Mac - what mouse is required

I’m a beginner. I have a MacAir laptop. In viewing YouTube training videos, a mouse with a scroll wheel is required.
Is this true? And if so, could you please offer suggested models? Thank you.

I survive perfectly well with just my MacBook Pro trackpad. You can do the mousewheel scroll by using two fingers on your trackpad.

There are some conveniences to using a multi button mouse, but it isn’t needed.

I definitely think it is worthwhile to buy any two button mouse with a scroll wheel. You can pick one up at any office supply store.

I use a Logitech MX Anywhere mouse. Always reliable, and using a laptop it’s useful that it works on just about any surface. Even my duvet cover!

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Skethup can be used with a trackpad or Magic Mouse, but I would VERY STRONGLY recommend that you buy a mouse with a scroll wheel.

I use an iMac, with a Logitech M525 mouse, but any mouse with a smooth-scrolling wheel will make moving around the model SO much faster - hold down the middle/scroll button to Orbit, and roll wheel in and out to Zoom. Shift + middle button to Pan. (But I find zooming out and in again usually faster than panning. The zoom centres around the mouse pointer.)

The orbit shortcut would be useful, but scrolling works fine on trackpad. It should also work on Magic Mouse, but nowhere near as comfortably as with Magic Trackpad.

I have a Magic Trackpad, but was never able to get it to work well with SU, even with the extra software ?Magic Prefs? is it? It seems no longer to be installed, so I’m not even quite sure of the name.

What setting do you use, Colin, with Magic Trackpad>?

I have a MBP Retina. I find the trackpad to be adequate for casual modeling, but I switch to a wireless mouse for serious work. I find it to be faster and more accurate. I think any mouse with a center scroll wheel is fine. Choose based on feel in your hand and durability.

Just whatever the default is, with no extra add-ons. I have something set in accessibility that allows me to use three fingers as if I’m pressing the left mouse button and dragging. That can be physically less demanding than doing a click and drag.

So, to zoom in and out I just use two fingers and move up and down the trackpad. With v2017 I can also set natural scrolling, so that SketchUp works like all other Mac programs.

One thing you may not know is that control-command acts as a temporary orbit, much like pressing the mousewheel would be.

And shift-control-command is a temporary pan.

Thanks, Colin.

I must try that, though as a recent (just 1 yr +) convert from Windows to iMac I got used to a scroll wheel mouse, and still use it.

Agreed that just about any 2 button mouse with a scroll wheel will work just fine using SketchUp on any computer, but my strongest recommendation is for using the wireless SpaceMouse from 3DConnexion. Click on the bold type for more info.

This mouse provides a vastly greater ability to navigate in, around and through your model.

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I fully agree about the SpaceMouse!!!

I’m the oddball: I use a Wacom tablet with a MacBook Pro and a second monitor. SketchUp is not particularly friendly toward Wacom tablet use, but I mange to work with it. Right hand on the pen for most mouse activity, with left hand on the track pad doing two finger scrolling, and to the keyboard for shortcuts, etc. Numeric, keyboard entry for drawing is best accomplished by first clicking in the right general direction, and then entering numerically after the fact; a funny little feature of SU without which Wacom use would be intolerable.

I keep thinking about a Space Mouse.