Mice: MX Master and Magic Mouse
The two mice Mac users usually choose between, and Cole's verdicts: the Logitech MX Master is the all-time GOAT, and Apple's Magic Mouse is kinda sick and kinda sucks. What each does well, and the scroll settings that matter.
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Most Mac users end up choosing between two mice: Logitech’s MX Master, built for long days of work, and Apple’s Magic Mouse, built to look like it belongs next to a Mac. Cole has used both and has a verdict on each. The MX Master is the one on the desk.
The Logitech MX Master
The MX Master line is Logitech’s flagship productivity mouse, a popular pick for long days at a desk. The current model is the MX Master 4 ($119.99 (MX Master 4) (as of , logitech.com)). What makes the line good:
- The MagSpeed wheel. An electromagnetic scroll wheel that switches between a precise, clicky ratchet and a free-spinning mode Logitech rates at 1,000 lines per second. A long log, a transcript or a big file flies by with one flick, then the ratchet comes back for line-by-line work.
- A thumb wheel. A second wheel under your thumb scrolls sideways, through wide tables, timelines and code that runs off the screen.
- A shape for a whole day. A sculpted, right-handed body with a thumb rest, so the hand rests on the mouse instead of gripping it.
- A sensor that works anywhere. 8,000 DPI tracking that works on almost any surface, glass included.
- Several computers, one mouse. It pairs with more than one device and switches between them with a button, the same idea as the tri-mode keyboard, over Bluetooth or a USB receiver.
- Buttons per app. Logitech’s Options+ app remaps the buttons and gestures, differently for each app if you like.
The MX Master 4 adds a haptic panel under the thumb, which taps back on actions like snapping a window into place, and an “Actions Ring” of shortcuts that opens at the cursor.
Apple’s Magic Mouse
The Magic Mouse ($79 (white; black is $99) (as of , apple.com)) has no wheel and no visible buttons: its whole top is a Multi-Touch surface. That is the “sick” side, the reason people love it. You scroll in any direction by sliding a finger, swipe between pages with one finger and between full-screen apps with two, and pairing it is as simple as plugging it into the Mac once.
The “sucks” side is just as well known:
- The charging port is on the bottom. The 2024 model moved to USB-C but kept the port underneath, so you cannot use it while it charges.
- It is flat. The low, smooth shell is beautiful and not built for hours of gripping.
- No wheel and no extra buttons. No middle click, no thumb buttons, no free-spinning scroll for a long file.
For a lot of people the answer is a Magic Trackpad for gestures and a wheel mouse for work.
Scroll settings that matter
A mouse wheel and a trackpad scroll differently, and Cole’s setup tunes for that in three places:
- Mos. Cole’s Brewfile installs Mos, a free menu bar app that turns a wheel’s notched steps into smooth scrolling on macOS and lets the mouse’s scroll direction differ from the trackpad’s. macOS ties the two together with a single “natural scrolling” switch.
- The terminal. Cole’s Ghostty config sets
mouse-scroll-multiplier = 0.3, slowing wheel scrolling in the terminal well below Ghostty’s default of 3 for a notched wheel. - tmux. The tmux keymap deliberately inverts the wheel inside tmux, to match how Termius on the phone sends scroll events, and enters scrollback with a flick of the wheel.
Choosing
- Long days of code, logs and agents: an MX Master. The free-spinning wheel alone is worth it for scrolling through agent transcripts.
- Gestures and a clean desk: a Magic Mouse, or better, a Magic Trackpad.
- Moving between computers: a mouse that pairs with several and switches with a button, paired with a keyboard that does the same.
The The Mac mini page covers the machine they are plugged into.