Apple Pro Mouse
Encyclopedia
The Apple Mouse was originally introduced at the July 2000 Macworld Conference & Expo
Macworld Conference & Expo
Produced by Boston-based IDG World Expo, Macworld | iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. It is held annually in the United States, usually during the second week of January...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
was one of the first companies to ship an optical mouse
Optical mouse
An optical computer mouse or "optic mouse" uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect movement relative to a surface, unlike a mechanical mouse which has a ball which rotates orthogonal shafts which drive chopper wheels for distance measurement.- Early optical mice :Early optical mice,...
as the standard input device
Input device
In computing, an input device is any peripheral used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance...
. While the industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
of the Pro Mouse was handled entirely by Apple's in-house designers, some of the hardware has been engineered by Sparkfactor Design
Sparkfactor Design
Sparkfactor Design provides flexible product design resources through offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco. They help design products and equipment for the consumer electronics, medical equipment and other industries.-History and work:...
. The Pro Mouse was included with the Power Mac G4 Cube
Power Mac G4 Cube
The Power Mac G4 Cube was a small form factor Macintosh personal computer from Apple Inc. It was sold from 2000 to 2001. Its cube shape is reminiscent of the NeXTcube from NeXT, acquired by Apple in 1996. The machine was designed by Apple industrial designer Jonathan Ive...
, also introduced at WWDC 2000. Apple was the first company to use USB mice and keyboards exclusively when they introduced the "hockey-puck" mouse with the original iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
G3 in May of 1998. Like the "hockey-puck" mouse and all future mice Apple would make, the Apple Pro Mouse was a USB mouse with a much shorter cord than its ADB
Apple Desktop Bus
Apple Desktop Bus is an obsolete bit-serial computer bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. Used primarily on the Macintosh platform, ADB equipment is still available but not supported by most Apple hardware manufactured since 1999....
predecessors, its 2-foot cord was designed to plug neatly into one of the two ports of the Apple Pro Keyboard's built-in USB hub
USB hub
A USB hub is a device that expands a single USB port into several so that there are more ports available to connect devices to a host system.USB hubs are often built into equipment such as computers, keyboards, monitors, or printers...
. The Apple Pro Mouse also featured a unique mechanism to allow for 3 click force settings for the required pressure to click the mouse. The Apple Pro Mouse was originally released on the iMac G3 "Snow."
Combined with a rising tide of suggestions that Apple switch to a typical two-button wheel mouse
Scroll wheel
A scroll wheel is a hard plastic or rubbery disc on a computer mouse that is perpendicular to the mouse surface. It is normally located between the left and right mouse buttons.- Functionality :...
for their pack-in bundles, the unique design of the Pro Mouse's body inspired jokes that Apple had made a zero-button mouse in response.
The original Pro Mouse was available only in black, which matched the black Apple Pro Keyboard
Apple keyboard
The Apple Keyboard is a keyboard designed by Apple first for the Apple line, then the Macintosh line of computers. It is available in both wired and Bluetooth models.- Layout :...
. The cord on the original Apple Pro Mouse had a very high failure rate due to flexing and corrosion. It wasn't until later that the mouse was available in white with the debut of the iMac G4
IMac G4
The iMac G4 was a computer that was produced by Apple from the beginning of 2002 to mid 2004. It replaced the aging iMac G3. The computer had a new design compared to older Macs. It had a 15-inch LCD which was mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading...
, a revision which also solved reliability problems with a more rugged cord and improved stress relief. Eventually, the mouse and keyboard were both re-designed, though the exterior of the mouse had few noticeable changes: Apple dropped the "Pro" from the name and removed the ability to control the firmness of click in the Apple Mouse. From then on, the Pro Mouse was simply known as "Apple Mouse." This white mouse was later included with Power Mac G4
Power Mac G4
The Power Mac G4 was a series of personal computers that was designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple between 1999 and 2004. They used the PowerPC G4 series of microprocessors. They were heralded by Apple to be the first personal supercomputers, reaching speeds of 4 to 20 Gigaflops...
Mirror Drive Door systems, Power Mac G5
Power Mac G5
The Power Mac G5 is Apple's marketing name for models of the Power Macintosh that contains the IBM PowerPC G5 CPU. The professional-grade computer was the most powerful in Apple's lineup when it was introduced, widely hailed as the first 64-bit PC, and was touted by Apple as the fastest personal...
systems, the eMac
EMac
The eMac, short for education Mac, was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass market alternative to Apple's second-generation LCD display iMac....
, and iMac G3 & G4.
On August 2, 2005, Apple replaced the Apple Mouse with the Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Mighty Mouse
The Apple Mouse is a multi-button USB mouse manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced and sold for the first time on August 2, 2005, and a Bluetooth version was available from 2006 to 2009...
. The Mighty Mouse featured a 360° scroll ball, touch sensitive buttons, and a pressure sensitive "squeeze" functionality by default set to activate the Exposé
Exposé (Mac OS X)
Exposé is a feature of the Mac OS X operating system. First previewed on 23 June 2003 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a feature of the then forthcoming Mac OS X v10.3, Exposé allows a user to quickly locate an open window, or to hide all windows and show the desktop without the need...
feature in Panther, Tiger, and Leopard. Soon afterwards, the Apple Mouse was discontinued completely. On July 25, 2006, Apple introduced a wireless Mighty Mouse which uses Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
.