Welcome to Cult of Mac‘s Gadget of the Year extravaganza. Unlike some other blogs, where harassed writers get a last-minute order from the boss to come up with an end-of-year list, and then spend a half-hour writing up the first five Google results for their given subject, our top gadgets are all rad, and all genuinely worth your cash.

Two of them will even change how you use technology, which isn’t a bad score for just one year. Let’s take a look at our favorite gadgets of 2017, and see why they’re so good.

This post is presented by Udemy.

Massively online open courses have transformed learning. Thanks to MOOCs, pretty much anyone with an internet connection and a desire to learn can receive a vital education on almost any topic.

Of course, these online courses aren’t free. But Udemy is holding a Holiday Flash Sale that’ll get you pretty close. From now through Friday, December 29, 2017, Cult of Mac readers can access any course costing $200 or more for just $10.

With 2018 about to begin, why rehash everything that already happened, just to fill up some space while we take time out for Christmas? Let’s go with a different year-end cliche? Yes, it’s a wish list for Apple products in 2018.

Some of these will almost certainly come to pass, while others perhaps will not. One is probably doomed before you even read about it here. Let’s take a look at what Apple products I hope will part me from my money in the coming year.

Christmas is coming, and along with it (if you’re lucky) a bunch of cool new tech. Whether you’re getting a new iPhone, computer, mp3 player, or basically any device that carries a charge, we’ve gathered some great deals on accessories for them. That includes wireless charging, to VPN protection, portable charging and more. Read on for more details:

You’ve got your Apple Watch, you lucky devil. Now it’s time to tweak it to make it as personal as possible with these Apple Watch setup tips.

Although Apple walks you through many of the basic steps, there are plenty of choices to be made before you’ll be able to squeeze maximum utility and joy out of your sleek, stylish smartwatch.

Cult of Mac’s roundup shows you exactly how to make the most out of your new favorite gadget.

The holidays are right around the corner, which means it’s time to start picking out the perfect gifts for your loved ones. Cult of Mac can help! This gift guide offers up a whole bunch of awesome gift suggestions for the iPhone lover in your life.

We handpicked some of the finest cases, wireless chargers, Bluetooth earbuds and more. They’re better than a bookstore voucher, and they’re guaranteed to fetch a smile.

A brilliant iPad port of one of the greatest turn-based strategy games of 2016, Civilization VI, is just of one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week” roundup. In addition, we’ve got neat updates for the official Reddit and Shazam apps, plus a game that you control… using your eyebrows?

Check out our picks below — and have a very happy holidays!

Cloud storage has gone from being a convenience to a necessity for proper data security. Unfortunately, it’s a necessity that’s still pretty pricey.

Treat the Apple Watch lover in your life to some sweet gifts this holiday season.

Cult of Mac can help you pick out the finest accessories money can buy for Apple Watch fanatics. We have everything from swanky straps to chic charging stands in our best Apple Watch accessories roundup.

Right now, you can get that massive MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that you’ve always wanted. Plus, a pair of iPads at great prices, and the hottest wireless headphones in the land at the best price yet.

You’ll find them all in this week’s roundup of the best Apple deals.

Still stressed about holiday shopping? Don’t fret! Cult of Mac is here to help you pick out the perfect gifts for your loved ones this Christmas. This gift guide offers up a bunch of brilliant suggestions for the iPad addict in your life.

We’ve handpicked the best accessories, the finest cases, and more.

This week, on a holly jolly edition of The CultCast: The next-gen AirPods are supposedly coming in 2018; next-day delivery of iPhone X is a sprinkling of Christmas magic; how to listen to Youtube videos when your iPad or iPhone screen is off; and we wrap up with our favorite TV shows of 2017!

Our thanks to Backblaze for supporting this episode! Backblaze online backup is Mac native, unlimited, unthrottled cloud backup, and it’s only 5 bucks a month. Try it totally free for two weeks at backblaze.com/cultcast.

Christmas creeps up on you quickly, so if you haven’t already started your shopping, it’s time to do something about it. Cult of Mac can help! In this guide, you’ll find a selection of stellar gifts that are perfect for the Mac lover in your life.

We have killer keyboards, stunning stands, super speakers and more!

In today’s workplace, digital design skills are at a premium. So knowing how to use Adobe’s industry standard apps for graphic design — Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, etc — means having an advantage in your job search.

A minor change in its App Store guidelines this week concerning template apps doesn’t sound like much. But if you’re one of the many, many iOS developers running a small business who rely on the App Store for a living, either directly or indirectly, it was a major triumph.

Here’s why it’s given developers another reason to celebrate this holiday season.

Capturing, converting, editing, burning to DVD. Each of the many ways we work with digital media files requires the right software. Roxio Toast has long been seen as one of the top digital media apps for Mac. With the latest version, Toast 16 Titanium, that title seems even more secure.

Apple has recruited three executives from Amazon Studios, who will help Apple further grow its original programming ambitions.

The new employees include Tara Sorensen, former head of Amazon kids’ programming, who will join Apple to pursue a similar role; international development executive Carina Walker, who joins Apple as a creative executive; and business affairs chief Tara Pietri, who will head up Apple’s legal affairs division.

iPhone X shipments are likely to be somewhere between 30-35 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, a new report claims.

If true, this would be something of a disappointment for Apple. Sources in the semiconductor packaging and testing service industry suggest that iPhone X pre-orders in markets including the United States, Taiwan, and Singapore were not as strong as expected.

Cowen analyst Karl Ackerman previously claimed that sales of the new device are “good,” but possibly not as good as anticipated.

Well that didn’t take long! Within a day of Apple acknowledging that it’s software updates cause older iPhone models to slow down, Apple has been hit with not one, but two class action lawsuits from folks outraged that it would behave in this way.

Both suits are asking for unspecified damages from the company.

When iOS update time rolls round, you probably run through all the devices in your home, downloading those multi-gigabyte updates over and over. If you have a few iPhones, plus a couple of iPads, it all adds to a lot of data, and a lot of waiting. New in macOS 10.13 High Sierra is Content Caching, which stores these downloads on a Mac, so they only have to be downloaded once.

This doesn’t only save on internet data usage. It also makes it way faster to update several devices. And it’s not just updates either. Content caching can also cache iCloud documents, your photo library, and app updates.

The Apple Watch is poised to become a serious medical device in the next few years thanks to a big new upgrade coming down the pipeline.

Apple is reportedly developing an advanced heart-rate monitoring system for Apple Watch that will utilize an electrocardiogram to take more accurate readings of the wearers’ health.

Apple is investigating new ways to make self-driving care systems drive more like humans, based on a recent patent filing from the iPhone-maker.

The USPTO finally published Apple’s first patent application related to autonomous vehicle systems today, giving some insight into the strategies Apple might use to make its mark in the emerging self-driving car market.

So you use a two-factor authentication, a VPN, you cover your webcam. You’re doing everything you should to stay safe and private online. But what do you do about your phone calls?

According to reliable Apple analyst KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will focus on increasing the iPhone’s battery capacity for both the 2019 and 2020 models.

Kuo claims that Apple’s semiconductor manufacturing processes and substrate-like printed circuit boards will enable it to create the required space in its handsets for these larger batteries. He also suggests that Apple will opt for new “superior” radio frequency printed circuit board (RFPCB) batteries.

The newly-passed Republican tax overhaul will allow Apple to repatriate its giant $252.3 billion overseas cash pile without paying as much tax as it would have previously.

Under the new rules, it would be able to take advantage of a one-off 15.5 percent tax rate, meaning it would owe around $39.1 billion — much of which Apple has already set aside for the purpose.