I am semi-seriously considering the purchase of an Apple Magic Mouse 2. I have read many positive reviews and some negative ones. Are there any comments about it from users? Also, can the lightning to USB cable that comes with it be plugged into a standard USB port on my computer (for charging) or does it require a charging USB port on my powered Tripplite hub?

I have a Magic Mouse, although I seldom use it because of a personal preference for the Magic Trackpad, but I can tell you that it uses a standard USB A to lightning cable can be plugged into any USB A style port for charging. Additionally if you encounter a Bluetooth communications problem, or forget/neglect to charge, just plug it in and magically it become a conventional wired mouse that can be used as it is charging. If you aren't accustomed to using a trackpad, you will likely spend some time getting gestures set the way you want as well as practice to become accustomed to using them.

Since you are considering the Magic Mouse, you might also be interested in Better Touch Tool which can program new and enhanced gestures or the Magic Mouse, Trackpad, Touch Bar, keyboard, Siri Remote, Drawings, or enable gestures on iOS devices to effect your Mac and is Big Sur compatible.

Thanks for the info. I don't want or need extra gestures. In fact, I have my wired mouse to use left and right buttons as left only, and I just need the scroll wheel for scrolling and nothing else. My major reason for considering the Magic Mouse is that the scroll wheel on the wired mouse eventually becomes uncleanable and nonfunctional. As to the lightning to USB cable, my understanding is that it plugs into the mouse on its underside, making it impossible to use as a wired mouse while charging. Is that true?

You, are absolutely correct, I had forgotten that annoyance. As I said I have a Magic Mouse, but I don't use it often. No fault of the Magic Mouse, just a personaL preference for a Trackpad. (One carpal tunnel surgery, was more than enough for me.)

I avoided the magic mouse for years, but when my preferred mouse failed after just a year, I resorted to the magic mouse while looking for a replacement. Well, I've got used to it now and I like it.

Two things: 1) yes, the lightning plug hole is on the bottom of the mouse, so you have to have a second mouse to use while the magic mouse is being charged. 2) My one major annoyance with the magic mouse is its sensitivity to careless passing finger strokes. Mainly, an unintentional side-to-side stroke will take whatever document you are working on right out of the window. This happens more often than I like. On a positive note, the scrolling motion in the magic mouse is very satisfying.

I have a previous magic mouse that is battery powered, so I use that when the rechargeable mouse is being charged.

My major hesitation about the Magic Mouse is that my wife is a bit of a technophobe, and dislikes anything new that she has to learn about using the computer. It took her long enough to go from Entourage to Mail, for example, and stop complaining. I have two more questions:

1. I assume that I can set Mouse preferences to only scroll rather than use any swiping actions (which I don't want, in any event). Is this true?
2. Does the mouse use clicks, like a wired mouse, instead of taps? Taps could be a nuisance.

Not to change the subject, but to commiserate, have you ever used a Mac with a Touch Bar? That, but in SPADES!

Artie:

What are your Mouse preference settings for swiping and/or scrolling? I just need to scroll, not swipe.

I don't use a mouse with my MBP, Jon; I'm happy with the trackpad...well, more or less, anyhow. (I hated using the mouse I needed with my Power Mac.)

That said, I don't use any of the Apple included gestures, let alone 3rd party offerings.

Clicking and scrolling is sufficient functionality for me, although I do, in addition, use 3 finger tap to call up Dictionary.

The settings are these. (Be sure and scroll down to see both windows.)

Thanks for that, Joe. It looks like I will be able to customize it so that it operates just like my wired Apple mouse. Now, the challenge is to convince my wife...

No, never used a Touch Bar.

The Magic Mouse has a left and right click. It also has some custom scrolling gestures which I don't use. It's pretty easy to get used to. No reason why you can't have his and her's mice.

Except instead a scroll wheel you will use a swipe.

I always get the initial grumble and within a day or two my wife is telling her friends about this wonderful whatever she found. 🤨 It takes a week or two before she admits to me she likes it.

But she has put up with me for sixty-one years so I can't complain

One other thing . . . This mouse is really SENSITIVE to the kind of mouse pad used with it. With some surfaces, the cursor onscreen lags behind the hand movements of the mouse.

As a data point:

I have a Magic Mouse 2. Right now, as I type this, it's not connected to my computer. Instead, I'm using a wired USB scroll-wheel mouse I got for $6 on Amazon.

The Magic Mouse is awesome in theory. In practice, I found it...less awesome. It's lovely when it works, but the need to keep recharging it (and the charge port is on the bottom, in a rare Apple design misfire), the fact that I occasionally do unintentional things with finger swipes, and the fact that it's (in another rare misfire) less responsive in video games than my cheap $6 Amazon mouse all conspire to make sure it sits on the shelf unused.

I changed to a new MM2. It works on all the usual mousepad surfaces. (The "sensitive" other MM2 was buggered, evidently.)