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The speakers in iPhones and iPads get better with each new model, but they’ll never power a party, or even shift enough air to accompany an action movie. Bluetooth speakers are the way to go for most people. You skip the annoyance of wires, and you don’t have to deal with the hassle of AirPlay, which never seems to work right. Also, Bluetooth is universal, so you can also use the speaker with an Android device or PC.

Skip out on the usual online rabbit hole that ends up being Cyber Monday shopping — the Internet is vast, and your time is precious. That’s why we’ve already found a roundup of deals floating around on the web — and it’s not all big screen televisions or massagers (don’t worry): we’ve scoured and searched for the everyday carry itmes, software, VPNs and tools to keep you extra productive as you head into the new year.

The once-infamous Black Friday is no longer a one-day event. It has turned into an entire weekend dedicated to sales. The long Thanksgiving weekend is a tempting time. Who can pass up the wave of savings?

It’s that wonderful time of the year, Black Friday! What is a better day than the day after spending time with the family and devouring a huge Thanksgiving meal? Whether you are shopping around for yourself or a family member, it is always nice to score a cool piece of tech at a deal.

If you have an iPad, you will probably need a stand at some point. Unlike the iPhone, which is almost always used in the hand, an iPad is equally good handheld, or on a desk. Thankfully, there are a zillion different kinds of stand and dock to fit almost any need. Today we’ll look at the best non-specialized stands. These are all-purpose docks and supports that don’t pack anything other than clever design, and maybe the odd charging plug.

Holiday shopping isn’t for everybody. For every credit card warrior who can’t wait to push away from the Thanksgiving table and hurdle toward a spot in the Black Friday lines, there’s a conscientious objector who just wishes Black Friday hysteria would go away.

Today we’re going to figure out how to use GarageBand’s Live Loops feature. These let you drop a little loop of music into a square on a grid (or record your own), and then trigger that loop by tapping the square. Everything plays in time, so you can use it to DJ with loops and samples and create sick drops like VITALIC. Alternatively, Live Loops are a fantastic way to remix your own recordings on the fly, letting you experiment with how your own songs progress, without all that tedious dragging of audio track in timelines.

Apple’s new A11 Bionic makes iPhone X blazing fast. It’s faster than its biggest rivals, despite fewer processing cores and slower clock speeds. But there’s a new Android that narrowly beats Apple’s latest in a real-world speed test.

And believe it or not, that Android costs half as much as iPhone X.

Remote collaboration has basically become a norm. For passing files of a all sorts back and forth, Google Drive or Dropbox quickly come to mind. But Droplr presents a unique set of collaborative tools.

Black Friday is only two days away, and with that Cult of Mac Watch Store’s biggest sale of the year! Save up to 50 percent on Apple Watch bands and accessories, and get a big jump on holiday shopping.

We’ve rounded up some amazing brands for this huge sale including: OleksynPrannyk, Casetify, Nyloon, Ottm, E3 Supply Co., Rilee & Lo, Jack Foster, Strapple, Wood Mark, Nomad, Form Function Form, Clessant, Juuk and more. These brands are offering from 17% to 50% off regular sale prices.

In a few clicks, you’ll find incredible savings on Apple Watch bands and accessories during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s big Black Friday Weekend Sale. That’s right, four days of massive savings. So, on Friday through Monday, visit the Watch Store and get in on these screaming deals while supplies last.

Ever since Apple unveiled the iPhone X, naysayers have been complaining about “the notch.” But in today’s video, I’m going to do my best to convince you that the controversial cutout at the top of the iPhone X screen is totally not an issue.

Here’s why I think the iPhone X actually needs the notch.

Getting a VPN is one of the most effective ways of adding a degree privacy and protection to your online life. But with all the options out there, it can be hard to know where to start. So this roundup of various Windscribe VPN licenses is a great place to start.

There was a time in the 1980s when Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was a balm that could sooth the prickly nature of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

His former publicist remembers having to play the song over and over again because it was the only way he got through a particular photo shoot.

Want Animojis on any iPhone? While you need the iPhone X’s TrueDepth sensors to create Apple’s animated emojis, some apps produce results that look very much like Animoji.

In the video below, I’ll show you how one of them works.

If you use the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, you know it’s got the power to replace a MacBook for some tasks (especially if you’re running iOS 11, which gives your iPad superpowers).

The Logitech Slim Combo case, with a clamshell design and a complete keyboard, makes your iPad Pro seem even more like a laptop than ever. It’s not all super-portable bliss, though. A couple of strange design choices make you painfully aware that the Slim Combo isn’t an Apple product.

That’s right, it’s almost time for Black Friday to roll around again. This year, forget facing the long, bleak lines at department stores. Instead, you can bring a truckload of new apps to your Mac with the click of a button, including award-winning Mac app–PDF Expert 2.2.

The best laid plans often go awry, and so do our hard drives. Then there are times when we accidentally delete files, including important business documents and precious family photos. That’s why it pays to have the tools on hand to prevent and recover from the loss of key data.

Last week’s crushing news that Apple’s HomePod won’t be available for Christmas was a blow to some.

But I shrugged it off.

That’s because I made my own HomePod smart speaker. It cost me about $60 and sounds absolutely great.

iMac Pro packs an A10 Fusion processor with 512MB of RAM, according to Apple software. The chip will likely be dedicated to handling things like macOS boot, as well as always-on “Hey Siri.”

Traveling and even going to work means leaving your home vulnerable to theft. In an age when our devices can peer into our lives like never before, why not give yourself the same power for your own home?

Welcome back to the best time of each week, when we round up the best new deals. This time, we’ve got a massive Black Friday deal on a bundle of Mac apps, and terabytes of cloud storage. Plus, there’s a set of independent spherical Bluetooth speakers, and a Swiss army knife for drive repair. Read on for more details:

Parenting can be especially difficult at this time of year. One wrong move, and your family’s holiday is shattered by the absence of this year’s impossible-to-get Furby.

Apple has reportedly extended its free repair program for 2013-2015 MacBook Pro units with anti-reflective coating issues. A leaked internal document reveals the company has now authorized free repairs for four years from the notebook’s original purchase date.

Bluetooth speakers usually take the form of a brick or a giant pill. Whether you are trying to enjoy music in the comfort of your home or blasting tunes during an intense workout, finding the perfect bluetooth speaker isn’t an easy feat. Most of the time people look for speakers that hit on both fronts–style and function.

You can now use your iPhone X in cold weather, thanks to iOS 11.1.2. Apple’s latest update fixes an issue that causes Super Retina HD displays to become unresponsive when it gets chilly, as well as problems with Live Photos and video capturing.