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Setting Up Questions, Please

R

Robert4

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 20, 2012
666
30
Hi

Started to set up new Mac desktop.
Surprisingly, no instructions or Manual in the box.

Two simple questions, please:
The power brick has a F connector that looks like a phone spigot.

What is this for ?

And re the Mouse that came with it:

Is it wired or wireless ?
Batteries inside ?
If so, how do you get at them ?

As always, thanks for help with my dumb questions.

Bob
 
If you ordered with ethernet, then the two connectors are for the power cable (plugs in the round port on the back of your iMac), and the normal RJ-45 port for ethernet.
Ah, OK, I couldn't decide what you meant by "phone spigot"! The ethernet connector is slightly wider than a phone (RJ-11 (?) - so you got the optional ethernet.

The mouse is rechargeable. There's a charging cord for that in your iMac box. Plug that in to the port on the bottom of the mouse.
 
The charging cord that DeltaMac mentioned is a Lightning cable -- the same cable that iPhones use -- and you flip over the mouse to plug it in like this:

Apple_Magic_Mouse_Bad_Design_2.0.0.jpg


And yes... really. It's not quite the dumbest thing that Apple has ever done... but it's close.
 
Use the same cord to recharge the keyboard. At least you can use the keyboard, even while charging. Can't do anything while charging the mouse. (Charge should last a few weeks, so you don't need to "plug in" too often!)
 
curnalpanic said:
Not to mention the mouse itself is painful to use.
Click to expand...
Particularly if you play video games, where Apple's distinctively non-standard button implementations have always presented difficulties... from their original one-button mouse, to their first wireless mouse and running all the way through to the current "Magic Mouse". That's why I just have standard third-party wired mice connected to all of my Macs except one.

I am honestly a pretty big Apple fanboy, and have been for many years -- but I have no illusions; while I feel that Apple does a lot of things better than their competitors, they most definitely don't do everything perfectly. Contrasting two examples: that wireless keyboard that DeltaMac mentioned? If it loses its wireless connection to the computer for some reason, it will actually very happily function as a wired keyboard when you connect it up to the computer via a Lightning cable. That's implemented so flawlessly, that it's hard to fathom that the same team of engineers apparently also developed multiple generations of highly annoying Apple mice.
 
I haven't used Apple input devices since the ADB days (some of the younger ones here won't even know what that means).

For mice, I'd recommend Logitech -- SUPERIOR designs, leave Apple's back in the dust.
For a keyboard, I'm using an OLD (20+/- years old, at least) Macally iMediaKey.

The only proper usage for Apple keyboards is to chew on them. (see my avatar)
 
DeltaMac said:
If you ordered with ethernet, then the two connectors are for the power cable (plugs in the round port on the back of your iMac), and the normal RJ-45 port for ethernet.
Ah, OK, I couldn't decide what you meant by "phone spigot"! The ethernet connector is slightly wider than a phone (RJ-11 (?) - so you got the optional ethernet.

The mouse is rechargeable. There's a charging cord for that in your iMac box. Plug that in to the port on the bottom of the mouse.
Click to expand...
How about recharging trackpad ? My 2012 iMac uses 2 AA rechargeable batteries for both keyboard and trackpad separately.
 
mitstoshi said:
How about recharging trackpad ? My 2012 iMac uses 2 AA rechargeable batteries for both keyboard and trackpad separately.
Click to expand...
There are no longer any AA batteries in their keyboards, mice and trackpads: Apple abandoned the separate batteries option years ago in favor of embedded rechargeable batteries which charge via a Lightning cable, in a similar fashion to iPhones and iPads. (They might even be the exact same batteries as the ones in their iDevices, come to think of it.) In fact, if you walk into a store which sells current generation Macs, you will be able to easily observe that all three of these types of devices are far too thin to contain AA batteries.
 
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