The year’s almost over, so it’s time to review the best deals that graced the Cult of Mac Store in 2016. Our top deals include a bundle of three extra long, MFi-certified Lightning cables, a lifetime of VPN protection, a powerful planning tool for turning to-do lists into flowcharts, and a comprehensive set of lessons for coding in iOS 9 and 10. They’re all massively discounted, but you can shave off another 16 percent by using the code: “BESTOF2016” (some exclusions apply). Read on for more details:

Apple’s much-delayed AirPods may be shipping in time for Christmas, but if you’re after the BeatsX in-ear headphones announced at exactly the same time, you’ll be waiting a bit longer than that.

That’s according to Apple, which just updated its official webpage to note that the new headphones won’t be shipping until February — or considerably later than the Fall release date they originally had.

Update: Well that didn’t last long! Already it seems that AirPod demand has exceeded supply, as shipping times have been pushed back past Christmas into 2017.

Apple’s long-awaited, sometimes derided wireless AirPods are finally available to buy through Apple’s online store — priced at $159.

While it’s not known when they’ll be available for sale in brick-and-mortar Apple retail stores, you can breathe a sigh of relief, since orders placed through Apple’s online store are currently showing a pre-Christmas delivery date of December 21.

Samsung may spin off its chip-making business as part of a company-wide restructuring, claims a new report.

The move would be a response to Samsung’s loss of Apple’s A-series chip orders to rival chipmaker TSMC for the iPhone 7 and, potentially, future iOS chips as well.

When Nintendo announced they’d be working with Apple to launch Super Mario Run on iPhone, the partnership made a lot of sense. After all, both companies share a similar arc in the history of their respective industries, each defining the early decades of the home gaming and computing industries, respectively. But perhaps the most relevant similarity is in the two companies’ focus on design.

The new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar might not be the most useful tool for professionals quite yet, but it’s quickly becoming a perfect playground for retro gaming. Two new hacks bring classic games Pac-Man and Lemmings to the Touch Bar.

The MacBook Pro’s tiny OLED display seriously limits gameplay, though: You can barely make turns in Pac-Man, but it still looks better than Doom on the Touch Bar.

Get a peek at the Touch Bar gameplay in the videos below.

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

For independent Mac developers, one of the big, daunting tasks that the Mac App Store efficiently handles is app licensing. You just submit your app, then the store manages the actual app license through its user accounts. But this unquestionable convenience comes with a few critical downsides.

Apple TV owners can finally start using the new TV app that Apple unveiled at a keynote in October.

Apple released tvOS 10.1 to the public this morning, giving users their first taste of the grand TV-watching experience Cupertino hopes to create by wrangling all your favorite video content into one app.

The long wait for iOS 10.2 is finally over. After weeks of beta testing, Apple made the big iOS 10.2 update available to the public this morning, adding a host of new features that make the iPhone and iPad better than ever.

The new MacBook Pro apparently has been great business for Apple rival Microsoft.

Mac users are switching to Microsoft’s Surface more than ever before, claims the PC-maker in a new blog post that takes several shots at Apple’s new MacBook Pro and Touch Bar.

Macs are renowned for “just working,” but sometimes you might run into problems while downloading software from the Mac App Store. You might encounter files that say they’ve downloaded despite evidence to the contrary, or face verification errors or other installation difficulties.

If so, a relatively common fix involves emptying your Mac App Store temporary download cache folder. If you find yourself running into any of the Mac installation problems mentioned above, cleaning out this folder should be one of your first tasks.

But how do you do it? Follow our easy “how to” guide below.

So far, most of Apple’s wrangles concerning its European tax issues has been carried out by the company’s accountants and legal team.

That could change in 2017, however, when none other than Tim Cook has been requested to attend a meeting in Dublin, Ireland, alongside the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

You’re probably already familiar with the uber popular language learning program Rosetta Stone. It’s long been renowned as an intuitive and effective language learning tool. But it’s also well known for being pretty expensive, and that makes this a great opportunity for anyone who’s been put off by the price. Right now you can get levels 1 through 4 in Spanish, French, Italian or English for just $139.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Samsung has decided to abandon its attempt to bring its mobile payment service to iOS after Apple rejected the company’s new Samsung Pay Mini app.

The app would have allowed users to checkout with Samsung Pay when shopping online on their iPhone, but Samsung says it will now focus exclusively on Android.

Tim Cook is one of a number of tech executives who will meet with President-elect Donald Trump this week, a new report claims.

The meeting will take place at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Wednesday, and will also be attended by Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, alongside a handful of others.

Despite being listed on Apple’s website as “coming this Fall,” Apple’s new BeatsX in-ear headphones won’t be available for months, according to a retailer.

Apple has added a new Calendar spam reporting feature to iCloud.com, allowing users to flag bogus invitations with ease. The feature comes after some iCloud users started being hit by a bombardment of spam last month.

The year’s winding down but there’s no sign of slowing for the great deals coming into the Cult of Mac Store. From a premium wallet that also charges your phone and a security-enhancing keylogger to a mini-guitar made for the digital age and a charger that draws juice from the sun, we’ve gathered some of the very best new deals.

Somehow it’s the weekend again, and to help you celebrate we’ve combed through the week’s best apps to help you sort the wheat from the chaff.

Whether you’re after a great Tetris-style puzzler, the reissue of a tremendous Rockstar Games classic, or a Touch Bar-compatible music player, we’re confident we’ve got what you’re looking for.

Check out our list below.

With thousands of games in its catalog and more than 125 million users, Steam has become almost synonymous with computer gaming, whether Mac or PC. And, in great news for gamers, Steam is not afraid of discounts.

But not all discounts are created equal. How can you score the best prices on your favorite titles? We’re here to help, offering seven ways you can save with Steam.

It’s finally cold out but we keep getting hot deals at the Cult of Mac Store. This week, some of our best include a surge protector that’s built for users in 2016, an easy-to-use VPN, a tool for organizing daily tasks into sleek flowcharts, and a set of top-shelf Bluetooth earbuds.

They’re all dramatically discounted and make great ideas for stocking stuffers.

This week on The CultCast: Why Apple’s done pursuing the “new hit product business.” Plus: The demise of Pebble Watch is a bad omen for wearables; Foxconn secretly prepares to make more Apple products in the United States; and we remember our favorite movies of 2016!

Our thanks to Harry’s for supporting this episode. Harry’s super-sharp, German-made razors ship right to your door for way less than drugstore razors, and you can use code CultCast at checkout to score $5 off your order at Harrys.com.

Apple hopes the new Apple Watch Series 2 will become one of the most popular tech gifts this holiday season, so the company made some new ads highlighting the wearable’s fitness skills.

The two new ads, showing how Apple Watch can help you live a healthier life, were published on Apple’s U.K. YouTube channel today.

Watch them both:

The first documentary from Apple has finally arrived — and it has nothing to do with iPhones or Macs. The film, titled 808: The Movie, chronicles Roland’s legendary TR-808 drum machine and how it influenced the music industry from the ’80s all the way up to today.

Narrated by Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe, the Apple Music exclusive features appearances by Pharrell Williams, David Guetta, Rick Rubin, Diplo, Questlove, Phil Collins, Beastie Boys and more.

Check out the trailer:

People griped when Apple launched the iPhone 7 without an earphone jack and asked the world to get excited about AirPods, the company’s cordless earphones designed for the brave new “wireless future.”

Apparently, cutting the cord hasn’t been so easy for Apple, either.

The AirPods, skewered on social media within seconds of being introduced at Apple’s product launch in September, remain in a holding pattern because of audio glitches — and could miss the crucial 2016 holiday shopping season entirely.