“Conversion” stories are fairly common in computing, with people deciding to switch from one “ecosystem” or another. Given Apple’s recent rash of hugely popular products, a fair number of folks are switching from PC-and-Windows-based setups to Apple-centric ones.
An avid PC gamer — strike that, a former avid PC gamer — owns today’s featured setup. In it, a new M1 Pro MacBook drives a couple of big displays. And an Elgato Stream Deck and killer audio components also enter the mix.
During the pandemic, Aria Benefits not only held its own, but business growth more than doubled to almost 20% during the last year. An important ingredient was a customer relationship management and productivity app called Daylite.
“We used to think high single-digit growth was great,” said founder Robin Bailey. “But the pandemic challenged us to doing business differently and Daylite’s been a key part of that.
“Any small business that runs on Macs and other Apple devices should take a good look at Daylite.”
Happy Star Wars Day — even if you didn’t know that was a thing. Apple is celebrating the nerdy holiday by showcasing the widespread use of Macs and iOS devices at Skywalker Sound.
Festivities include the release of a “Behind the Mac” YouTube video and feature article about the audio artists at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, along with a special online “Today at Apple” session about creating Star Wars sound effects.
Apple shipped more computers in the first three months of 2022 than any of its rivals, according to a market research firm. Increasing Mac sales helped Apple take the top spot away from Lenovo in the global market for laptops, desktops and tablets.
Apple could have done even better but supply constraints cut into the number of iPads it was able to ship.
Every night can be movie night if you have the equipment, even if you’re camping (or glamping). With the right free-standing screen and portable projector, you can functionally carry a home theater experience around in the back of your car.
That’s what you get with this Outdoor Movie Bundle, which pairs a powerful Wemax Go portable projector with a 50-inch portable screen.
The powerful mini projector works indoors or out. And the freestanding screen is designed for travel and cozy campfire movie nights. For a limited time, this movie bundle is on sale for just $549.99 (regularly $798).
To make the most of your iPhone’s MagSafe charging capabilities, you need a great battery pack. And the Speedy Mag is one of the best.
Right now, you can grab it on sale for just $48.99, which is a 59% discount off the regular price of $119.
If you think something that’s “compostable” must be easily “destructible,” well, that may be true of your coffee filters. But it’s not true of everything. Take Casetify’s Ultra Compostable iPhone Cases, for example.
These things are tough as hell. They’ll protect your iPhone as well as many other iPhone cases. And the ultimate beauty of them is, once you move on to another iPhone and discard the case, it won’t hurt the environment.
Third-party iPhone apps scored significantly lower than their Android counterparts, according to an analysis of user reviews of 4,400 top mobile apps.
This does not necessarily mean that Android offers better third-party software, though. iPhone users simply expect more from their apps.
“The data shows iOS users are more critical of mobile apps than Android users are,” said David Kravets, senior content marketing manager for unitQ, the company that did the research, in an interview with Cult of Mac.
And after going through nearly 122 million reviews, unitQ analysts say there’s “lots of room for improvement” in mobile software.
Accelerating work on its self-driving electric vehicle project, Apple recruited veteran Ford engineer and executive Desi Ujkashevic to join the team.
The move comes after various stalls and road bumps in Cupertino’s secretive Project Titan in recent years, including Ford luring away Apple car chief Doug Field last year.
If you’re one to suffer charging anxiety while out and about, Anker has your cure. It unveiled its latest portable, MagSafe-compatible charging bank Monday, the Anker 633 Magnetic Battery.
The beastly little brick packs a 10,000mAh battery capacity, Anker’s first product of this kind to do so. Plus it features speedier wireless charging than some previous packs as well as spritely USB-C charging when you just want to pull out a cable and get it over with.
The Transcend JetDrive Lite 330 is a memory card that sits flush in the SD slot in the 2021 MacBook Pro. Use it to add up to a terabyte storage to the notebook or for backups. It’s ideal for people who otherwise have no use for the SD card slot.
I put the just-released 1TB version of the memory card. Here’s why I love it.
Leviton offered five new smart-home products in its Decora line Monday. Three of them help bring HomeKit-enabled smart lighting to older homes, which can be notoriously tricky: the Decora Smart No-Neutral Switch, Dimmer and required Wi-Fi Bridge.
The other two, for more modern abodes, are refreshes of the Decora Smart Motion Sensing Dimmer and Tamper-Resistant Outlet.
The iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 2, a pair of tablets from nearly a decade ago, have been added to Apple’s list of vintage products. This somewhat limits the repair options for them.
It’s a step toward them being declared obsolete by Apple. But that won’t happen until at least ten years after the launch of these products.
Everyone waiting for a new MacBook Pro to be delivered can take heart from a report that Quanta Computer has restarted assembling Apple notebooks. This comes after its assembly plant in Shanghai had been temporarily closed as part of the Chinese government’s attempts to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In the meantime, though, wait times for top-tier MacBooks now stretch into July.
We all have a ton of different devices to power on a daily basis. But that doesn’t have to mean having an unsightly mess of cables to do so.
This Charge & Fold 3-in-1 Docking Station will charge multiple devices at once, wirelessly. And it’s on sale with a huge 70% discount, making it just $35.99 (regular price $119).
The metaphysical-horror-thriller Shining Girls only premiered on Apple TV+ a few days ago, but the Elisabeth Moss series is already in the top 10 most streamed shows. And it’s drawing positive reviews, too.
Plus, the Apple TV+ hit Severance remains on the weekly list of popular shows, despite wrapping up its first season more than three weeks ago.
Apple has started selling refurbished units of the Apple Watch Series 7 through its online store, nearly seven months after it first went on sale.
If you have been looking to buy a new Apple Watch on a tight budget, you cannot go wrong with Apple’s refurbished store offering.
A new design concept has married elements of the recently released Mac Studio desktop computer to everyone’s favorite handset, the iPhone.
The resulting renders, by prolific Italian concept artist Antonio De Rosa, show a sleek “iPhone Studio” with a powerful array of features.
Landing that first job in your field can be one of the biggest challenges you will face. This is especially true in the remarkably competitive IT industry.
If you want to land that first IT job — and form a strong foundation of knowledge for every job that follows — The Complete 2022 CompTIA Certification Course Super Bundle is a great place to start. This comprehensive certification bundle includes 15 great courses on essential topics in IT and cybersecurity. And for a limited time, it costs just $59 (regularly $4,425).
Apple shipped 4.6% fewer tablets in the first three months of 2022 than it did during the same period of 2021, according to a market research firm. The iPad-maker blames the shortfall on the global chip shortage preventing it from making enough devices to meet demand.
This is the second quarter in a row that iPad shipments have been hurt by component shortages.
Apple filed a lawsuit Friday against a “stealth mode” startup known as Rivos, saying it poached engineers who stole proprietary information as part of the recruitment process.
Cupertino said Rivos plans to design chips that will compete with its own — and starting with Apple’s own technology.
Are you drinking enough water? Probably not. But if you want to know for sure, Apple’s online and retail stores have started selling two new smart water bottles from HidrateSpark. They automatically track your water intake and sync it to the Apple Health app.
They do it for a price, that is. The two new smart water bottles are $80 and $60. And if drinking enough water on a regular basis adds years to your life, that might actually be worth it.
There’s never been a better time to buy an iPad mini 6, the brilliantly redesigned model from 2021. You can pick up Apple’s smallest tablet at its smallest price yet: an amazing $99 below the usual cost for the base model. And those willing to upgrade to more storage can save $109.
This deal is just in time for Mother’s Day. Plus Father’s Day and high school graduations are also coming up. An iPad mini makes a great gift!
Power up all your Apple mobile devices with the HyperJuice 4-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe. The desktop stand can simultaneously juice up an iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods and fourth device of your choice… like a second iPhone.
As a bonus, the iPhone MagSafe stand folds up for easier transport. And it can get power from either USB-C or a DC charger.
If you take selfie photos constantly, maybe you’re ready to move beyond smartphone camera timers and selfie sticks for your pics. Is it time to start dabbling in aerial photography?
Sure, why not. Especially if Snapchat’s second-ever piece of hardware finds an audience when it goes on sale.
Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, unveiled a drone called “Pixy” last week. It said the little flying camera is designed for taking selfies.