Could You Soon Be Talking to Your Magic Mouse?

It’s been 38 years since the writers of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home spoofed the idea of using a mouse to talk to a Mac, and now it looks like Apple is preparing to make that whimsical scene come true.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was “rethinking” the Magic Mouse, and now it looks like it may be exploring some pretty radical ideas (yes, even more radical than putting the charging port on the bottom or a hockey puck design — but in a good way).

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While Gurman didn’t have much to specific to say about Apple’s plans for the next-generation Magic Mouse, his report still came as welcome news after the USB-C versions showed up virtually unchanged in October. At the time, Gurman said only that it wanted to “create something that’s more relevant, while also fixing longstanding complaints.”

However, if a new report by South Korean leaker yeux1122 is accurate, that relevance could come from embracing voice commands.

To be fair, this is a far more dubious report than most that we see, mainly since there may be something lost in translation here, as 9to5Mac points out.

Keeping all that in mind, I don’t think it’s an entirely absurd idea. If nothing else, it’s fun to think about, especially since such a device would arrive on the 40th anniversary of the aforementioned scene from Star Trek IV, which featured an early Macintosh computer with the classic Apple Desktop Bus Mouse.

I’ll be the first to argue that Apple isn’t a company that often waxes nostalgic. I still don’t believe the iPhone X was created as a specific anniversary edition — just good timing — and I wasn’t too surprised by the absence of an “Apple Watch X” this year. This means that even if Apple were to do such a thing as create a voice-controlled mouse, it wouldn’t have anything do with that scene (at least not officially). However, such a move would be in keeping with Apple’s tradition of revolutionizing human interface devices.

Apple may not have invented the mouse, but it definitely made it mainstream. Microsoft was selling a PC-compatible mouse a year before the first Macintosh was introduced, but it was a novelty in the essentially keyboard-driven MS-DOS environment. The Macintosh was effectively impossible to use without a mouse, which was standard equipment and arguably the whole point of buying into the platform.

While Apple had some missteps along the way, and critics often panned the company for its stubborn insistence on sticking with a single button, the 2009 Magic Mouse was revolutionary in adopting a touch-sensitive surface that not only replaced the traditional scroll wheels of its competitors but literally went in the other direction, effectively putting a mini-trackpad on top of your mouse. Up and down scrolling left and right swipes, and even pinch gestures were all supported by macOS.

Although the design of the Magic Mouse we know today has remained essentially unchanged since its introduction — it switched from AA batteries to rechargeable in 2015, adopting the controversial bottom charging port — its minimalist design and swipe gestures still set it apart from most other mice. Sadly, so do its negatives like the bottom-mounted charging support and the lousy ergonomics.

The 2026 “Magic Mouse 3” will undoubtedly fix some of those issues. Gurman insists the bottom charging port is among the first things on the chopping block. Still, it’s likely Apple is also considering ways to do something unique on the accessibility and human interface side. Although full Siri-style voice control is likely redundant, the Siri Remote for the Apple TV created a precedent for moving the microphone closer to the user.

Unlike the mic-less Apple TV, most Mac users wouldn’t need such a feature, as nearly every Mac already has a built-in mic, but it could fill a gap for Mac mini owners and those who use MacBooks in a docked, lid-closed fashion. For privacy reasons, modern MacBooks disable the built-in mic when the lid is closed, which means you need an external mic to communicate with Siri. Some monitors, like Apple’s pricey Studio Display, include built-in microphones, but it’s another add-on for most folks. Putting that in a mouse that people would need to control their closed MacBook anyway means they’d have one less accessory to buy and fewer cables to fuss with.

Still, while it’s an interesting idea, it still seems like a long shot, especially since it’s unclear if yeux1122 is adding any new information or just parroting Gurman’s original report, which mentioned voice control as one of the reasons that Apple is rethinking the Magic Mouse, but not a feature it’s planning for it.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]