iMac M4 Magic Mouse failed after 5 months — no replacement, and Apple doesn’t even sell it

[MCap]

In the end, you know what?
As I said from the beginning, I just went ahead and bought two mice for my father.
One white/gray Magic Mouse from Amazon, arriving tomorrow.
And one refurbished blue one from Refurbed, to match the original.

I found the solution myself.
But this is not the Apple I used to know.

I use Macs daily for work. Before me, my father used them.
Back in the early ’90s, we were among the very few people in Italy using Macintosh.
Everyone laughed at us:

“It’s a closed system, nothing’s compatible…”

And yet, we stuck with it — even loading extensions one by one on startup, knowing one of them would probably crash the whole system.
If you know, you know.
QuarkXPress, PageMaker, Aldus — then Macromedia Freehand.
Honestly, Freehand would still beat Illustrator today if it were alive.

So after nearly 40 years of daily Mac use, I can say this is the most ridiculous customer service experience I’ve ever had with Apple.

If my iPhone Pro Ultra Mega Titanium Space Beast had failed and the only solution was to go to an Apple Store, fine — I’d make the trip.
But for a mouse?
And especially after being treated with suspicion, like I was the one trying to scam Apple?

Scam them — for a mouse?

What would I do with it, put it in a display case?
Actually, yes — I’m putting the broken one there. As a souvenir.

And here’s the real irony:
Scalpers are reselling color-matched iMac accessories online at absurd prices.
But that’s not the point.

The point is: Apple isn’t a community of visionaries anymore.
There’s no more “human-first” approach.
Just money, mistrust, and a support system that suspects you before it helps you.

 

[Mrbobb]

I grinch what will happen when the screen fails, u will be totally done with the "experience" then.

Apple, WTH?

 

[GioGiusi]

That's a matter of opinion. To all users like the same ergonomics, or the way it feels when using it, etc. The same can be said for the Magic Mouse, keyboard, and so on. I do agree that for OS-X and iOS the trackpad is the great. However, would PC and Windows user feel the same way?

What would a pc user know about pointing devices? The utter junk they use isn’t even in the same arena.

The magic trackpad is terrible unless it's actually plugged into the computer with a cable. The latency is horrible.

Also totally useless for accurate positioning in graphics software for example.

The wireless mice with their own USB receiver are still far superior.

Utterly and completely false.

 

[Audentia]

Thanks — I agree, and that’s what makes the situation worse.
If Apple can provide the color-matched mouse as a replaceable part in the US, why is it impossible to access the same part in Europe, even under warranty?

And yes — if I was misinformed, then that’s a double failure: first on logistics, then on communication.

I understand your frustration but I think you're just unlucky, or unfortunately Apple's support in EU is just not as good elsewhere. My mom recently had her blue iMac M1 matching keyboard die, she was able to get a replacement at 50% discount, even though the warranty had long expired and we did not buy apple care, same day at the apple store. It was a seamless experience.

 

[Audentia]

Thank you — and yes, I’m aware that Apple USA offers a much better experience when it comes to support, especially in remote areas like Alaska.

That’s exactly the point I’m raising:
I’m based in Italy, and none of those options exist here.
No advance replacement. No prepaid return box. No pickup option.
Even though the product was bought from the official Apple Online Store, I was told:
“You must bring it to the nearest Apple Store in Milan.”

I didn’t ask for a courier. I asked for any remote option — a return label, an RMA process, something.
The answer was: no alternative.

What you described is exactly the level of service Apple promises worldwide — but in reality, it only works in the U.S. (and a few select markets).

That inconsistency is what I’m calling out.
Not the failure of a mouse — but the failure to maintain a consistent support experience globally, especially for products marketed as premium and seamless.

this is fair criticism

 

[MCap]

I understand your frustration but I think you're just unlucky, or unfortunately Apple's support in EU is just not as good elsewhere. My mom recently had her blue iMac M1 matching keyboard die, she was able to get a replacement at 50% discount, even though the warranty had long expired and we did not buy apple care, same day at the apple store. It was a seamless experience.

Hey — glad it worked out for your mom, really.

But that’s kinda the whole point.
It shouldn’t depend on luck, location, or which rep picks up.
If support works in one place and goes nowhere in another,
then it’s not a system — it’s a gamble.

This wasn’t “bad luck.”
It was just Apple saying:
“No options. Go to the store. That’s it.”

And yeah, after almost 40 years with Apple,
never thought I’d get stuck like this.
For a mouse.

Anyway…
At this point I’ve bought two.
If anyone needs a spare — let me know.
I’ve got enough now to start a collection.

 

[cjsuk]

What would a pc user know about pointing devices? The utter junk they use isn’t even in the same arena.

Quite a lot. Have you done any serious CAD (Zuken/Solidworks/Catia) or Photoshop work at all on mac vs windows? I have. The input latency, pointing precision, acceleration profile is much much better on windows. The rest of windows is however like punching yourself in the face over and over again.

Utterly and completely false.

Absolutes? How classy. It's measurable and observable. Try it. Plug it into your mac with the provided lightning cable, use it for an hour, then go back to bluetooth. There's a 25-50ms delay. If you use an MBP and switch to a desktop one occasionally, it's also pretty obvious. And as mentioned entirely useless for precise positioning. A good example is compare handwriting to someone who writes with finger movement versus arm movement. The arm is far better and that's where the mouse wins. And the dual-use of movement versus click causes positioning issues as well. Not much of an issue if you're just clicking around the UI doing casual stuff but they are horrible for anything creative/engineering related.

 

[cjsuk]

In the end, you know what?
As I said from the beginning, I just went ahead and bought two mice for my father.
One white/gray Magic Mouse from Amazon, arriving tomorrow.
And one refurbished blue one from Refurbed, to match the original.

I found the solution myself.
But this is not the Apple I used to know.

I use Macs daily for work. Before me, my father used them.
Back in the early ’90s, we were among the very few people in Italy using Macintosh.
Everyone laughed at us:

“It’s a closed system, nothing’s compatible…”

And yet, we stuck with it — even loading extensions one by one on startup, knowing one of them would probably crash the whole system.
If you know, you know.
QuarkXPress, PageMaker, Aldus — then Macromedia Freehand.
Honestly, Freehand would still beat Illustrator today if it were alive.

So after nearly 40 years of daily Mac use, I can say this is the most ridiculous customer service experience I’ve ever had with Apple.

If my iPhone Pro Ultra Mega Titanium Space Beast had failed and the only solution was to go to an Apple Store, fine — I’d make the trip.
But for a mouse?
And especially after being treated with suspicion, like I was the one trying to scam Apple?

Scam them — for a mouse?

What would I do with it, put it in a display case?
Actually, yes — I’m putting the broken one there. As a souvenir.

And here’s the real irony:
Scalpers are reselling color-matched iMac accessories online at absurd prices.
But that’s not the point.

The point is: Apple isn’t a community of visionaries anymore.
There’s no more “human-first” approach.
Just money, mistrust, and a support system that suspects you before it helps you.

I think this is entirely a regional thing. I will also add that Italy is the only EU country on a lot of no ship lists I've seen from other countries. When I was running a test gear business we wouldn't ship anything more than €50 there due to the amount of last mile thefts, losses and scam operations. I'm sure Apple are not immune to that.

 

[MCap]

I think this is entirely a regional thing. I will also add that Italy is the only EU country on a lot of no ship lists I've seen from other countries. When I was running a test gear business we wouldn't ship anything more than €50 there due to the amount of last mile thefts, losses and scam operations. I'm sure Apple are not immune to that.

If Apple can’t support their own hardware inside the country it was sold, that’s not about shipping risk — it’s a broken system.

 

[cjsuk]

If Apple can’t support their own hardware inside the country it was sold, that’s not about shipping risk — it’s a broken system.

You're in Italy right?

Surely you're used to broken stuff?

Everything is always broken when I go 🤣

 

[H_D]

A premium product with non-premium support leads to disappointment.
And design-led products require design-aware service to maintain credibility.

Amen. This is an aspect in branding that gets lost. This is why Sony lost me as a customer and Apple can be quite happy not to have driven you to another brand. The only customer oriented reaction to your problem is Töchter give you a color matched mouse for free, at a reduced fee or at price, depending on your warranty. Everything else should not call itself support.

When as a customer you come tothe brand touchpoint(s) of their support levels, you are at your most vulnerable. Your phone has stopped working, your headphones are rattling, your software acts crazy. Being human (!), friendly, competent and fast on these touchpoints is an essential experience in the brandscape that really, really is so much more important than advertising. This is where customers decide to stay with a brand for life, become evangelists, tell friends and family of the good experience they had. Because you solved their problems. With a smile. I have had such experiences (mostly over the phone with real people) and they saved me so many times. In the end how you perceive a billion dollar company boils down to the mood of a woman on the other end of a phone line ho saves your day. Companies should carry these support people and structures in their hands.

But if you don’t, if you send them to AI hell cycles, to telephone support that barely speaks your language, to emails coming days later, to refurb partners who just refuse any cooperation and so on — you actively and massively hurt the brand. Because the customer is hurting right NOW and you add to the pain. You loose these customers forever and you get bad word of mouth.

That Milan suggestion, e.g., is impertinent arrogance and not how any level of support should work. I had similar experiences with Apple (and also really really great support experiences) and what youdescribe is part of a larger problem within this and many other companies trying to save on their support infrastructure.

 

[H_D]

Not much of an issue if you're just clicking around the UI doing casual stuff but they are horrible for anything creative/engineering related.

Uhm… I beg to differ. I have worked for 30 years on Win and Mac with various mice, mainly every Logi you could imagine. At the moment I have MagicMouse, MX and Vertical. The MM is by far the most precise and reliable instrument on OS, especially since nothing beats the touch surface functionality (boosted with Better Touch). I tricked out the MX keys and for special things they are more useful, e.g. labeling / deleting mail and of course the MX is more ergonomic, but I always find myself engaging with the MM in the end, as it is the most natural extension of the OS at the moment.
And when I really need very high precision control and pressure, I use a Wacom Pad (the new Intuos Pro is really surprisingly good, by the way, I did not expect that they still could improve that).

 

[MCap]

Amen. This is an aspect in branding that gets lost. This is why Sony lost me as a customer and Apple can be quite happy not to have driven you to another brand. The only customer oriented reaction to your problem is Töchter give you a color matched mouse for free, at a reduced fee or at price, depending on your warranty. Everything else should not call itself support.

When as a customer you come tothe brand touchpoint(s) of their support levels, you are at your most vulnerable. Your phone has stopped working, your headphones are rattling, your software acts crazy. Being human (!), friendly, competent and fast on these touchpoints is an essential experience in the brandscape that really, really is so much more important than advertising. This is where customers decide to stay with a brand for life, become evangelists, tell friends and family of the good experience they had. Because you solved their problems. With a smile. I have had such experiences (mostly over the phone with real people) and they saved me so many times. In the end how you perceive a billion dollar company boils down to the mood of a woman on the other end of a phone line ho saves your day. Companies should carry these support people and structures in their hands.

But if you don’t, if you send them to AI hell cycles, to telephone support that barely speaks your language, to emails coming days later, to refurb partners who just refuse any cooperation and so on — you actively and massively hurt the brand. Because the customer is hurting right NOW and you add to the pain. You loose these customers forever and you get bad word of mouth.

That Milan suggestion, e.g., is impertinent arrogance and not how any level of support should work. I had similar experiences with Apple (and also really really great support experiences) and what youdescribe is part of a larger problem within this and many other companies trying to save on their support infrastructure.

Wow. Thank you.
This is, hands down, the most thoughtful and grounded take I’ve read in this whole thread — and you absolutely nailed it.

Support is the brand.
Not only the keynote. Not the billboard. Not the Instagram ad.
It’s the voice on the other end of the line when something breaks.

That moment is sacred.
That’s where customer loyalty is born — or broken.

The Milan suggestion? Yeah, it hit me like a punchline.
What started as a simple issue with a mouse turned into a weeks-long ping-pong between clueless reps, missing options, and system failures.

Apple didn’t lose me as a customer — but they lost a lot of credit.
And trust, once cracked, doesn’t rebuild with a firmware update.

I care deeply about Apple. That’s why I took the time to share this.
And I sincerely hope someone higher up is reading this humble thread.
Because you just put your finger on the real issue.

 

[redcarian]

What would a pc user know about pointing devices? The utter junk they use isn’t even in the same arena.

They would know, for example, that the Logitech G903 is far better in all meaningful aspects than any Apple mouse. It has a better, more accurate sensor, it has better ergonomics for almost all people, it can be used wired or wireless as is your wont, it has actual buttons on all sides, etc.

Apple’s trackpads are great. Their mice are form-before-function trash, and have been for 30 years.

Source: me. I have a magic trackpad, a magic mouse, and the aforementioned G903. I use the G903.

 

[H_D]

And trust, once cracked, doesn’t rebuild with a firmware update.

Especially not when you’re Sony and the firmware kills the product. :-D.

Here is another Apple experience: My MBP got a b it of water from a water bottle that tipped. Apple Online support did not allow repair, because AC+ does not seem to cover this case. I brought it to a local Apple Store, and described my problem (basically as small talk, while buying something else) and they told me to bring the MacBook in. They physically checked the device and sensors and AC+ DID cover the repair, I got the short-circuited mainboard fixed for a small handling fee. At which point I started ordering my hardware in the store again, even if it meant waiting a bit for the machines, the personal service is well worth it.

I think in a world with technologized support systems what the big brand who have the means to it should opt for is a well-trained human support system, no AI, no prerecorded telephone speech recognition horror, just a person that can help you or get you to L2-support quickly. Works every time and 100% is the way to go in support. I always preach to my clients that the after-sales experience is even more important than anything that we do prior to that.

 

[WilliApple]

Apple Support told me the only solution was to bring it to an Apple Store in Milan.

You could've just went though Apple Support, and mailed out the old mouse for a new mouse

 

[MCap]

You could've just went though Apple Support, and mailed out the old mouse for a new mouse

No return allowed. No option to buy another in blue.


Magic Mice, apparently, don’t die. Only users do.

 

[WilliApple]

No return allowed. No option to buy another in blue.


Magic Mice, apparently, don’t die. Only users do.

They would have given you a new mouse if you gave the old one back.
This is covered under warranty. Believe me, I have exchanged products because they were under warranty.

This is not the same as returning.

 

[kazmac]

Let me clarify this for everyone following the thread or replying with side suggestions:

This isn’t about whether the Magic Mouse is perfect or whether I should switch to Logitech.

It’s about the discrepancy between Apple’s design philosophy and their customer support reality.
• I bought an iMac with a color-matched blue Magic Mouse.
• Five months later, the mouse failed. Won’t charge, won’t connect.
• It’s still under warranty.
• Apple’s only solution? “Go to the Apple Store in Milan.” (120 km round trip.)
• They didn’t offer a courier option.
• They didn’t offer a replacement white mouse for free.
• They didn’t even offer the blue one for sale — not even when I offered to pay.

I ended up:
• Buying a white mouse on Amazon just to make the iMac usable.
• Buying a refurbished blue one elsewhere to restore the original aesthetic.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent hours across chats, calls, and forums just to solve a basic, warranty-covered issue.

Apple markets the iMac as a premium, integrated, color-coordinated product.
But when a part breaks, the message becomes:

“Just replace it with something else. Or figure it out yourself. Or drive to Milan.”

That’s not premium.
That’s incoherent.

I still love Apple products — but the support model must evolve to reflect the values the brand itself promotes.

Hi,

I agree with your issues regarding your attempt to replace your father's iMac M4 blue mouse. May I suggest you write a polite letter to Tim Cook explaining the issues and asking if a new Mouse can be sent to your father?

When I had awful iPhone purchasing experiences in 2016, I wrote to Tim Cook and had these purchases resolved by the Apple store in question in a matter of 3 weeks. For all the steps you've taken to try to resolve this under warranty, having to work around Apple is unfortunate. Sending a detailed letter may result in a new replacement mouse (Silly that you had to outlay money for this, but it cannot hurt to write Tim Cook about it.)

 

[GioGiusi]

Quite a lot. Have you done any serious CAD (Zuken/Solidworks/Catia) or Photoshop work at all on mac vs windows? I have. The input latency, pointing precision, acceleration profile is much much better on windows. The rest of windows is however like punching yourself in the face over and over again.



Absolutes? How classy. It's measurable and observable. Try it. Plug it into your mac with the provided lightning cable, use it for an hour, then go back to bluetooth. There's a 25-50ms delay. If you use an MBP and switch to a desktop one occasionally, it's also pretty obvious. And as mentioned entirely useless for precise positioning. A good example is compare handwriting to someone who writes with finger movement versus arm movement. The arm is far better and that's where the mouse wins. And the dual-use of movement versus click causes positioning issues as well. Not much of an issue if you're just clicking around the UI doing casual stuff but they are horrible for anything creative/engineering related.

It's false. Don't know what else to tell you. You have defective hardware, or too much interference.

 

[MCap]

They would have given you a new mouse if you gave the old one back.
This is covered under warranty. Believe me, I have exchanged products because they were under warranty.

This is not the same as returning.

Beleive you? I spent half o yesterday on the phone with Apple Support, in chat and via email.

You should believe me.
I’ve lived it — in real time. Not in theory.

Trust me, I wish it had been as simple as you describe.
But it wasn’t. Not even close.

 

[SilverSpooned]

Go on ebay and just buy a refurbished one, they sell them on Ebay.

 

[MCap]

Go on ebay and just buy a refurbished one, they sell them on Ebay.

That's what I did. I bought it on Refurbed, I have written it 5 or 6 times in this thread. Then problem is the consistency of the apple ecosystem support.

 

[SilverSpooned]

That's what I did. I bought it on Refurbed, I have written it 5 or 6 times in this thread. Then problem is the consistency of the apple ecosystem support.

I wish that Apple would have more support for these types of things. I myself have a Gold Imac Keyboard and Mouse I bought from ebay.

 

[ignatius345]

Oh man that is the best news you can get. Long gone are the horrifying arm pains and the sore fingers. Freedom from the constant battle of "is it me or the mouse".

Get a Logitech G305 wireless and install Mos and SaneSideButtons and everything will be good.

I have that same G305, love it. Have a second one at work. I also run Mos, which is also great (mostly) and I also have an iMac in front of me with an untouched color-matched green Magic Mouse in a drawer because I hate it. So I 100% get what you're saying...

But I will also say this: the OP is not asking for mouse recommendations.

They're asking how or why it's actually possible that Apple can't properly replace an accessory that shipped with their iMac when it failed within the warranty period. I think it's a very worthwhile question to ask of a premium brand that has built its reputation on customer service.