Lift your iMac with the Satechi Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub, and add some ports, too. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Satechi Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub for iMac adds some extra height to the all-in-one desktop. And it makes room for four additional USB ports, an SD card reader and an audio jack.
I put stand/hub combo through its paces to see how it stands up in everyday use.
The Espresso Display V2 is a gorgeous external display that’s also a touchscreen. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Although Apple refuses to make a touchscreen Mac, the Espresso Display V2 is ready to fill in the gap. There are 15.6-inch and 13.3-inch versions of the very slim external display, and both support touch and an optional stylus.
I tested the screen with a MacBook and iPad to see how well it performs in ordinary use. And I also tried out the stylus as well as the stand for desktop use and the case for taking the display on the go.
Hyper's new 4K docking station lets you easy run three external displays with your MacBook. Photo: Hyper
Feel the need for more external screens to go with your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? On Tuesday Hyper rolled out its new HyperDrive 4K Multi-Display Docking Station. It’ll help you connect up to three 4K displays with a 60Hz refresh rate.
And what’s more, the dock works with every MacBook made since 2016, Hyper said.
The Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock can be the center of your home office. Photo: Belkin
With a dozen ports, the Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock lets users connect a Mac to multiple accessories for data, video, Ethernet and power. All through a single high-speed cable connection.
Belkin also introduced a Thunderbolt 4 cable capable of handling data transfers at 40 Gbps.
The InnoView Portable Monitor is ideal for work, school, gaming or video. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The InnoView 15.6-inch Portable Monitor might be everything you’re looking for in a second screen for your MacBook. First off, it’s beautiful. And it’s very slim and lightweight. Plus it works with a wide variety of devices: Mac, iPad, even iPhone with the right adapter.
I used InnoView’s on-the-go display for both work and entertainment. Here’s all the many ways it impressed me. And its one flaw.
You can start the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with a fairly modest amount of storage than grow it to 64TB. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual can handle up to eight U.2 SSDs. And it can be pre-configured with up to 64TB. That’s a lot of storage capacity. Or put in your own SSDs. And the external drive enclosure uses Thunderbolt for high-speed connections to your Mac. Plus there’s RAID support.
I put the drive holder through testing. Here’s what I found.
Take your iMac for a spin with the HyperDrive Turntable Dock Photo: Hyper
The HyperDrive Turntable Dock for iMac includes a 360-degree swivel mechanism that makes turning the computer a breeze. Plus, it has room for an SSD and 10 useful ports.
Hyper also unveiled on Monday the HyperDrive Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub, which combines a docking station and 100W computer charger.
The EZQuest USB-C Gen 2 Hub Adapter takes just one port but adds four USB-C ports. And three USB-A ones. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
You can never be too thin, too rich or have too many USB ports. The EZQuest USB-C Gen 2 Hub Adapter adds four USB-C ports and three USB-A ones, making room for an array of peripherals for your Mac or iPad.
I put the USB-C hub through real-world testing. Here are its strengths and weaknesses.
The Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Dock adds almost a dozen ports. And it enables high-speed data transfers over most of them. Photo: Satechi
Satechi’s just-launched Thunderbolt 4 Dock includes a whopping eleven ports, including three Thunderbolt 4 and four USB-A ports. And there’s also a range of other ports for connecting additional peripherals.
Plus, Satechi launched a pair of USB-C hubs on Wednesday.
The Accell Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station is ready for professional workloads. Photo: Accell
The Accell Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station allows multiple peripheral connections to Mac through a single Thunderbolt 4 cable. It turns a single Thunderbolt port into two, while also offering DisplayPort, USB-A, Ethernet and more.
The professional-grade hub is available for purchase starting Monday.
Logitech’s new Pop collection hopes to make dark, drab desks a thing of the past. Both its Pop Keys keyboard, which features real mechanical keys, and the Pop Mouse sport quirky designs with bright and colorful finishes.
Prices start at $39.99, and they work great with Apple devices, including Mac and iPad. You can order yours this month.
The Kingston DataTraveler Max is so fast it leaves old USB-A flash drives in the dust. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Kingston DataTraveler Max is blazing fast. It supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 so the new flash drive can transfer data at up to 1,000MBps. And it uses USB-C so can be plugged into any Mac and most iPads.
I tested Kingston’s speed claims under real-world conditions. And data transfers are so quick it made me want to pitch out all my old flash drives.
With the HyperDrive Dual 4K HDMI 3-in-1 USB-C Adapter you can easily connect a pair of displays to an M1 MacBook. Photo: Hyper
A pair of adapters just launched by Hyper let MacBooks with an Apple M1 processor connect to dual HDMI monitors. Apple says the macOS notebooks can only use one external display, but users found a workaround. And Hyper built this workaround into its latest accessories.
There’s a basic HyperDrive Dual 4K HDMI adapter, plus a second version that offers additional ports.
No matter how hard you are on your gear, you aren‘t going to destroy the OWC Envoy Pro FX. The 2 terabyte SSD is waterproof and offers military-level drop toughness. Plus the USB-C accessory supports Thunderbolt 3 so data transfers are super fast.
I put the solid state drive through testing. Here’s how it stood up.
The AMD Radeon PRO W6000X series graphics cards are engineered to a wide variety of demanding professional graphics applications. Photo: AMD
AMD launched new Radeon Pro W6000X series GPUs for Mac Pro on Tuesday. These add-on graphics processing units for Apple’s most powerful macOS desktop are designed for demanding professional applications, including 3D rendering, 8K video compositing, color correction and more.
Get your Mac, iPhone and iPad cables in order with TwelveSouth SurfaceSnap. Photo: TwelveSouth
TwelveSouth has an attractive solution for the problem of messy cables stretching across nearly everyone’s desk. SurfaceSnap offers leather bands with button snaps. Attach one or more of these to a desk or table to secure charging and computer cables.
Apricorn's new 20 TB Fortress L3 is the biggest-ever portable encrypted SSD. Photo: Apricorn
The headline should probably read, “Got data? And money?” Storage device-maker Apricorn released on Thursday what it bills as the largest-ever portable encrypted solid state drive. It holds 20TB of data and costs $12,999.
But don’t worry, you can get a much smaller one for as little as $239.
Add front-facing ports and additional storage to your Mac mini with an improved Satechi Stand & Hub. Photo: Satechi
Satechi’s stylish Mac mini stand includes an array of front-facing ports. A new version adds space for a sold-state drive to further increase the macOS desktop’s storage capacity.
The Satechi Type-C Stand & Hub for Mac Mini with SSD Enclosure launched Wednesday. And it’s currently on sale.
This backup stick protects and stores your photos and videos from virtually all devices. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
We all go through a similar thought process when our phones, laptops or iPads break, get lost or are stolen. Somewhere between trying to remedy the situation and coming to terms with the loss comes the sharp realization that all your content is gone. Saying goodbye to your photos is never fun, but you can prevent this nightmare from happening by taking precautions now.
What’s better than using cloud storage? Keeping your photo and video content in the palm of your hand. While the cloud can be convenient, the Photo Backup Stick automatically backs up pictures and videos — without having to rely on an internet connection. It can eliminate the need to pay for monthly cloud-storage fees.
Expand the life and capability of your Mac setup with OWC Thunderbolt products. Photo: Other World Computing
This post is presented by Other World Computing, owner of MacSales.com.
For 30 years, Other World Computing and its website, MacSales.com, have offered Mac users great ways to upgrade and extend the life of their equipment rather than buying a new computer.
That goes for practically any product an Apple customer could want or need. But when it comes to Thunderbolt connectivity equipment — external drives, docks, hubs, cables — OWC really goes the distance.
The Belkin Soundform Connect brings the high-quality audio of AirPlay 2 to legacy speakers or soundbars. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Belkin Soundform Connect could be just what you need to connect your speakers to Apple Music’s upcoming high-quality lossless audio. The wireless adapter allows iPhone and Mac users communicate with any speaker over AirPlay 2 using Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth.
I ran some tests, and I’m impressed with the usefulness of this tiny accessory.
This endoscope camera packs eight adjustable LEDs and a 16.5-foot flexible cable. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Does the word endoscopy sound familiar? This medical procedure, which utilizes a camera attached to a flexible tube, is used to observe the digestive tract of the patient from a perspective that can’t be seen otherwise.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe has both USB-C and Lightning connectors for maximum compatibility. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe includes both Lightning and USB Type-C connectors so it plugs into almost any computer. You can easily access the same collection of files from an iPhone, Mac or iPad without resorting to iCloud, etc. Even better, the drive is small and comes in an all-metal casing.
I tested the iXpand Luxe with multiple devices. Here’s its strengths and weaknesses.
Attach Apple’s full-size keyboard to the trackpad for easier use with MagicBridge Extended. Photo: Twelve South
Twelve South’s MagicBridge Extended takes two Apple input devices and makes them into one. It attaches the Magic Trackpad 2 to the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad so they can both be used in your lap.
Securely share a collection of files between your iPhone, Mac and iPad with a new 2-in-1 flash drive from SanDisk.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe lets you access its files on all your Apple computers, no adapters needed. It supports Lightning and USB Type-C, so it can plug into an iPhone, Mac or iPad. The same goes for many Windows and Android devices.