed for competitive play.
On the more practical side, the Logitech MX Ergo is an ergonomic option that’s ideal for minimizing hand movement and improving wrist comfort.
For portability, you can’t go wrong with the slim form factor of the Apple Magic Mouse and the JETTA Wireless Mouse, with the latter being the best budget option. Finally, if you prefer an external trackpad, the Apple Magic Trackpad remains the gold standard.
Main image via Peter Kotoff/Shutterstock.com, product images via Amazon
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