Believe it or not, Christmas is almost here, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.
Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.
From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts that cost less than $30. Yes, that means you are cheap, and — seeing as you still haven’t bought anything despite it being almost Christmas — lazy.
Sometimes it’s the little luxuries in life that make a difference. Don’t have a place to store your headphones at your desk? You may need Just Mobile’s new HeadStand. Well, you probably don’t need it, but you’ll want it.
Sculpted from polished aluminum in a way that would probably make Jony Ive shed a tear of joy, the HeadStand suspends your plush headphones gracefully in the air.
The AluRack mounts your MacBook in style and out of sight.
Just Mobile is one of my favorite third-party accessory makers for Apple products. They make beautifully minimal stands, chargers, styluses, and other random accessories for iPhone, iPad and Mac. What makes Just Mobile’s stuff great is that most of their products look like they were designed by Apple itself, and that’s no exaggeration—just take a look at their catalog. It’s all great.
A couple of the newest products to be announced by Just Mobile include the AluBase and AluRack MacBook mounts.
This tiny backup battery is small enough to take anywhere.
“You can’t take it with you.” This is a saying usually uttered by those people who are bitterly jealous of their richer friends' and relatives' success. It refers to the fact that your money is no good when you’re dead.
But it could equally apply to many external battery packs for the iPhone, which you can’t take with you because they’re too big, and you’re not carrying a bag.
Enter the Gum, a tiny 2200mAH battery pack which fits in your pocket, and while it won’t help you in the afterlife, it will help you where it counts: in the actual real world of too-short battery life.
Just Mobile, purveyor of high-design aluminum objects to the not-so-rich, makes what seems at first to be a pointless little gadget. It’s called the Horizon, and its sole purpose is to let you hang your iPad on the wall. I was skeptical when I received the review unit, but it turns out to be pretty great, and full of Just Mobile’s trademark clever design touches.
I was a big fan of the Alupen when it launched — so much so that I went out and bought my own. It was chunky, looked like a metal pencil and felt pretty good in my big hands. Then came the Wacom Bamboo stylus and our love affair was over.
Now, though, the newer skinnier, cleverer Alupen Pro has got me two-timing the svelte Bamboo. Why? Because it has a biro built in.
I love getting to review products from Just Mobile because I know they will always have excellent build quality. The Highway car charger for the iPhone is no exception. At about $35, the Highway isn’t exactly price sensitive. You’ll be able to find a multitude of cheaper solutions at your local Walmart, but you won’t find anything quite as luxurious.
![Cult of Mac Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts Under $30 [Updated]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
![Cult of Mac Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts Under $30 [Updated]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/under30updated.jpg "under30updated")
![Just Mobile Horizon, A Pretty Much Perfect iPad Wall Mount [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/362067653.511408.jpg "horizon")
![The Great New Alupen Pro Stylus Also Writes On Paper [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/alupen-pro-1.jpg "alupen pro-1")
![Just Mobile’s Highway iPhone Charger Is A Luxurious Match For Your Car’s Dash [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-23-at-12.31.38-AM.jpg "Screen Shot 2012-03-23 at 12.31.38 AM")
