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At a glance
Expert rating
pros
- Silent click
- New 8000 dpi sensor
- Couples with multiple computers
- Nice setting
Minuses
- For righties only
- Software could be more flexible
Our verdict
The best Mac mouse has been updated with a delightfully quiet click and a higher resolution sensor that’s great for 4K and 5K displays.
Best Prices Today: MX Master 3S
$99.99
Is free
$99.99
Is free
Since its debut nearly two years ago, we’ve considered the Logitech MX Master 3 the best performance mouse for Mac.
It’s now been upgraded to the MX Master 3S and the improvements, while minor, are enough to keep the top spot. The MX Master 3S is almost identical to the MX Master 3 but has an improved 8000 DPI sensor and quiet click buttons. There’s also a new Options+ app, although it will work with many Logitech mice, including older models.
Convenient design (for right-handers)
Logitech’s design for the MX Master 3S is identical to the MX Master 3. It has a beautifully sculpted shape that fits well in the hand, with a gentle left-to-right slope and a thumb rest for a more comfortable position.
There are two more main buttons that are now incredibly quiet. They still have a nice clicking feel, not at all soft like some quiet clicking mice, but they make almost no sound. Your colleagues will thank you.
Between the left and right buttons is a metal knurled scroll wheel and a toggle button that allows you to switch it from smooth scrolling to a ratchet feel. I prefer the ratchet mode and if you crank really fast it’s like the clutch is letting go which allows the wheel to spin freely for a few seconds with some flywheel like inertia. This is a great way to quickly scroll through very long documents or web pages while maintaining line-by-line accuracy while moving slowly.
Above the thumb rest you’ll find another scroll wheel for scrolling left/right in spreadsheets and the like, as well as two more mouse buttons. The thumb rest itself can be pushed down to the table like another programmable mouse click. By default, it’s set to gestures – click down and drag your mouse up, down, left, or right to perform one of several gestures, just like you would with a touchpad.
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I found the thumb rest button a little hard to press, but it seems to be something you should use from time to time, and it’s nice to have an alternative to all those two and three finger trackpad gestures as you hop from the trackpad to the mouse.
The mouse only works wirelessly using either Bluetooth or a Logi Bolt USB dongle (which is included). The Bolt adapter is used in many of Logitech’s wireless products – in fact, one adapter can be paired with up to six at the same time. What’s more, the mouse can be paired with up to three different devices (Bolt or Bluetooth) and you can switch between them using a small switch on the underside. This is convenient for those who want to use the mouse on multiple computers; Mac or PC with Windows/Linux.
The battery has a claimed life of 70 hours and is charged via the USB-C port on the front of the mouse. In my experience, this battery life estimate is fairly accurate. In five days of continuous use, my mouse’s battery has only dropped to 90 percent. Plus, you can use the mouse while it’s charging without any problems (I’m looking at you, Apple Magic Mouse).
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Improvements over MX Master 3
With the exception of the near-silent buttons, all the features of the MX Master 3S are more or less identical to those of the MX Master 3. There’s another small improvement: an optical sensor that does a great job of tracking all sorts. surfaces doubled to 8000 dpi from 4000 dpi.
This will be a welcome transition for those who use multiple 4K or 5K monitors. Moving across all those pixels can mean dragging the mouse all over the table or moving it around a lot, and the high-res sensor really cuts down on the required mouse movement.
Options+
In conjunction with the release of the MX Master 3S and the new MX Mechanical keyboard, Logitech has developed new Logi Options+ software to replace the old Logi Options software.
It’s primarily a facelift with the same rich features as before: select your mouse buttons and remap their functions, even selecting OS features or certain keyboard shortcuts or keystrokes. There are global settings and you can assign new settings and button assignments for each application.
Your settings are stored in the cloud (with your Logitech account) and follow you to other systems where you use Options+. It also includes a feature called Flow that allows you to move control from one computer to another by simply moving your mouse off the edge of the screen (assuming your devices are paired with both and have Options+ installed on both). You can even copy and paste between machines at the speed of your local network.
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It works well enough that I was even able to easily switch between my iMac and my Windows 11 PC. Luckily, Options+ is a universal app (good news for M1 Mac users), while the old Options app is Intel-only and runs under Rosetta emulation.
But not without flaws. First, it only supports certain Logitech productivity hardware, while Logitech gaming hardware, Blue microphones, and webcams use the similar but slightly different Logitech G Hub. I don’t need to run Options+ for mouse and keyboard and G Hub for webcam and Blue Yeti, but that’s the way it is.
What’s more, G Hub has features that Options+ doesn’t, such as the ability to create multi-step macros. It’s not just a feature for gamers – programmers will probably love this option, but you can’t get it without buying a Logitech gaming peripheral to use G Hub (or relying on third-party mouse or keyboard macro software).
Logitech says Options+ will get features and support that Options never had before. We can only hope that Blue’s webcam and microphone control and full macro control top the list.
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Should I buy MX Master 3S?
The MX Master 3S is not much different from the MX Master 3, but it doesn’t have to be. Logitech has taken what we still consider to be the best all-around mouse for Mac users and made it even better with a higher resolution sensor and amazing silent-click buttons that still feel great.
The new Options+ software is a welcome upgrade, and while we wish it did more, it’s one of the best first-person mouse and keyboard controls out there. If you frequently use more than one computer, you will especially appreciate the ease of use of the MX Master 3S with three machines.
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