The 27-inch Apple iMac Review (2011)

The Peripherals

I've never been a fan of wireless peripherals - I didn't want more things to charge. Last year I finally broke down and bought a wireless mouse: Microsoft's Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000. I didn't buy it for mobility, I just liked the form factor.

The iMac comes with all wireless peripherals. In fact, if you stick with WiFi for network access, there's only a single cable you need going to the iMac: power. By default you get Apple's Wireless Keyboard and a Magic Mouse.

The Wireless Keyboard is a Bluetooth keyboard that runs off of two AA batteries. It pairs effortlessly with the iMac and I didn't encounter any issues with interference in using it. The keyboard seems to burn through batteries quicker than the mouse, perhaps that's because I type far too much or there's an issue with power management under OS X. After a week of use I'm down to 81% on a fresh pair of batteries (this is my second set).

The keyboard itself is a lot like Apple's standard aluminum keyboard, just wireless and more compact. Apple chopped off the dedicated home/end key island as well as the numeric keypad. Under OS X Cmd + Left/Right Arrow take the place of Home/End for me so part of the sacrifice isn't a problem, but the missing numeric keypad is. I do entirely too much data entry (ahem, benchmarks) to not have a dedicated numeric keypad, and for some reason Apple doesn't offer the Wireless Keyboard with one.

If you don't type tons of numbers every day however, the Wireless Keyboard is really nice. Apple had to stick a function key to the left of the control key, which is a bit bothersome (leave my control/option/cmd row alone) but it's nothing you can't get used to. The footprint is great. I have a giant desk, but I always seem to run out of desk space. The Wireless Keyboard makes it so that I can reclaim a small amount of high value desk area.

Typing feel and keyboard angle are both great - no complaints there. I'm a fan of Apple's keyboards.

Pointing devices designed in Cupertino are another story entirely. I've never liked Apple's mice. It was a big enough problem that when I first tried my Month with a Mac experience I ditched Apple's mouse. There was no way I was going to give the platform a fair shake if I had to use that thing. Since then Apple has at least enabled double clicking - the surface of the Magic Mouse is touch sensitive, click with your right finger and you get a right click. The Magic Mouse has no scroll wheel but drag your finger around on its surface and you get the best scrolling experience on a physical mouse.

The Magic Mouse is also a Bluetooth device that quickly pairs with the iMac. I noticed under Windows there's always a second or two of lag before it recognizes the mouse whereas it's useable as soon as you can see it under OS X.

My complaints about the Magic Mouse are three-fold. As I've mentioned before, the Magic Mouse doesn't have soft rubber feet that glide around on your desk. Instead you get two hard plastic strips that just seem to scrape against all surfaces. Tracking isn't a problem, but it's not a pleasant experience.

The other issue I have is the form factor itself. Microsoft's Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is small but it has a nice curve to it that seems to match my hand very well. The Magic Mouse on the other hand doesn't conform to any part of my body. I can lay my hand flat on it but either I'm not conditioned to do that or that's not a very comfortable way to use the mouse for long periods of a time.

Finally there's the clicking noise it makes. Modern mice seem to have a solid but more muted click, whereas the sharp click of the Magic Mouse reminds me of the past decade of Apple mice. I assume that's what Apple was going for, but Apple's market share has grown considerably in the past 10 years - it's ok to let go of some traditions.

Apple does offer the Magic Trackpad as a no-cost option. I have a love/hate relationship with the Magic Trackpad as a pointing device. Scrolling and gestures are great on it, but I prefer a normal mouse for most everything else.