Cleaning an Apple Mighty Mouse

posted 11:46:30 AM on 6/22/2009

Many many years ago, the computer world collectively discovered that using trackballs to detect movement in a mouse was a terrible idea. Apparently, Apple didn't get this memo, and decided to equip their only 2 button mouse not with a scrollwheel, but with a ball in order to add the uncommon and unnecessary function of scrolling left and right.

The downside, of course, is that these balls easily pick up dirt, eventually paralyzing it's movement completely. Back in the day, mice always had an easy way to access the wheels under the ball, but in true apple fashion, the Mighty Mouse is designed to be thrown away when it becomes dirty.

This morning, I decided to look into the feasibility of cleaning it out, and after a quick Google search, located a gallery of images that helped me out.

The process is pretty straightforward. Snap out the bottom most ring, and then pry out the innards of the mouse. Another inner ring is glued in, and will probably crack when you pry it out. Under the guts of the mouse you will unhook 2 ribbon cables and remove 3 Philips screws to remove the ball assembly. Pop the ball out of it's cradle and access the 4 individual wheels underneath. These are where the dirt collects, so clean them off, put them back and pop everything back together.

Because you probably broke the inner plastic ring, you will need to find a way to reattach it.. I was in a pinch so I opted for some Scotch tape around the base of the mouse. It looks ugly but at least I can scroll up and down!