Magic Mouse Batteries - 2 days

I have a 27 ins iMac bought 2009 with magic mouse. I use the Apple battery charger and batteries. Recently the batteries have only been lasting two days. Those in the keyboard last a normal length of time.

My question is - is the mouse at fault, could it be the batteries or charger - or is it, perhaps, software? Obviously the iMac is now way out of Apple Support.

Any ideas would be welcome.

You probly just need to get some new batteries for it.
Rechargeable batteries go bad over time and need replaced.

Thank you - but according to Apple The reusable batteries are exceptional at holding a charge and last for up to 10 years." Plus, I have no problem with the same batteries in the keyboard.

Is the magic mouse going to sleep like it should when not active? Have you tried another set of batteries in it? Try turning the mouse off when you are not using it and see if that helps.

Yes I have tried other (non-Apple) rechargeables but it is the same. As for the mouse going to sleep - how does one tell? Sorry if that sounds dense but it behaves as it always has.

Assuming the ifra red light on the bottom of the mouse is on when in use turn the mouse upside down and lay it on the desk like that . Leave it inactive for a while and the mouse should go to sleep and the red light will go off. You can also put the mac to sleep and the mouse should go inactive.

I must admit I don't do that - but I never have so nothing has changed. I do put the Mac to sleep when I leave it though.

Lol I was just saying that is how you could tell if the mouse is going to sleep.

unless you can see the red light while its in its normal position youll have to turn it upside down to see if its sleeping like it should

The light on the mouse is green and only shows underneath?

It may well be but I cannot afford to do that at the moment.

I asked for ideas about the MM with Apple rechargeable batteries needing charging every two days. I am trying to determine whether this is a MM problem or a Snow Leopard software problem.

Any ideas on the subject please?

I have the Wireless keyboard, Magic Mouse and Trackpad. When I first got my iMac in 2009, I went and purchased some rechargable batteries to use in the mouse, I found that they would work for a few months and would need a recharge, at this point there were a lot of people debating between regular AAs and rechargables.

I switched to a regular AA and found that it lasted significantly longer than the rechargables.

I doubt any rechargable battery will last for 10 years with a number of cycling. If you're getting to a point where the batteries are dying within a couple of days, you've reach the end of the life for those batteries and need to purchase new ones.

The keyboard, magic mouse and keypad all automatically go into sleep mode after some inactivity and don't need to be turned off. If you are going to be away from your computer for a week or more, then by all means turn them off. But just for overnight or a day..there's no need.

I currently use generic AA's from my local wholesale club in my keyboard and mouse and get about 10 months or so on the keyboard and easily 6 months on the mouse.

Now, the battery life are obviously affected by your usage. I use my computer for about 1 hour each weekday about 4 hours over the weekend. So approx 10 hours a week, if your usage is higher, your battery life (especially for the mouse) will be shorter..

Thank you for your reply.

I have bought other rechargeables but the result is the same. I have also tried generic AAs and they lasted almost a week. I do use the computer extensively for several hours a day - but this is what I have always done, there has been no change in the pattern.

Is it possible that the battery level showing in System Preferences is incorrect - this is what I meant earlier by asking if it could be a software problem? I downloaded the iStat widget which at present shows a lower level than that in System Preferences. At this moment iStat gives 67% while SP shows 100% - batteries changed a few hours ago. It is sometimes the other way around.

I shall try and get some Sanyo Eneloop type batteries (I believe the Apple batteries are similar to these) - if I can in the UK.

One week seems a tad fast for battery consumption and it should be reporting appropriately within System preferences at least. It's strange that a 3rd party application could get more accurate information about battery life than a native app..

I wonder if the mouse is somehow messed up or something and isn't going into a sleep state during inactivity and staying alive the entire time..that might explain the quick use of the battery..

Yes - I had a similar idea but how can one tell if something has affected the mouse? Whenever I leave the machine I put it to sleep - the iMac that is - which should affect the mouse too.

I can think of an easy way of knowing if something has happened to the mouse short of perhaps trying it with another Mac or getting another Mouse..

As I said before, the mouse is supposed to sleep smartly when you don't use it. I've found that sometimes when I'm reading a long article on the web or something the mouse sleeps and I end up having to either click once or move it enough to wake it up and continue using it..so the inactivity is not crazy long or anything..

Thank you - I'll give that a try.

Have you tried cleaning the mouse out? I've found that if enough dirt/hair/etc get into the optics sometimes it registers as movement - and can decrease battery life.

It does sound like a mouse problem - as you said - various batteries have been tried.

Otherwise - as people have said my keyboard and magic trackpad last forever. My Magic mouse I use for travel and keep in a case. It does seem to last months on Alkaline batteries - maybe even longer when I use the Engerizer Lithium.

Have taken a look and it doesn't seem to contain any detritus - have brushed it out though. Perhaps a tumble wash at 90 degrees might solve the problem - it would certainly give me some satisfaction to see it going round and round.

The other thing to try - is cleaning your desk / and/or getting an optical mouse pad - that is fairly simple. It could be sitting on some border area of clean/dirty (or wood grain) that is causing the optical to jump as well - but then with either of these suggestions there tends to be some jumpiness to the mouse when being used. So if the mouse is acting smooth it is probably not dirt - or the desktop surface.

I do use a mouse pad and it does move smoothly. I have found some Eneloops on Amazon so will try using new batteries. Perhaps I was taken in by the hype over the Apple charger and batteries which stated they would be good for up to ten years. I suppose that covers any period from one to ten and these are now two and a half years old.