This year’s iPhone upgrade might have been a little dull, but we saw plenty of exciting accessories for Apple’s iconic smartphone in 2016.
From awesome new AirPods to ultraportable virtual reality headsets, they all helped make iPhone 7 more exciting. Here are our favorite iPhone accessories of the year.
When it comes to games, Apple trails behind Microsoft and the broader PC market. Though Cupertino’s hardware often sports cutting-edge specs, the fact is that gaming was never really the intended use for Apple machines.
Why this is, and whether it should prevent top titles from gracing Mac screens, is enough for its own article. Luckily, things are changing: From sprawling strategy games to genre-bending first-person titles, 2016 gave Apple fans a harvest of great titles for Mac and iOS alike.
Apple’s EarPods have always been a go-to favorite for me. They’re included with every iPhone, always sound good enough for what I need, and I’ve always found them comfortable. Even going back to the good old iPod days, I’ve always kept a pair close to hand.
But now Apple’s moving on into the “wireless future” with its new AirPods. These completely wireless earphones let you listen to music and podcasts, make phone calls and talk to Siri. But just how do they measure up?
Musicians who can’t read sheet music play by ear. What about a photographer who doesn’t fully understand the science behind imaging software?
That’s me and I’d call myself a fiddler. When it comes to toning an image in Adobe Photoshop, I don’t analyze the spikes on a histogram or adjust pixel color values. I fiddle with a picture until it looks right.
Macphun seems to design photo imaging programs with my brain in mind. Its newest app, an all-in-one program called Luminar lets photographers of all levels quickly improve the look of a photograph without even knowing how certain tools work.
Moshi’s Mythro Air wireless earbuds look good and sound good. They offer all-day battery life, a clever magnetic clip to keep them in place, and a unique feature that allows you to share music from a single source to two sets of Mythro Air earbuds.
Best of all, they cost $69.99, and sound better than premium earbuds costing two or three times more.
You can never have too much storage or battery life with your smartphone. The iXtra case adds more of both to your iPhone, with up to 128GB of built-in memory and up to 2,000mAh of additional juice.
It could be the perfect iPhone case, and you can claim yours now on Kickstarter.
Already thinking about how to fulfill your 2017 New Year’s resolution of becoming a rock god?
If so, check out the jamstik+. This MIDI guitar, and its associated collection of apps, promises to help anyone who wants to learn to play guitar or improve their existing skills.
The 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has met a lot of criticism. But all anyone really wants to know is, is it time to upgrade?
Cult of Mac put the entry-level 2015 and 2016 MacBook Pros head to head to see if it’s worth snapping up a shiny new Touch Bar machine.
Wireless speakers tend to be cheap and nasty — or fantastic and expensive.
There are exceptions, though, and Moshi’s Spatia wireless AirPlay speaker is one of them.
At $399, the Spatia isn’t cheap by any means, but its sound and features rival systems costing much more.
And does it sound sweet. With five drivers, including a subwoofer, the Spatia serves up a rich, wide soundstage. Lots of speakers claim “room-filling sound,” but the Spatia truly fills the bill.
It’s been four long years since Apple’s last big update to the MacBook Pro lineup. But Apple finally answered our prayers and delivered us the brand new MacBook Pro we’ve been waiting for — or did it?
It’s a beautiful machine with an intriguing new interface element called the Touch Bar. Check out my full MacBook Pro review below for more.
For longer than I have allowed myself to believe, the iPhone has been called a scanner that fits in your pocket. But if I wanted a high-quality copy of an old photograph, I still sought out a flatbed scanner, presuming the results would be superior to taking a picture of a picture with a phone.
But the iPhone camera, as maybe you are tired of hearing, improves with each generation and the so-called scanner apps prove more valuable as a way to copy a photograph for sharing and even printing. One such app is the new Pic Scanner Gold.
Dropped some hard-earned coin on a fresh iPhone 7 Plus? Congrats. Now I’m going to help you protect it for less than $25.
In my latest video, I’ll show you my favorite iPhone 7 Plus cases that you can pick up right now at a bargain. Leather, protective. wallet — check out my picks below.
With the launch of a GPS watch, and a renewed Nike partnership, Apple is getting serious about targeting runners. So is Apple Watch Series 2 the perfect running partner that Cupertino promises?
As an avid runner myself, I was keen to find out. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been training for the TCS New York City Marathon, and I took my Apple Watch Series 2 with me every step of the way — right up to the finish line in Central Park last week. Here’s how it measured up.
We take for granted how much of our lives are stored on our iPhones until, of course, that day arrives when a notification pops up to say the device’s memory is full.
Lexar has a couple of nifty little devices to quickly store photos, videos, music and documents, and free up the memory on your iPhone.
When a high-tech accessory doubles as something else I’m always intrigued. In this instance, I’m looking at a charging stand that not only powers up my Apple Watch, but is a great art piece independent of its charging capabilities.
Looking like something Elvis Presley would rock, the Shure MV51 is a handsome, retro-styled microphone well-suited to podcasting with an iPad or iPhone. Sturdy and portable, I find it great for recording on the go. It’s small enough to throw into a jacket pocket and, because it’s made of all metal, it’s nigh indestructible.
Paired with an iPhone and Shure’s well-designed recording app, it’s a lot more compact than most podcasting rigs, and versatile enough for most recording situations. Best of all, the audio it captures sounds great.
There’s no way to look cool rollin’ on Ninebot’s Segway miniPRO, but it’s built like a tank, boasts great battery life, and it’s so gosh darn fun to ride, you just won’t care.
Another plus? Non-exploding batteries. What Segway has here is the new Cadillac of hoverboards.
For some, Beats are the only headphone option to consider, because they have that intangible “cool factor” other brands lack. If you’re in the market for your first pair of wireless Beats, we’re here to help.
With a sharp screen, a fast processor and 4GB of RAM, the new LeEco Le Pro3 is a bold shot across the bow of Apple and other premium smartphone makers.
While the hardware nudges the phone toward the high end of the spectrum, the rock-bottom pricing should send shivers through Cupertino. At just $399 — or $299 if you get in on LeEco’s generous instant rebate, which starts today — the Le Pro3 is a steal when compared to the iPhone 7 Plus.
After his death, Steve Jobs became mythic. He’s remembered as an asshole and a technology seer: a Tony Stark-like figure who could uniquely divine the sci-fi future, conjuring magical products from whole cloth almost single-handedly.
He’s also seen as infallible: a business and technology genius with powers of divination beyond those of us mere mortals.
But To Pixar and Beyond, a new book by Lawrence Levy, the former CFO of Pixar, paints a very different picture.
If you’re an Apple Watch and iPhone owner, there’s a good chance you suffer from cluttered-nightstand syndrome. There’s only so much surface space on your standard bedside table, and plugging in multiple devices for overnight charging can mean a tangle of wires and general disarray.
The Belkin PowerHouse charging dock, which juices up an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time, will cure you instantly of this 21st-century malady.
Wicked Lasers, the company behind the popular Spyder lasers and the world’s most powerful flashlight, has a new product designed to take parties to the next level. The LaserDock houses a laser projector and music visualizer in one. And it promises to be easy enough for anyone with a Mac or PC to operate.
The LaserDock was introduced on Indiegogo with much fanfare in September, surpassing its original goal. But does it deliver? Check out our video review below.
There’s a lot of love right now for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. But what if you’re a fan of the small yet mighty iPhone SE?
While the size of the iPhone SE certainly makes it possible for you to dust off your old iPhone 5s cases for another go round, there are plenty of great new cases designed especially for Apple’s compact iPhone SE.
Check out our video roundup below.
The Workout app in Apple Watch Series 2 includes two new swimming options to show off its waterproofing. This is a key differentiator over the cheaper Series 1 model, and yet very few reviewers actually took their test units for a swim. One even claimed that all the pools and beaches in New York were closed, so they couldn’t test this feature.
So I decided to take the plunge with Series 2 and find out for myself if it sinks or swims.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve tested my Apple Watch in a variety of swimming conditions, including various public pools — and even the Mediterranean sea.
A good night’s sleep could start with a good pillow. But the part of our bed designed to rest our head doesn’t do anything to shut it off.
But what if it could?
The Dreampad along with an iPhone app promises to do just that. The firm and fluffy pillow uses a patented technology that delivers relaxing music through the pillow that can be heard only by you and not the sleeper next to you.