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Macworld After largely ignoring the smart home for years, Apple is poised to make a grand entrance in 2025. Rumors claim Apple is gearing up to launch a new iPad-like home controller in 2025 as well as smart home-centric updates to the HomePod mini and Apple TV. And now there’s a new rumored product on the way: a smart video doorbell. According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, writing in its latest Power On newsletter, Apple has “nother home device in the works that hasn’t been reported before: a smart doorbell with advanced facial recognition that wirelessly connects to a deadbolt lock.” He explains that the doorbell would automatically unlock by scanning a user’s face, just like an iPhone. Video doorbells aren’t exactly new or innovative, but one with facial recognition most certainly is. The technology isn’t without its security issues—aside from spoofing the system an intruder could gain entry by forcing a face scan against a user’s will—but Apple has plenty of time to work out solutions. Gurman says the accessory is “still in the early stages” and won’t ship “before the end of next year at the soonest.” The video doorbell market is dominated by Amazon Ring, and there are only a handful of doorbells that support HomeKit, including the popular Aqara G4 Doorbell. Apple offers HomeKit Secure Video for HomeKit-compatible video doorbells that brings end-to-end encryption. Apple is also rumored to be making an indoor/outdoor security camera as it seeks to build out an array of accessories that tap into HomeKit and Apple Intelligence.

Macworld Apple is famously good at making customers excited about its new releases, but that doesn’t mean the company applies its powers of persuasion to all products equally. As I plan to discuss further in this column next week, excellent-value offerings like the 4th-gen AirPods and the new Mac mini sometimes slip by almost unnoticed while the marketing machine shines its spotlight on costlier alternatives. Occasionally you get hints of favoritism. One product that no longer appears to have Apple’s full and enthusiastic support is the HomePod. Everything seemed so promising at the start: a cool new product for an exciting new market, a great design and superb sound quality, and all of it accessible from anywhere in the home thanks to the reliable and intuitive assistance of… Siri. Oh dear. Whether because of Siri’s failings or not, things went wrong. Sales evidently weren’t good enough, and after launching a cheaper (and also very nice) mini model, Apple made the hard decision and killed off the full-sized HomePod. That, we assumed, was that. Until it wasn’t. It’s hard to feel confident in a product when the maker stops selling it for almost two years, before slinking back with a second version that looks exactly like and fails to solve any major problems with the first. And when the product doesn’t seem to have evolved at all in the seven years since it came out, having never given the impression of understanding the smart speaker market or the fact that a (very good) speaker with bad voice controls won’t really cut it in 2025. In 2025, in fact, the HomePod may get with the times. Most importantly it needs a better voice assistant, and that means one thing: Apple Intelligence. If we get a new HomePod with the hardware to run Apple’s AI platform, that could mean a Siri that plays the correct track more often than not: a Siri, in other words, that knows its arias from its Elbow. And once you’ve got that, any further upgrades–a functional display, for example–would be merely icing on the cake. But if this suggests that I don’t like the current HomePod, I had better correct that assumption. Call me sentimental but I am very fond of the HomePod, as erratic and old-fashioned as it undoubtedly is. I love the way it looks and the way it sounds, and after years of practice, I’ve learned to work around the flaws of its control system without getting angry more than two or three times a week. As for the mini… well, it might just be the best Christmas gift you can buy in the Apple store right now. At $99/£99 and available in a range of stunning colors that are inexplicably denied to buyers of the full-size model (I recommend the orange), the HomePod mini is a brilliantly affordable way to brighten a room and fill it with beautiful audio. The bass punch doesn’t quite live up to its larger sibling, but the audio quality is nevertheless superb for the size and price. It’s easy to set up, and the physical design means you can easily move it from room to room as the fancy takes you. It’s just a really nice thing. Or a pair of things, if you can afford to buy two and set them up in glorious stereo. (Please do.) Christmas, after all, is the time when we remember those less fortunate than ourselves, the neglected members of society who have fallen through the cracks. The HomePod mini may have been forgotten by its maker, but there’s still time for you to find a place in your home for one of these noble creatures. Merry Christmas! Foundry Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. Looking ahead to 2025: End of year special! Here are 5 exciting products that will shape Apple’s 2025–and beyond. iPhone in 2025: The upgrades we’ve been waiting for are finally coming. The Mac in 2025: Small updates and big hopes. In 2025, even Pro users will want Apple’s cheapest devices. Apple has big plans for the smart home in 2025. Trending: Top stories Apple’s 2024 full of surprises set up an unpredictable future. The iPhone is doomed because Apple Intelligence isn’t smart enough. Your iPhone is now integrated with ChatGPT–here’s how to use it. Podcast of the week With 2024 closing, it’s time to look forward to 2025. What could we see from Apple in the new year? That’s coming up in the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast! You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site. Reviews corner Frost Punk 2 review: When the snowman brings the snow. Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Pro Edition review: Veteran AirPlay speaker gets even better sound quality. OWC Envoy Ultra review: Super-fast Thunderbolt 5 storage. Best antivirus for Mac 2025: Top security software compared. The rumor mill The rumors of a gigantic foldable iPad make no sense. Abracadabra! Apple is working on a new Magic Mouse with proper charging. Software updates, bugs, and problems The first iOS update of 2025 is already in testing. That’s right: iOS 18.3 is now in beta! And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.

Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Six HDD bays plus four-slot NVMe adapter for high capacity Fast Intel Core 5 1235U CPU Good storage and web performance Runs Docker apps and virtual machines over HTML Cons Sparse documentation Problematic NVMe RAID Thunderbolt connection uses an ethernet bridge Our Verdict We can’t think of a more versatile, large-capacity NAS box than the 10Gbe ZimaCube Pro. And it supports Thunderbolt ethernet for even faster performance. But it’s a tad pricey and we ran into some bugs with the NVMe in RAID. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today If you’re looking for a dainty wallflower of a storage box, skip this review. If you’re looking for a large-capacity network-attached storage (NAS) box to provide ton of storage space as well as run web apps, read on. The ZimaCube is a cube-shaped (duh!), 6-bay server/storage enclosure that can function both over 10Gbe and Thunderbolt 4 port via an ethernet bridge. The handsome box measures approximately 8.75-inches deep, by 8.75 inches tall, by 9.5-inches wide–no, it’s not a perfect cube. Cubular? Cubist? All six SATA drive bays are 3.5-inch, housing six non-locking, easily-removal trays. The ZimaCube Pro’s drive bays and 4-slot M.2 adapter are revealed. Note that the 3.5-inch trays don’t use quick-change, pop-out rails, you must use the provided screws to install drives. Smaller, finer-threaded screws are also provided for SATA SSDs. There is what appears to be a seventh bay to the right. Technically it is and is referred to in the ZimaCube documentations as the seventh bay. However, it uses a different connector that mates with the provided single 4-slot PCIe M.2/NVMe adapter card. Said adapter is held in place by a captive thumb screw for easy removal. The ZimaCube Pro’s 4-slot M.2 NVMe adapter tray populated with four different 2TB NVMe SSDs. The bays are covered by a magnetically attached face plate. Directly above it are two Type-A 3.0 USB ports (5Gbps), a 5Gbps Type-C port, 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and a quick copy button that immediately copies data from attached thumb drives and the like. The back of the box is home to a single 10Gbps ethernet port, twin 2.5Gbps ethernet ports, two Type-A 2.0 USB ports, two Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (without the identifying logo), as well as both DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 ports for attaching displays. To the left of the Thunderbolt 4 ports are the power jack and a pinhole reset button. The back of the ZimaCube Pro with its port array and power jack. As you might guess, a server running a 10-core I5, with up to six HDDs and four NVMe SSDs like the ZimaCube ships with beefy power support: 19-volts and 11.58 amps to be specific. That should handle any drives you throw in the ZimaCube easily. IceWhale didn’t provide any instructions on how to visit the interior of the unit. The lack of granular documentation was my least favorite thing about the ZimaCube Pro. Consequently, I simply started removing bolts. Fortunately, my first four choices (IceWhale “thoughtfully” uses hexagonal types) at the top of the unit allowed me up to pop the top to see the two half-height PCIe slots. You can add just about anything Linux has a driver for. The interior of the ZimaCube Pro. We love the beefy CPU fan. It’s difficult to see the M.2 slot, but it’s just below and to the left of said fan. I was also able to view the populated M.2 slot. There’s another underneath, but it’s quite difficult to insert an SSD into. So difficult to both see and access that I asked the company if that was indeed what it was before proceeding. ZimaCube Pro: Price The ZimaCube Pro is $1,099 with the 16GB of DRAM that we tested, and $1,249 with 64GB of memory. That’s a pretty reasonable upgrade price (unlike a certain famous company that charges far more than upgraded components are worth). If you’re going to run virtual machines or Docker apps, go for the 64GB. On the other hand, if you’re simply going for lots of storage via NAS, you might be able to get away with the $699 non-Pro version of the ZimaCube with a slower Intel N100 CPU, only 8GB of memory, and no Thunderbolt ethernet. It’s also 2.5Gbe only, so expect performance to top out at around 250MBps. ZimaCube Pro: Ease of set up IceWhale provides a utility that makes finding and accessing the ZimaCube a piece of cake, though it involves some guess work. Again, the lack of granular documentation meant no reference to a default username and password. I recommend installing the utility and have it open the web interface, then follow the prompts to create a new username and password with which to log on. After you’re fully logged on via the web interface, you can define any RAID arrays or single volumes you want using the storage utility. It worked well in my hands-on but sometimes required a reboot before array deletions would register. Most users won’t make as many changes as I did during testing. Beyond that, accessing the ZimaCube locally is just like mounting any other network resource, whether via 10Gbe or Thunderbolt ethernet bridge. Create shared folders via the web interface using the Files app, locate the ZimaCube in network locations, log on, and open said shared folders. ZimaCube Pro: Network-attached storage interface NAS boxes, at least those with display ports, can be used as the computer they actually are, if you attach a keyboard and monitor. However, as mentioned, they are typically configured and employed remotely via an HTML interface and accessed using a web browser. It’s much like using Teamviewer, RustDesk, etc. to control another computer remotely. The image of the Zima interface below is from my browser. The main page of the ZimaCube Pro’s HTML interface. Modern NAS is capable of much more than their original purpose of simply serving up files. IceWhale implements a rather large array of browser-based apps that cover a wide spectrum of utility. They’re all available from an app store, though I missed a search function to browse them by function. Media servers include Plex, Emby, Swingmusic, and Jellyfin. There’s the Handbrake video encoder and Calibre-Web for reading ebooks. Bittorrent/download clients include Transmission, qBittorrent, and Gospeed. Backup is represented by Duplicati, and Resilio Sync. I’ve only mentioned the better-known applications; there are others. I was most enticed by the ZVM app which allows you to run virtual machines and comes with a demo of Windows 10 you can run. The ZimaCube Pro’s VM app starts up with Windows 10 installing itself. This comes pre-loaded. Docker is nicely integrated into the system with an option in the app store to add containerized applications, though there’s not a lot of hand-holding in the process. As with much of the ZimaCube, a fairly high geek IQ or a zeal for learning Linux and Linux apps is helpful. Linux? Yup. Nearly every NAS box out there these days is running a version of Linux, which as you may or may not know, is nearly as app-rich these days as the pay competition and in some areas such as Docker, superior. ZimaCube Pro: Performance Given its 10Gbe and Thunderbolt 4 support, and the ability to combine drives in RAID the ZimaCube Pro is fast, though not as fast as you might think when you first hear “Thunderbolt.” That’s because, as mentioned, the ZimaCube Pro connects via a Thunderbolt connection using an ethernet bridge and network transport protocols (SMB in this case). The fastest we saw over Thunderbolt ethernet was about 2GBps reading. For media, I tested the ZimaCube Pro with two fast (290MBps sequential transfers) 24TB hard drives in a striped RAID 0, four SATA SSDs striped in RAID 0, as well as four 2TB NVMe SSDs striped in RAID 0 using the adapter card. Both over the 10Gbe port, as well as the Thunderbolt port on a Mac Studio M1 Max. The results, while all relatively fast, were occasionally puzzling, and I ran into an “issue.” The puzzler was the two HDDs logging well over 800MBps over both Thunderbolt and 10Gbe, significantly faster than the roughly 600MBps they’re natively capable of. Obviously there’s some caching going. Overall, it made it somewhat difficult to directly compare the ZimaCube’s results with other DAS or NAS boxes. This “issue” was that at various times, under stress of the AmorphousDiskMark (64GiB) testing, the NVMe RAID 0 array would go belly up with one of the drives disappearing from the array. ZimaCube Pro pointed to one NVMe SSD as damaged, but rebooting cleared the error and the array would again be available for use. I even changed the drive that disappeared and the error repeated itself. In normal copy operations, I didn’t see any errors. Only under the benchmark stress. Tested individually, there was also no problem with any of the four SSDs. The issue is still under investigation by IceWhale at the time of this writing. Note also, that there’s no real reason to run all four NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 as there’s no way to utilize the speed over ethernet. Below you’ll see the best results I got from each array on each bus. As AmorphousDiskMark overly stressed the ZimaCube’s NVMe, I switched to Atto for this article. Atto shows faster speeds than Disk Speed Test and AmorphousDiskMark, but for the most part, I ran it using the far smaller 256MiB (Mebibyte) data set on a couple of tests. Note that when I tried the 32GiB (Gibibyte) data set (the second image below) on the NVMe RAID 0 array, it did not cause the same error as AmorphousDiskMark, However, both read and write speeds started bouncing all over the map. Again, caching. All the Atto tests are over Thunderbolt 4 ethernet. First up are the SATA RAID 0 results which turned out much as expected.

Macworld Are you looking for a new job this coming year? There’s a high chance your application gets lost with all the other applicants’ resumes, but if you learn and gain fluency in a second (or third!) language, you might just land your dream job. You might not believe us when we say you could learn to speak another language fluently in just a few weeks, but it’s true when you study with Babbel. This App Store favorite is designed to make language learning more intuitive. Just pick one of Babbel’s 14 language offerings to start your journey. Select from Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, or one of its eight other language offerings. Lessons last only 10-15 minutes long and can be downloaded so you can learn offline, making it easy to squeeze in a studying session after a long day of work or interviews. Since the platform’s lessons focus on helping you converse in your new language, you might be able to apply your new conversational skills in meetings with potential employers—or while you’re traveling.  Work on your pronunciation and accent with Babbel’s speech recognition technology, and practice what you’ve learned with personalized review sessions. Open more professional opportunities when you learn a new language with this Babbel lifetime subscription, now $129.97.   Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) – $129.97 Get It Here StackSocial prices subject to change.

Macworld Unfortunately in recent years, the number of great games for Mac has declined because many are no longer supported. Every new version of macOS tends to break a few games, but macOS Catalina in 2019 meant that lot of games that used 32-bit code were no longer Mac compatible. At the same time that Apple went 64-bit only it also introduced Metal for 3D graphics, which left a lot of games developers with a decision: make new Mac versions of their games or stop making them. Unfortunately many chose the latter. This has started to change with the arrival of macOS Sonoma is here. With Sonoma, Apple provides two things: a new Game Porting Toolkit to make it easier for game developers to bring their games to the Mac, and a new Game Mode to ensure a game gets the highest priority on GPU and CPU, for better playability. Read: How to use Game Mode to boost performance. Following these changes we’ve seen more games coming to the Mac. Including Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and World of Warcraft: The War Within. Many more A-list games are coming to the Mac, including Assassins Creed: Shadows (November 2024), Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (December 2024), and Resident Evil 2 (date TBC). Just check out our roundup of the best Mac games for some of the highlights, we also have a round-up of the best free Mac games.  Even before the changes that Sonoma brought, and contrary to popular belief, Mac gamers already have plenty of top games titles to choose from – indeed, the most difficult part is narrowing down the options, and then finding the money to buy and time to play them. We can’t help with the latter, but the first problem is right up our alley. In this article, we’ve collected the best Mac games for your delectation – including some of the best new games. Below you will find what we believe are the greatest Mac games out there, together with links to the Mac App Store, Steam and other reputable vendors, so you can buy them right away. These are the very best games for Mac. They are in alphabetical order, not in order of preference (because everyone likes different things). November 2024: Including an update to the Diablo III review now that Blizzard has brought Diablo III up-to-date for Mac users. You may also like to take a look at our Best Mac for gaming guide. Plus we have an in-depth look at using an M1 MacBook Pro as a gaming laptop. And if you want some free games to try out on your Mac take a look at our round-up of the Best free Mac games. Best Mac Games 2024 Before we run through our list of the best games we’ve played on the Mac, here are games that we strongly recommend you play on the Mac in 2024. 1. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Mac) Apple Silicon, with Resident Evil: Village at the end of last year, quickly followed by Resident Evil 4 earlier this year. The latest addition to the range is Resident Evil 7 Biohazard. Biohazard requires a Mac with an M1 or later, running macOS 13.0 or later. Biohazard also runs on the iPad, as long as it has an M1 processor and iPadOS 17, and even the iPhone, with iOS 17 and an A17 processor. It is cheaper than other games in the series, costing just $19.99/£15.99 on the Mac App Store. The game can be downloaded for free and run in demo mode, called ‘The Beginning Hour’, as an introduction to the main game. If you like the demo, you can buy the full game as an in-app purchase, and there’s an expansion pack available for another $19.99/£15.99. The game introduces Ethan Winters (who also appeared in Village), who searches for his wife, Mia, who vanished mysteriously three years ago. He receives an email from Mia asking for his help and gives him an address in a swampy backwater town in Louisiana. The game switches to an isolated first-person view, making every shadowy corridor seem even more oppressive and creepy. The game also makes clever use of the found-footage genre of horror movies, with Ethan finding old VHS tapes around the house that help fill in some of the background. There’s also a time-travel effect, where you can take actions during video segments in the past that impact on the present. Capcom recommends a game controller, but it’s possible to play with a keyboard and mouse if you prefer. Read our full Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Mac) review 2. Death Stranding: Directors Cut (Mac) Apple is currently attempting to make up for around 40 years of neglecting the Mac games scene – probably because it thinks that a few good games might help to boost sales of the new Vision Pro headset (cynical, moi? You betcha!). It hasn’t exactly catapulted the Mac games scene into the stratosphere, but there are a few high-profile games now starting to arrive on the Mac, and 2024 gets off to a good start with the arrival of Death Stranding, the idiosyncratic and sometimes downright bizarre game from Hideo Kojima, the renowned developer behind the long-running Metal Gear series. The game is set in a near-future version of the United States, in the aftermath of a mysterious apocalyptic event known as the Death Stranding, which has caused the collapse of society. All that’s left are a few scattered communities, which rely on ‘porters’ to deliver supplies and help set up a communications system called the Chiral network. That’s where you come in, playing Sam ‘Porter’ Bridges – who is voiced by, and modeled on the actor Norman Reedus of Walking Dead fame – as he trudges across the country delivering his supplies. Along the way, you’ll encounter terrorists and creepy invisible monsters called BTs (‘beached things’), but your real foe for much of the game is simply the environment around you. There is some combat in Death Stranding, but your main task as a porter is to struggle across the rocky, ruinous countryside as you embark on a series of missions to deliver your cargo of medicines and other supplies. The game is sometimes described as a ‘walking simulator ’ as you spend much of your time clambering over rocks, up hills, or wading across rushing rivers and streams. That may not sound terribly exciting, but there’s a lot of satisfaction as you struggle to slowly inch your way towards the peak of a craggy hill with your cargo intact. The game also has a dramatic cinematic flair – possibly a little too cinematic, as the first 45 minutes or so is really just a series of very long cut-scenes, interspersed only by a few brief sequences where you learn how to control Sam as he walks, jumps and wades across the rocky terrain. The long cut-scenes can try your patience in the early stages of the game, but they do look terrific – the landscapes have a cinematic scope, and the 3D graphics are tremendously detailed and realistic. And the feeling that this is the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster Hollywood production is further emphasized by cameos from a number of other Hollywood big names, including Mads Mikkelsen, Guillermo Del Toro, and Lindsay Wagner. The graphics do require a bit of horsepower though. The game will only run on Macs and iPads that have an Apple Silicon processor (M1 or later), and running macOS 13.3 or iPadOS 17.0. We were pleased to find that the game ran well even on an iMac with an M1 processor, although we did have to lower the resolution to 1920×1080. You might need an M2 or M3 to really enjoy the game’s sweeping vistas and eerie special effects, but seeing a game like Death Stranding running on an M1 iMac gives us some hope for the future of games on the Mac. 3. Resident Evil 4 – Jump scares galore It can be a little tricky following the sequence of the Resident Evil games – especially as most of them have never been released on the Mac. Last year’s Resident Evil: Village was the eighth game in the long-running series, although it was the first ever to arrive on the Mac, and also one of the first games written specifically to run on Macs with Apple Silicon. However, Resident Evil 4 is actually a newer game (sort of) as it’s a remake of the original Resident Evil 4, which was first released back in 2005. Being a newer game means that it’s considerably more expensive, though, weighing in at a rather hefty $59.99/£57.99. However, it works hard to earn its keep with “juiced-up visuals and a reimagined story” as well as improved controls for combat and other character actions. And, thankfully, you can actually download the game for free and play through the opening section, before deciding if you want to go ahead and buy the full version of the game as an in-app purchase (along with some rather pricey DLC packs too). This installment follows the adventures of special agent Leon S. Kennedy – a floppy-haired special agent from an earlier game in the series – who has now been recruited to rescue the kidnapped daughter of the US President. Tracking her down to a village in Spain, Leon encounters a spooky cult called Los Iluminados, who have turned the villagers into crazed killers. You have to fight your way past the villagers and confront various

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Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Stylish, colourful graphics Combat feels fast and fluid Multiple difficulty levels available Cons Only available on the Mac App Store No DLC packs currently available Works best with a controller Our Verdict The precise timing needed for the game’s combat and movement can be frustrating if you’re not used to arcade games, but it’s good to see Prince Of Persia back on the Mac, and this latest chapter is one of the best arcade games currently available for the Mac. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today It’s been a long time since any of the Prince Of Persia games was available on the Mac, and The Lost Crown episode was itself first released for Windows PCs at the start of 2024. However, it’s just appeared on the Mac App Store – with very little fanfare – and is rapidly working its way up Apple’s games chart. For more Mac games recommended by us read: Best Games for Mac. The Lost Crown turns out to be a real blast from the past too, as it’s a side-scrolling ‘metroidvania’ – a game that combines combat and platform-jumping elements from the Metroid and Castlevania arcade games (which were never officially available on the Mac). You don’t need any knowledge of the previous games, though, as The Lost Crown has its own story, in which you play a young warrior called Sargon, who is a member of a group that modestly call themselves The Immortals. The game starts simply enough, with the kingdom of Persia under attack from an enemy army, and Prince Ghassan taken captive and imprisoned on the magical Mount Qaf. Sargon and chums head off to rescue the Prince, but soon discover that Mount Qaf is full of mystical enemies, puzzles and obstacles that have to be overcome. The game uses detailed and colourful graphics that seem to be in 3D – at least for the main characters – but is presented like an old-school 2D platform game where you mostly run left or right across the screen and use the Space bar to jump over obstacles. The game looks great, though, with detailed backgrounds that create a real sense of atmosphere, whether you’re charging along corridors in the royal palace or hacking and slashing your way through a forest. Foundry The only bad news is that the game doesn’t run on Intel Macs, and requires an M1 processor or later, and macOS 12.0 (Monterey) or later. However, the 2D presentation means that it doesn’t need a powerful Mac, and we had no trouble running it with high graphics settings at 4K resolution on a MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip. Combat is fairly straightforward during the early stages of the game, with basic and heavy attacks assigned to your mouse buttons, as well as the ability to dodge and parry incoming attacks. The opening section acts as a tutorial that introduces the main moves, but the game also provides five difficulty levels so that newcomers can ease themselves into the action, along with more challenging perma-death and speed-run modes for more experienced players. Combat is fast and fluid, but will probably be easier with a game controller, as I found that parrying attacks using keyboard and mouse controls required very precise timing, and it took me quite a few attempts to slice and dice my way past the first Boss battle at the start of the game. Foundry There aren’t many games on the Mac that also focus on parkour movement like Prince Of Persia, where you have to run, jump and climb with great precision in order to get past various obstacles. This can be tricky too, as you need to hit the Space bar for a quick jump, or press-and-hold to jump higher, and many obstacles require you to rapidly jump left and right in quick succession in order to reach areas that are otherwise out of reach. That’s a bit tricky on a keyboard, so again it might be easier playing with a controller (there is an assist option that can help you out with some of these obstacles, but much of the fun lies in learning to master your combat and movement abilities). As you progress further into the game, you’ll learn to master a magical energy called Athra that gives you more powerful attacks, and you can also find or buy magical amulets that provide additional powers too. And, of course, the traditional calling card of the Prince Of Persia games is the use of ‘time powers’ that allow you to manipulate time in order to escape death or outwit your enemies. Should you buy Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown The need for really precise timing during combat and movement may be frustrating for newcomers, but if you’re a fan of arcade games then The Lost Crown is a great way to re-live your misspent youth. It’s a little annoying, though, that the Mac version currently seems to be exclusive to the Mac App Store, which means that people who already own the PC version on Steam or Epic don’t get access to the Mac version as well (and Steam and Epic also seem to have additional DLC packs that aren’t currently available on the App Store too).

Macworld You might think iCloud is the easiest cloud storage solution to rid your iPhone or MacBook of low-storage notifications for good. But think about how much you’ve spent on iCloud to date. Is it a couple hundred? Yikes. Instead of paying a recurring fee for the rest of your life, hop on this deal that gives you 1TB of lifetime cloud storage for only $59.97 (reg. $251) for one more day. This is the lowest the price has ever been, so grab it while you can! You’ll be able to swiftly transfer your photos, videos, and files from iCloud Drive into FolderFort to save the money you’d normally spend on your monthly cloud subscription. This 1TB lifetime cloud plan stores around 200,000 photos, 300 hours of HD video, or a million documents—all for a one-time payment. Plus, FolderFort is compatible with every device, thanks to the fact that it’s browser-based. With FolderFort, you can share your cloud storage with as many users as you’d like—it’s like the iCloud family plan. Each person who’s added gets their own 1GB of storage, and you have the option of creating private or shared folders to maximize your subscription. Get this iCloud alternative at an all-time low price with this best-of-web offer: just $59.97 (reg. $251)— that’s 76% savings you can’t find anywhere else!   FolderFort 1TB Cloud Storage Pro Plan: Lifetime Subscription Only $59.97 at Macworld StackSocial prices subject to change.  

Macworld It’s the last chance to get your hands on a new M4 MacBook Pro this year, and it’s the best time to do it because it’s down $200, for a total price of $1,399 over at Amazon, matching its best price so far. This is the powerful M4 model we’re talking about with 16GB of RAM, so it’s truly a geat deal. The 14-inch MacBook Pro went from “meh” to marvelous, we wrote in our 4.5-star review. The laptop got a near-perfect score from us, with our main praise being the bump to 16GB of unified memory (over 8GB) and the introduction of the Space Black option, which was unavailable on this model last year. The laptop runs on the blazing-fast M4 chip with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU for incredible speed in tackling demanding tasks. You’ll also get fantastic battery life, with our tests clocking the battery at about 20 hours of use, good for a whole day’s work and then some. And of course, you’re getting a fantastic 14.2-inch display with ProMotion and 1,600 nits peak brightness. Like the rest of the Apple silicon machines, this laptop is also ready to run Apple Intelligence, allowing you to perform work more efficiently with features such as Writing Tools and the upcoming next-gen Siri. So you’re getting it all int he MacBook Pro: a gorgeous display, superb battery life, and rocket-level speeds, all for all for an incredible $200 off. Get the M4 MacBook Pro for its best price everBuy now at Amazon

Macworld Apple updated its entry-level iPhone in March 2022, adding a few nips and tucks here and there along with a quiet price increase. It kept the “iPhone 8” design with its Home button and small form factor that appeals to some, but the aging design and minimal upgrades meant the new iPhone SE was coolly received by the masses. The iPhone SE is in desperate need of a big upgrade, and it looks like it will get one in the spring of 2025. iPhone SE 4 release date: When will the iPhone SE 4 be released? Spring 2025 (estimated) Apple’s iPhone SE doesn’t follow the same predictable annual release schedule as the standard iPhone line, and the intervals between updates can be harder to predict, but they seem to always be released in the spring, in March or April. Here’s when the three models released so far made their debut: iPhone SE (3rd gen): March 2022 iPhone SE (2nd gen): April 2020 iPhone SE (1st gen): March 2016 Apple’s current budget phone, the iPhone SE (2022)Dominik Tomaszewski iPhone 4 SE price: How much will the iPhone SE 4 cost? Pricing has steadily increased across the three existing generations, no doubt influenced by the global cost of components and distribution. While the iPhone SE (3rd generation) was released around the same price as the model it replaced, Apple added a chunk onto the cost, making the current model somewhat less desirable than previous iterations, especially when you factor in the measly amount of storage that comes with the baseline model. At launch the prices were even higher in the U.K. but, in September 2023, after adjusting for inflation, Apple dropped the price back to match the U.S. price. Apple did the same thing for prices in Euros in September 2024. Here’s how they line up: iPhone SE (3rd gen, 2022): 64GB: $429/£429 (was £449 at launch) 128GB: $479/£479 (was £499 at launch) 256GB: $579/£579 (was £609 at launch) iPhone SE (2nd gen, 2020):  64GB: $399/£419 128GB: $449/£469 256GB: $549/£569 iPhone SE (1st gen, 2016):  32GB: $399/£379 128GB: $499/£449 However, the iPhone SE needs to be inexpensive relative to other iPhones, and we’d be surprised to see the price increase too much with the next generation, even with several rumored upgrades. The latest rumors claim the 4th-gen iPhone SE could start at $499, still far less expensive than any other new iPhone Apple sells. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims the next model is intended to help Apple compete with low-end Android phones in China, so a low price would be necessary to achieve this plan. iPhone 4 SE design: What will the next iPhone SE look like? Will the iPhone SE get a long-overdue design revamp? Rumors suggest that we could see a move away from the iPhone 8 chassis to something more like modern iPhones, with Face ID and a full-screen display. That could be good or bad news, depending on your viewpoint. Some people prefer the Home button as a means to interact with their iPhone, for some older people and those who are less dexterous it is helpful to have a physical button. No Home button is likely to mean a notch—and that’s a notch, rather than the Dynamic Island. In terms of overall appearance, the iPhone SE would likely resemble the iPhone 14. A rumor in July 2024 suggested Apple will change course with the iPhone SE 4 and instead use the same body as the iPhone 16, making it a true budget version of the latest iPhone lineup. If Apple chooses to use the chassis of the iPhone 16 rather than the iPhone 14 that could allow the best alignment of two camera lenses for talking videos for the Vision Pro. But that would mean that the iPhone SE would have two cameras on the back, rather than just one, as it does currently. It would also make it hard to differentiate between models, pushing some users who might otherwise consider the iPhone 16 to buy the iPhone SE 4 at a lower price. iPhone SE 4 specs: Will Apple Intelligence be supported? The iPhones this year are all about Apple Intelligence AI features, which first arrived with iOS 18.1 in the fall and will continue to get new features in iOS 18 updates. One of the biggest new features, a massive expansion of Siri capabilities, is due for release in iOS 18.4 around the same time the iPhone SE 4 would be released. Processor & RAM: To run Apple Intelligence an iPhone requires an A17 Pro or A18 chip and 8GB of RAM. There is some expectation that the iPhone SE 4 could meet these requirements. It is common for the iPhone SE to have the same processor as the latest non-Pro iPhone but skimp on other features to differentiate itself, so we expect the iPhone SE 4 to have the A18 processor. Other than the processor and RAM requirements, we may see some other internal changes including the following: Modem: The iPhone SE 4 might be the first iPhone to feature Apple’s own 5G modems (codenamed Sinope). It will offers sub-6 support but no mmWave, and lower performance than Qualcomm’s best 5G modems but better power efficiency. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Apple is also about to switch over to its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, codenamed Proxima. The rumors say this chip will actually appear first in a refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV, but there’s a chance it could be used in the iPhone SE 4. Storage: With the iPhone 13 range moving to a baseline of 128GB (and the 14-series handsets following suit), it’s hoped that the new iPhone SE might do likewise, as 64GB isn’t enough for most users anymore, especially since system files take up more than 10GB (and you can add a multi-gigabyte Apple Intelligence model to that). There are no good rumors one way or the other about the minimum storage for the iPhone SE 4, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it was 64GB. USB-C: We expect the iPhone SE 4 to feature a USB-C port for charging, as all new iPhones do, and IP68 water resistance. The current SE is one of the last remaining Apple devices to still have a Lightning port. Camera(s): One of the defining features of the iPhone SE is a single camera on the back. This is probably not going to change, although if the new iPhone SE does adopt the chassis of an iPhone 14 or 16 it is possible. The latest rumors suggest a single 48 megapixel camera, which would at least give the iPhone SE 4 a good 2x “optical zoom” mode using the center 12MP of the sensor, as the iPhone 16 does. Action Button: An alleged leak of an iPhone SE 4 case shows a cutout for the mute switch rather than an Action Button, and of course there will be no Camera Control button—if the iPhone SE 4 had these features there would be little reason for anyone to buy an iPhone 16! iPhone SE 4: Will the new iPhone SE use Touch ID or Face ID? The most recent rumors say the new iPhone SE will have Face ID with a notch (not dynamic island), similar to an iPhone 13 or iPhone 14. That means Touch ID, which has been a staple of the SE line since its debut, will go away. iPhone history The iPhone 16 range and the iPhone SE 3 are the current-generation models available from Apple. In addition to this SE 4 model we’re also expecting iPhone 17 to launch in 2025. Below you can find links below to our reviews of all iPhone models, including the latest generation. Learn more about all the new Apple products coming this year and when is the next Apple event. You might also want to check out our advice on when is the best time to buy a new iPhone, our iPhone buying guide, and our comparison of every iPhone that is available to buy today. Original iPhone (2007) review iPhone 3G (2008) review iPhone 3GS (2009) review iPhone 4 (2010) review iPhone 4s (2011) review iPhone 5 (2012) review iPhone 5c (2013) review iPhone 5s (2013) review iPhone 6 (2014) review iPhone 6 Plus (2014) review iPhone 6s (2015) review iPhone 6s Plus (2015) review iPhone SE (1st generation; 2016) review iPhone 7 (2016) review iPhone 7 Plus (2016) review iPhone 8 (2017) review iPhone 8 Plus (2017) review iPhone X (2017) review iPhone XR (2018) review iPhone XS (2018) review iPhone XS Max (2018) review iPhone 11 (2019) review iPhone 11 Pro (2019) review iPhone 11 Pro Max (2019) review iPhone SE (2nd generation; 2020) review iPhone 12 (2020) review iPhone 12 Mini (2020) review iPhone 12 Pro (2020) review iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020) review iPhone 13 (2021) review iPhone 13 mini (2021) review iPhone 13 Pro (2021) review iPhone 13 Pro Max (2021) review iPhone SE (3rd generation; 2022) review iPhone 14 (2022) review iPhone 14 Plus (2022) review iPhone 14 Pro (2022) review iPhone 14 Pro Max (2022) review iPhone 15 (2023) review iPhone 15 Plus (2023) review iPhone 15 Pro (2023) review iPhone 15 Pro Max (2023) review iPhone 16 & 16 Plus review iPhone 16 Pro & Pro Max review

Macworld Kids love iPads. The simplicity of tapping on the screen when they want things to happen means they can learn to use them in seconds, but there’s plenty that Apple’s tablets can do. Whether it’s educational games, entertainment apps, using them to create art with an Apple Pencil or just something to stop them getting bored on car journeys, iPads can be a godsend. Choosing the right one can feel a bit daunting. After all, don’t they all do the same things? What’s the difference between the normal iPad and the iPad Air? Well, we’re here to simplify things so you can be sure you’re buying the right one. You can also read our best iPhone and iPad apps for kids guide to get them off to a good start. Plus, we have a roundup of the best iPhones for kids if you want to immerse them fully in the Apple world as they grow up. Should I get an iPad for my child? There’s been lots of research published about how much screen time our kids should be allowed. Some parents might argue that kids shouldn’t be exposed to screens at such a young age, but frankly, in a world where everything is dominated by technology we think that we owe it to our kids to make sure they are comfortable in that environment, hence the introduction of an iPad is good for their education. That said, just sticking them in front of an iPad rather than interacting with them probably isn’t great: Disney+ shouldn’t really be babysitting your kids for hours on end, but if it allows you a few minutes of peace to make dinner then fair enough. With that out of the way, there are many reasons why you should be confident about getting an iPad for your kids to use. There are, after all, many other tablets on the market, most of which are cheaper than the iPad. So, if you are looking for some reassurance on is whether the iPad is the best option for your child, here are a few compelling reasons: The App Store is full of great apps designed specifically for kids. Many of those apps will be ideal for school children of various ages, or even toddlers. There is an ecosystem of great accessories designed to work with the iPad. iPadOS is easy to use, especially if your child has used your iPhone. The bonus is your iPhone apps will be available on your iPad too and vice versa. If you have older children, then take a look at our guide to the best iPads for students. What iPads are there to choose from? At the time of writing, Apple offers four categories of iPad, which are as follows. iPad iPad mini iPad Air iPad Pro In all honesty, we wouldn’t recommend the iPad Pros for children, as you’d just be paying quite sizeable amounts for performance and compatibility features that they just won’t need. The standard iPad and iPad mini range offer plenty of scope and power for younger users, and the iPad Air will satisfy the more demanding teen. Our advice is to stick with those and ignore the Pros. When it comes to older students though, it’s a potentially different argument, but the good news is you can put that off for a few years and save up for the more expensive iPad in the meantime.  Speaking of savings, check out our round-up of the best iPad deals you can get on the whole range of iPads here: The best iPad deals. Is 64GB enough? This depends on how you want to use the iPad. For long trips, you might want to download lots of movies, TV shows, or games to entertain the kids in the car or on the plane. In that case, more storage is better. Otherwise, any apps you purchase can always be deleted and then downloaded again, plus public Wi-Fi can often be available as an easy solution for the little ones streaming a few episodes of their favorite shows. Our advice would be to get more than 64GB storage if you can. The iPad mini (A17 Pro) that launched in October 2024 starts at 128GB storage now, rather than 64GB as it did before, and as the standard iPad still does. If you compare the standard iPad with 64GB for $349/£329 to the 128GB iPad mini which costs $499/£499, it’s well worth spending $150/£150 more to get the extra storage and everything else the mini offers. And if you want even more storage, the iPad mini with 256GB costs $599/£599 compared to $499/£479 for the 256GB iPad. If you are buying a refurbished or used iPad, then we’d strongly advise against a 32GB or lower, it simply isn’t enough storage and you will regret it. For more advice regarding buying a used or refurbished iPad read: Why a refurbished iPad could be the best tablet for you. Do I need cellular? Probably not. It adds $150/£150 to the price of the iPad and we’d suggest that money was better spent on upgrading the storage, or getting a better model. If you want to add cellular capabilities to your kids’ iPad, we recommend that when you are outside the house you hotspot from your own iPhone rather than spend money on a contract for your child. That said, most apps will work offline and you can download movies to the device when heading on a long trip. Best iPad for kids and toddlers Here’s our advice on which iPad to choose when buying for a child. iPad mini (A17 Pro) – Best for small hands Pros Lightweight Powerful Apple Pencil Pro support Cons Smaller doesn’t mean cheaper Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $459 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $459 at Amazon While the iPad mini might be the smallest member of the family, don’t let that fool you, there’s plenty of power and features packed into the diminutive frame. The only negative is the price, which is a little higher than the bigger iPad, so it’s not quite as much of a bargain for kids. The 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display is gorgeous. Like all the modern iPads, there is no Home button – Apple ditched that a generation ago and instead put a Touch ID sensor in the Power button on the side.  Under the hood, there’s an A17 Pro driving things, this processor is the lowest spec required to run Apple Intelligence features. If you are choosing between the iPad mini and cheaper iPad and are curious about Apple Intelligence, only the iPad mini, iPad Air and Pro will support it). Even if Apple Intelligence doesn’t peek your interest, the A17 Pro chip means there is no lack of power in this smaller iPad, ensuring the latest games and apps will absolutely fly on this device. It also has support for the Apple Pencil (USB C) or the Apple Pencil Pro, meaning your child can use if for doodling, creating art or note-taking at school when they get a bit older.  The compact dimensions of 195.4mm x 134.8mm x 6.3mm at 297g make it small and lightweight, which can be easier for little ones to hold. There are also four different colors to choose from, including soft shades of Purple and Blue.  Oh, and there are 5G versions if you want to add a fast data connection for streaming and messaging on the go.  The iPad mini is available in these configurations: iPad mini (A17 Pro) 128GB – $499/£499 iPad mini (A17 Pro) 256GB – $599/£599 iPad mini (A17 Pro) 512GB – $799/£799 iPad mini (A17 Pro, cellular) costs $150/£150 more than the non-cellular versions. Check our guide to the best iPad mini deals to see if you can get one for a lower price.  Read our full Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro) review iPad Air (M2) – For bigger kids Pros Inexpensive Apple Pencil Support (1st Gen) A13 Bionic Processor, Headphone Jack Cons Lower quality screen than other models Older design. No longer in production Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $499 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $499 at Amazon We said in the introduction that the iPad Air is probably overkill for kids, but that does depend a bit on the age of the child. For some there will be a lot of appear in the 11-inch iPad Air (M2), with its 11-inch display, modern design, low weight (462g), great cameras, and hugely powerful processor, and as we recommend in our round

Macworld Finding an unlocked iPhone for less than Apple’s listed price is a rare thing unless it’s refurbished or otherwise used. But we found one today: Amazon’s Woot is selling an unlocked iPhone 15 in black for $580 (128GB), $610 (256GB), and $695 (512GB), a savings of $149, $189, and $304, respectively. This iPhone 15 isn’t sold by Apple but is promised to be in “Pristine” condition having “never been in customer hands.” Woot says the phone “will arrive with a test sticker showing 100% battery life and inside a sleek custom black box, not the original retail packaging. It comes with a 1-year vendor warranty but isn’t AppleCare-eligible. While it’s a year old, Apple still sells the iPhone 15 for $699 and up. And it’s still a great phone, with an A16 processor, 6.1-inch OLED display, and Apple’s innovative Dynamic Island. We loved it in our 4-star review and It’s even better with iOS 18. It will receive updates for years to come, but just note it isn’t compatible with Apple Intelligence. So if you want a great iPhone at a great price without needing to jump through carrier hoops, go grab this deal before it’s gone forever. Save up to $300 on the iPhone 15Buy Now at WOOT!

Macworld If you’re wondering which Mac to buy, you’ve come to the right place. In our Mac buying guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio, with expert buying advice to help you choose the machine (and configuration) that’s right for you. Apple makes six different types of Mac: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro, but within each of those categories there are variations in the size, specs, and features, so things can get pretty complicated. That’s where this guide comes in, helping you make the right decision. If you’re simply looking for a great offer, visit our MacBook Pro deals, MacBook Air deals, iMac deals, Mac Studio deals, and Mac mini deals pages which are regularly updated. For help choosing the best Mac laptop, we also have a MacBook buying guide. We have included the newest Macs: the M4 iMac, M4 Mac mini and M4 MacBook Pro. Read our M4 iMac review and M4 Pro Mac mini review. Those Macs were updated in October 2024. At the same time, Apple doubled the RAM in the MacBook Air M3 and M2, so we have updated our advice accordingly. Should I upgrade from my Intel Mac? We are now more than four years into Apple’s transition from Intel processors to its own silicon that includes CPU, GPU, and unified memory. The transition began with the introduction of the M1 in November 2020. Since June 2023 every Mac Apple sells uses Apple’s own chips rather than Intel processors. If you’ve yet to upgrade your Intel Mac to one powered by Apple’s silicon what are you waiting for? If you are concerned that a must-have app doesn’t run on an M-series Mac, consider finding a new app because the performance gains are tremendous. Another good reason to update your Intel Mac is that it is unlikely to be supported by Apple for much longer in terms of security updates. With the arrival of macOS Sequoia, the number of supported Intel Macs is fewer than ever, and although Apple will be supporting Sonoma with security updates for a couple more years, and Ventura for another year, only a few of the most recent Intel Macs still be supported in a year or so. Read: The Intel Macs that can run macOS Sequoia. For more information see our Mac processor comparison where we compare Apple silicon and Intel. We also offer advice about how much storage, RAM, and cores in How much MacBook RAM, SSD, GPU, and CPU do you really need. Every Mac Apple sells Below we’ll take you through each Mac currently available from Apple, to give you an overview of what’s on offer and what you’ve got to choose from. 13-inch MacBook Air, M2 (2022) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $799 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $799 at Amazon What is it? The MacBook Air is Apple’s most affordable laptop, designed with portability in mind. There are currently three versions of the MacBook Air available from Apple: a 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip, a 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 chip, and a 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 chip. The M2 MacBook Air had a price cut when the M3 model was introduced in March 2024: it now starts at $999/£999. The M2 MacBook Air was introduced in July 2022 with a brand-new look and a 13.6-inch screen (up from 13.3 inches). It’s a great machine, but the newer MacBook Air is only $100/$100 more than the M2 model and is well worth the upgrade. Another update came in October 2024 when Apple doubled the RAM (unified memory) from 8GB to 16GB without changing the price. This is an excellent update meaning that the M2 MacBook Air is better value than ever. Who’s it for? The MacBook Air is ideal for the budget-conscious. It’s also for anyone who is always on the go, doesn’t want to be bogged down by a regular-size laptop, and needs a computer that’s more versatile than an iPad. How much does the 13-inch MacBook Air (M2) cost? Prices start at $999/£999 M2 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD and 16GB RAM and $1,199/£1,199 for the MacBook Air M2 with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM. Make sure to check how much RAM is in the model you are buying and that it is priced accordingly. To update the RAM to 16GB would previously have cost $200/£200. What are the specifications? The entry-level M2 MacBook Air has 8 GPU cores, just like the entry-level M3 model, but the M3 is a step up from the M2 thanks to the newer 3nm manufacturing process. The M3 also offers faster Wi-Fi than the M2. Apple M2, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB memory, 256GB SSD, two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports: $999/£999. Apple M2, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB SSD, two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports: $1,199/£1,199. Additional options: 24GB memory. Up to 2TB storage. What are display specifications? The 13.6-inch Liquid Retina on the M2 MacBook Air display has a native resolution of 2,560×1,664 and 500 nits brightness. How do I connect stuff? The MacBook Air with M2 chip has a MagSafe port for charging as well as a pair of Thunderbolt/USB 4 connectors. If you want to connect USB-A devices, you need either a USB-C to USB adapter, like Apple’s $19 / £19 one, or a USB-C hub that has USB-A ports. See our round-up of the best USB-C hubs and adapters. If you want to plug in more than one external display officially you can’t – but we know a workaround, read: How to connect two or more external displays to an M-series MacBook. The M2 MacBook Air has built-in Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) for connecting to a network (the M3 offers faster Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax). It also provides built-in Bluetooth 5.3 for wirelessly connecting a mouse or other peripherals. If you want to connect to an ethernet network, you need an adapter. How fast is it? The M2 provides performance that is leaps and bounds faster than the Intel processors that were previously found in the MacBook Air, and Apple claims an 18 percent total CPU improvement over the M1 and a 35 percent improvement in graphics speed. It’s plenty fast enough for general-purpose use. But because it doesn’t have a fan to keep the computer cool, it may throttle down its speed during long processing sessions, such as video editing or compiling code, for which the MacBook Pro with its fan is a better choice. Macworld’s buying advice: The MacBook Air with M2 is a great affordable laptop for someone who does general-purpose work and moves around a lot, such as a student or a self-employed person. But it only costs another $100/£100 to upgrade to the M3 model, so unless you want to use that $100/£100 to upgrade the storage, we recommend the M3 over the M2. You may also want to avoid the entry-level models due to slower SSDs, but that may not be an issue if the kind of work you do doesn’t require a lot of writing to the hard drive. 13-inch MacBook Air, M3 (2024) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $899 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $899 at Amazon What is it? The M3 MacBook Air looks identical to the M2 version (above), but there are some changes to the specs that make this a much better machine–and it only costs $100/£100 more. There is also a 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 chip, which we discuss below. Apple introduced the M3 version of the MacBook Air in March 2024, it then updated the Unified Memory (RAM) from 8GB to 16GB in October 2024 and didn’t change the price. Who’s it for? The MacBook Air with M3 is great value and ideal for the budget-conscious. If you are always on the go, don’t want to be bogged down by a regular-size laptop, and need a versatile computer, it’s a great choice. How much does the 13-inch MacBook Air (M3) cost? Prices start at $1,099/£1,099 – and Apple has doubled the RAM to 16GB from 8GB without increasing the price. There are three configurations and you can create build-to-order models with even more memory or storage. What are the specifications? The specs for the M3 MacBook Air look similar to the M2 model, but while it looks like identical cores and memory support, there is a leap from the M2 to the M3 which should improve performance. We used to recommend 16GB RAM as a build-to-order option because we didn’t think 8GB was enough, but now Apple has listened and offers that as standard. Apple M3, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB memory

Macworld If you haven’t checked the calendar lately, the holidays are nearly upon us, and if you haven’t gotten around to getting something for the Apple fans in your life, we have the perfect solution: an eGift card. You don’t have to spend a lot, you’ll get it immediately, and your recipient will love it. Of course, you’ll want to get them a card they can use to buy one of their favorite Apple devices, and there are several great options. The most obvious is an Apple Store gift card, which they can use to buy at the Apple Store or the App Store, but other official Apple retailers are an excellent choice too. Best eGift cards for Apple lovers Apple – Starts at $15 Amazon – Starts at $25 Best Buy – Starts at $15 Walmart – Starts at $5 Target – Starts at $5 All these stores feature an abundance of Apple products, quite often on sale, so they’re great picks for anyone who wants something now or is saving up for the flurry of new devices coming in 2025. More eGift ideas If you want to branch out and get them something different, then check out these other gift cards you can get on slle right now: Meta Quest eGift Card – Save $5 on $50 (via Amazon) Google Play eGift Card – Save $5 on $50 with code GOPLAY (via Amazon) Taco Bell eGift Card – Save $7.50 on $50 with code TACO (via Amazon) VUDU eGift Card – Save $10 on $50 (via Amazon) Uber/UberEats eGift Card – Save $10 on $100 (via Amazon) Lyft Gift Card – Save $15 on $100 with code LYFT (via Amazon)

Macworld Apple released only one new Apple Watch in 2024: the Apple Watch Series 10. It offers a refined design and a few modest upgrades over the Series 9. Apple did not update the Ultra 2, and instead just added a new color option. You can also still buy the Apple Watch SE from 2022. In this guide, we will help you decide which Apple Watch is best for you. We’ll compare the features, specs and price as well as offer advice on choosing cases, colors, and straps in our Apple Watch comparison chart so you can be confident you are choosing the right Apple Watch.  Here’s what you need to know before buying an Apple Watch.  What can an Apple Watch do? Practically every Apple Watch ever made has offered the same set of basic functions. Apple Watch can be used in conjunction with an iPhone (or separately if the user has a cellular contract) to:  Make or take phone calls  Read and send text messages Read and send emails Listen to music or podcasts Receive notifications relating to iPhone and Apple Watch apps  Use apps, such as Maps for navigation, a calculator or a compass Track fitness, including steps and calories burned Monitor your health, including heart rate Detect a fall or car crash Tell the time – especially if your watch has an always-on display (they don’t all offer that) Act as a flashlight (or torch)  Pay via Apple Pay  Track your sleep  The Apple Watch doesn’t need an iPhone to work, but it helps, and it is needed for initial setup. See: Does an Apple Watch work without an iPhone? There’s another choice to be made. Do you need an Apple Watch with cellular connectivity or not?  We examine GPS versus cellular in a separate article, read: Should I buy a cellular Apple Watch. Also read: You probably don’t need an LTE Apple Watch. If you choose a cellular version of the Apple Watch you’ll be able to leave your iPhone at home and use your Watch for making calls, receiving texts, and streaming music. Apple Watch can also support Family Setup if you are looking for a Watch for someone who doesn’t have an iPhone. Apple Watch comparison chart Apple Apple Watch SE 2Apple Watch Series 10Apple Watch Ultra 2Price from$249/£219$399/£399$799/£799Screen size44mm or 40mm46mm or 42mm49mmDisplay 1,000 nits2,000 nits3,000 nitsWeight40mm from 26.4g / 44mm from 32.9g42mm from 30g / 46mm from 36.4g61.4 gMaterials AluminiumAluminium or TitaniumTitaniumColorsMidnight, Starlight, SilverAluminium: Silver, Rose Gold, Jet Black. Titanium: Slate, Natural, GoldNatural or BlackProcessorS8S10S9Battery lifeUp to 18 hoursUp to 18 hours, Faster charging 0-80% in 30 minsUp to 36 hours, Fast charging 0-80% in 1 hourExtra featuresSiri, Find iPhone, Always-on display, double tap gesture, Faster on-device Siri, Precision Finding for iPhone, Depth gauge to 6m and water temperature sensor, speakers and media playback, microphone with voice isolationAlways-on display, double tap gesture, Faster on-device Siri, Precision Finding for iPhone, Customisable Action button, Depth gauge to 40m and water temperature sensor, scuba to 40m, Dual speakers, media playback and three-mic array with beamformingHealth features Heart rate, Heart rhythm, Cycle Tracking, Sleep stagesBlood Oxygen, ECG, Heart rate, Heart rhythm, Temperature sensing, Cycle Tracking with ovulation estimates, Sleep stagesBlood Oxygen, ECG, Heart rate, Heart rhythm, Temperature sensing, Cycle Tracking with ovulation estimates, Sleep stagesSafety features Emergency SOS, Fall Detection and Crash DetectionEmergency SOS, Fall Detection and Crash DetectionEmergency SOS, Fall Detection and Crash Detection, SirenWater resistance 50 meters, Swimproof 50 meters, Swimproof 100 meters, Swimproof, High-speed water sports, dive to 40m Connectivity L1 GPS, cellular optionL1 GPS, cellular optionPrecision dual-frequency GPS (L1 and L5 GPS), cellular only Best Apple Watch Right now Apple sells three different Apple Watches, although there are different combinations of case and wristband that can make it seem like a bit of a minefield. These is the newest Apple Watches: the Apple Watch Series 10 (2024), and the older Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023), and the Apple Watch SE 2 (2022). Generally, each Apple Watch offers a few more features than the one that came before it. Below we will run through the features available on each Apple Watch so you can see what you are getting for your money.   Apple isn’t the only place where you can buy an Apple Watch, and if you shop around you can still buy older models that Apple doesn’t sell. To get the best deal on an Apple Watch take note of the best prices shown below, you might also like to look at our roundup of the Best Apple Watch Deals. Apple Watch Ultra 2 Pros 1 to 3,000 nits brightness Ultra capabilities for extreme sports Tough exterior Cons Still uses S9 as wasn’t updated in 2024 Only one size Best Prices Today: New Refurbished Retailer Price $849.55 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023) GPS + Cellular 49 mm – Titanium Natural Titanium – Ocean band Blue $503.97 View Deal Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023) GPS + Cellular 49 mm – Titanium Natural Titanium – Alpine loop Blue $567 View Deal Apple Watch Ultra (2023) GPS + Cellular 49 mm – Titanium Natural Titanium – Alpine loop Starlight $599 View Deal Price comparison from Backmarket $849.55 at AmazonNot Available at Adorama This is the second generation of Apple Watch Ultra that launched in 2023. In 2024 there was a minor update to the color options on offer. The Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate Apple Watch. It’s designed for athletes and adventure, so it isn’t a watch for everyone, but it goes beyond the standard Apple Watch with features for divers (depth gauge, water temperature sensor, water resistance to 100 meters) and features for hikers such as precision dual-frequency GPS. The Apple Watch Ultra is constructed from tougher materials: a titanium case and a sapphire crystal cover for the screen. However, the Apple Watch Series 10 shares now offers a Titanium option, depth gauge and water temperature sensor, so the difference isn’t as great as it was between the Series 9 and the Ultra. But there are still a lot of superior features offered by the Ultra. The Ultra’s battery life is better than the standard Apple Watch series at 36 hours for the Ultra and 18 hours for the Series 10 (and the Series 9 and 8 before it). You can eke out even more battery life in the Ultra too, up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode (Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch 8 to 10 models results in 36 hours of battery life).  The second-gen Apple Watch Ultra features the S9 chip. The S9 is superior to the S8 in the original Apple Watch Ultra, with 60% more transistors, a four-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast than the S8, and 30 percent faster graphics. The newer Apple Watch Series 10 has the S10 chip, but there is very little difference between the S10 and S9. You might wonder why you need a powerful chip anyway, but it allows for things like smoother animations, faster and more accurate dictation, Siri on device and the Double Tap feature.  When introduced, the Apple Watch Ultra screen offered 2,000 nits of brightness, the second generation Ultra offers 3,000 nits (while the Series 9 and 10 get 2,000 nits). This should make it easier to see the screen in bright light, perhaps on the ski slopes. The always-on screen can also turn down to 1 nit so as not to disturb others.  Like the Series 10, the Ultra 2 offers the new U2 Ultra-wideband chip that enables Precision Finding to make it easier to find your iPhone. Rather than just ping with iPhone, you will get navigation instructions on the watch.  The original Ultra has the Action Button, to make controlling the Watch a bit easier, but the second-gen model goes a step further. Thanks to the Double-Tap gesture (also in the Apple Watch 9 and 10) you won’t have to touch the screen to control the Watch, useful if your other hand isn’t free. Just tap your thumb and index finger together and the gesture is recognized by the watch (via sensors and algorithms) so that the primary action of whatever app is showing will be triggered. You will also be able to use on-device Siri to do – like ask Siri to open Watch apps or check or input data.  Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 2 review Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm)

Macworld Apple has big plans for the smart home in 2025. Having long struggled with limited device support and complex standards, the company wants to move forward with simplified platforms, deeper device integration and improved software. This change in strategy is intended to strengthen the Apple ecosystem and make it competitive at a time when the larger industry is resting its hopes on Matter and Thread to restart a faltering market. In this article we outline Apple’s smart home strategy for 2025, and explain what this means for the HomePod range. The seamless smart home Apple is planning to significantly expand compatibility with cross-industry standards in 2025. Apple already supports the universal standard Matter, which makes it easier for you to use a wide variety of smart home products from different manufacturers. The Eve and Nanoleaf brands, which are well established in the Apple ecosystem, were among the first to jump on the bandwagon, and others are gradually being added. By doing this, Apple is breaking away from previous restrictions and opening up its platform to a wider range of devices. But it will also make it much easier for users to pick and choose which manufacturers they want to buy from and find the best-value choice. This can be a double-edged sword, as Apple is rarely the cheapest option. Apple Intelligence is also a central element of the new strategy. This AI-based technology is designed to understand commands, react flexibly and perform complex tasks. It is intended to enhance Siri so that the voice assistant can better implement contextualized commands. The goal is a true smart home experience in which your devices respond efficiently to your needs and work together seamlessly. Apple Intelligence isn’t just about providing smart summaries of emails. It has an important role to play in the smart home.YouTube / Apple There’s no place like homeOS A key element of the new strategy is the introduction of homeOS. This operating system is intended to bring together several hardware lines and provide the basis for a standardized smart home. Currently, the Apple TV has tvOS running in the background, while the HomePod runs customized software. In future, homeOS could serve as a common platform that provides updates and functions more quickly. The new homeOS software won’t be limited to the HomePod and Apple TV: it will play a role in new device categories too. These could include stationary smart displays that allow you to control your home devices more directly and intuitively, instead of using the fiddly controls on an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV. This would benefit both the HomePod and the HomePod mini: the more devices are controlled via homeOS, the more seamlessly your HomePod integrates into the overall experience. But one question remains unanswered: What will the smart display be able to offer that can’t already be accomplished with an (inexpensive) iPad? The Apple TV 4K is not yet capable of running Apple Intelligence, although it already has some useful smart home functions.Apple Where does this leave the HomePod? The HomePod range has barely evolved since the launch of the original model. Although there have been software updates, there have been no real hardware innovations. We don’t even want to talk about the 2nd-gen HomePod; rarely has there been such a loveless relaunch of an Apple product. As part of the new strategy, however, Apple could give the HomePod and HomePod mini more significance. In future, the HomePod should be able to handle Apple Intelligence. This is not yet the case, as the hardware requirements are high and the HomePods are controlled by lower-power chips from the Apple Watch range. But Apple is likely to equip future generations of HomePods with more powerful chips to process complex local commands. This would allow Siri to react more intelligently on the HomePod without delays caused by cloud processing, and would enable Apple to remedy the HomePod’s biggest weakness: its limited voice assistance. The next generation of the HomePod mini should also benefit from the new strategies. Improved processors and optimized wireless standards such as Wi-Fi 6E should reduce response times and make operation smoother and more intuitive. Apple can also upgrade its sensor technology to better capture environmental data, which would make it easier to use an updated HomePod mini as a smart hub. Another factor is new displays. Apple is understood to be working on HomePod variants with an integrated screen, and although these will not appear for some time, they could significantly enhance the HomePod family. With a display, the speakers could be used much more flexibly, for example for video calls or displaying camera images. The idea is not entirely new; Amazon has been offering the Echo Show for a long time. The smart home of the future Support for Matter, the introduction of homeOS, and the deeper integration of Apple Intelligence in Siri will all drive Apple’s smart home ecosystem forward. For the HomePod and HomePod mini, this means a long-awaited upgrade. While Siri was previously seen as a weak point, better hardware, AI features and a simplified software platform could turn the HomePod into a valuable home hub in the future. While new HomePods with displays and significantly upgraded hardware may not be launched until after 2025, Apple is laying the foundations for a more powerful smart home offering.

Macworld Apple has had a jam-packed 2024. From kickstarting its spatial computing era with the Vision Pro to finally embracing AI on its platforms—the firm has laid some solid groundwork that could reshape the tech industry in the coming years. Nevertheless, the iPhone maker still has some tricks up its sleeve. If the rumors turn out to be accurate, Apple will launch several exciting products next year, and we’ve got our eyes set on a few of them. HomePad Perhaps the most thrilling 2025 announcement for smart home enthusiasts will be Apple’s long-rumored HomePod with a display—better known as HomePad. The HomePad is rumored to launch late next year as a smart home hub that rivals Nest and similar products. The tablet-like device will likely feature a 6- to 7-inch screen and pack the iPhone 16’s A18, a chip more powerful than anything HomePod runs. While the HomePad is expected to offer a specialized interface that revolves around smart home controls, its purpose could extend beyond that. After all, the hub will reportedly support Apple Intelligence and next-gen Siri, FaceTime calls, and other features not necessarily related to smart home functions, including Music, Safari, and Notes. More importantly, it could mark the beginning of a new smart home chapter at Apple, as the company is also rumored to be working on a security camera for 2026. The iPhone 17 could introduce a model that’s dramatically thinner than the iPhone 16.Connor Jewiss / Foundry iPhone 17 Air Another exciting device that could launch late next year is the iPhone 17 Air. Apple is reportedly developing an ultra-slim smartphone that could dethrone the 6.9mm iPhone 6 as its thinnest ever, along with a new design. Opting for a 5mm to 6mm thickness will likely push Apple to make several compromises. For example, the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to have a single rear camera centered on the top rear of the phone. It may also miss out on the Pro variant of the A19 chip and retire the physical SIM card slot globally. In short, the iPhone Plus replacement will likely appeal to those seeking the sleekest aesthetics rather than the best possible performance and specs.  However, even if the iPhone 17 Air isn’t the most technologically advanced compared to the rest of the line, it could act as the foundation for Apple’s future products, particularly foldables. The new design appears to be a way to test the real-world performance and durability of an ultra-thin handset as Apple continues to work on its rumored foldable iPhone, which isn’t due until 2026. iPhone SE 4 Despite being a midrange phone, the iPhone SE 4 will be getting a lot of love—and attention—in 2025. Rumored to launch in its usual spring slot, the budget-friendly model looks to finally retire the prehistoric chassis in favor of a more modern one. On the front side, it will reportedly resemble an iPhone 14, boasting a notched edge-to-edge display that drops the physical home button at long last. Other notable improvements could include Face ID support, a sharper rear camera, a USB-C port, and an A18 processor. For years, those opting for SE iPhones had to sacrifice the design and some nice-to-have perks. With the iPhone SE 4 supporting Apple Intelligence and finally adopting a modern enclosure, it won’t feel like a device from the 2010s anymore. And if Apple can keep the price under $499, it’ll be a real winner. A new Studio Display could make an appearance in 2025.Willis Lai / Foundry Studio Display 2 Apple released its first and only Studio Display back in 2022. The 27-inch LCD monitor starts at $1,599 and features a humble refresh rate of 60Hz, a stunning 5K pixel resolution, up to 600 nits of brightness, a 12MP ultra-wide webcam, multiple USB-C ports, six speakers, and three microphones.  While the current Studio Display looks great and works well with Apple’s Mac lineup, its specifications could use a bump. For starters, Apple could give it a mini-LED display similar to the MacBook Pro, with a higher refresh rate, 1,600 nits of max XDR brightness, and a Nano-texture option. The design could also use an update, perhaps with “Liquid Retina” rounded corners and a thinner enclosure like the iMac. It’s not as certain as the other products on this list, but the latest rumors suggest Apple will launch an update to the 27-inch monitor in the spring alongside the M4 Mac Studio and Mac Pro. It’ll look equally slick next to the new micro Mac mini and the next item on our list. M4 Ultra Mac Pro The Mac Pro is no longer powered by an Intel chip, but it’s the only Apple computer that still has its Intel-era design. While all other Macs have been seriously slimmed down since the transition to Apple’s M-series processors, the Mac Pro’s body—despite not needing memory slots for RAM sticks anymore—continues to be relatively bulky. In 2025, Apple will reportedly launch an M4 Ultra-powered Mac Pro, boasting up to 32 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores, and 512GB of RAM when maxed out. While the rumors seemingly don’t reference a fresh exterior look, it’ll be around six years since its last facelift. On the other hand, the Mac Pro is generally a niche computer, so Apple could easily get away with just boosting its performance. Not just an iterative year The HomePad and iPhone 17 Air will potentially ignite Apple’s push into two new categories: the smart home and foldables. Meanwhile, the iPhone SE 4 will be the first of its kind to offer both impressive specs and a modern exterior for a reasonable price tag. And while the Studio Display and Mac Pro may not be as popular as other Apple products, their potential 2025 successors will feature welcome enhancements that their fans will appreciate. Tech reviewers and enthusiasts often complain that today’s devices, particularly those coming out of Cupertino, have become too iterative. Vision Pro aside, that was largely the case with 2024’s slate of releases. But 2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Apple.

Macworld When they already have the best phone on the planet, what do you buy an iPhone user? We’re here to help you select the best iPhone gifts available—perfect gifts for Christmas, birthdays, Fathers Day, Mothers Day, anniversaries, and when you are just feeling generous. If not a brand new iPhone (check out our iPhone Buying Guide if your budget stretches that far), then how about one of the many available iPhone accessories? Throughout the year we have tested and reviewed the best iPhone accessories from Apple and trusted companies, and we can recommend the best ones for the people on your list. We’d be delighted to receive any of these iPhone accessories as a gift. If you want to splash out on another Apple product, take a look at our guides for best Apple Watch, best iPad and best Mac. Here we recommend some of our favorite iPhone cases, power banks, chargers, cables and tech organizers, plus a roundup of some super stocking stuffers for the iPhone user in your thoughts. iPhone Gift Guide: Cases If your loved one doesn’t own a case for their iPhone then this may be the best gift you can get them as it will share a bit of personality while protecting their precious phone from knocks, drops, and everyday scrapes. If they already have a case, then buy them a new or better one. Just slipping on a new case can transform an old iPhone into something that feels brand new again. It’s even more satisfying than an iOS update! We have tested the best cases for iPhone 15 and best cases for iPhone 16 and most of these are available for older models from the iPhone 11 up. Run through those lists to see the widest range of cases you can select as a gift, and get one for yourself while you’re at it. If you’re shopping for someone who has an iPhone 12 or later, look for a MagSafe-compatible case as it won’t interfere with wireless charging. 1. Casely iPhone Classic and Bold Cases – Colorful and arty cases for all iPhones Pros Optional protection levels Design options Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Casely $25 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $25 at Casely Casely has an enormous range of designer and colorful iPhone cases available for the iPhone XR, 11, and later—right up to the iPhone 16 family. Most are available in either a flexible glossy Classic version or a more rigid and protective Bold version. Art lovers will appreciate the range of impressionist paintings that can now adorn their iPhone. There is even a range of festive winter and Christmas cases available. Shipping for direct domestic orders under $30 is a flat rate of $5 and international orders below $100 will be charged a flat rate of $10 USD (Canada) and $15 USD (everywhere else). Or follow our Amazon links for possible free shipping. 2. Casetify iPhone Cases – Wide design choice range of iPhone cases Pros Optional protection levels Design options Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Casetify $56 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $56 at Casetify Casetify is another maker of colorful iPhone cases and these can be customized with personalized text, colors, designs, and protection levels. There are hundreds of case designs to choose from, and you can choose the level of protection that suits you best. The camera case is very retro, and you can buy non-slip cases with physical ripples that make your phone grip firmer. 3. OtterBox iPhone cases – Wide choice of colors and protection Pros Unique edge-to-edge designs The super-slim Figura Case (above) for iPhone 16 from OtterBox features psychedelic patterns that are hydro-dipped by hand. The graphics envelop the case from edge to edge. The material is flexible with a soft touch. OtterBox has a wide range of cases for many older iPhone versions, too—including its robust Defender range. Just released is an intense limited edition Figura case that features a NASA Hubble Space Telescope photo of the Lagoon Nebula, an interstellar cloud in the Sagittarius constellation. 4. ShiftCam Lens Cases for iPhone 16 Pros Adds pro camera lenses to iPhone Choice of cool iPhone camera grips The ShiftCam series of lenses and compatible cases can enhance your mobile photography. You select from a choice of individual LensUltra lenses, including 60mm Telephoto, 16mm Wide Angle, 10x Traditional Macro and 200° Fisheyes; and for filmmakers 75mm Long Range Macro, 1.33x Anamorphic and 1.55x Anamorphic. Prices start at $129.99 / £129.99. Compatible with iPhone 11 and later, right up to the iPhone 16. The ShiftCam ecosystem also includes a range of ergonomic magnetic snap-on mobile battery grips (SnapStudio Light and SnapGrip Pro, from $89.99), inspired by pro digital cameras, that offer greater stability and a shutter button. turning every phone into a pro camera. The grip also includes a built-in 5000mAh battery power bank capable of delivering 20W charging. Apple sells an exclusive ShiftCam ProGrip Starter Kit that would make a great gift for your photography-loving iPhone user for $149.95 / £129.95. 5. ESR iPhone Cases Pros High protection level Built-in kickstand Unlike most macho protective cases, the ESR Cyber Tough cases are available in a range of colors depending on the model of iPhone, including one in a fetching pink. ESR has a huge range of iPhone cases, many with hidden ring stands and other features. Leather iPhone cases: If you fancy a premium leather iPhone case look at the selection at Dutch design firm Mujjo and Woolnut for iPhone 11 and later. Wallet iPhone cases: Check out the Vena and Decoded ranges of iPhone cases with built-in and detachable wallets. Wood/pearl/fabric-effect iPhone cases: Seek out the range at Mous for iPhone 14 and later. iPhone Gift Guide: iPhone power banks Hands up if your iPhone has never run out of juice during the day when you are far from a convenient power socket. Yeah, right. Apple used to make a special Smart Battery Case for the iPhone but stopped selling these when it added MagSafe magnetic wireless charging to the iPhone 12 and later. It then sold its own MagSafe Battery Case but stopped making these when it launched the iPhone 15. But fear not, as there are some great MagSafe power banks out there that clamp onto the back of your iPhone (12/13/14/15) and can recharge the phone for long enough that you can reach a power source. Of course, Macworld has tested many of them and picked the best MagSafe power banks, but here are a few of our favorites. 1. Anker Zolo and MagGo Power Banks Pros Huge 10000mAh battery capacity Built-in USB-C cable 7.5W wireless or 30W wired charging

Macworld Here at Macworld we’re extremely fond of Apple’s AirTag, which we consider by far the best Bluetooth tracker for an iPhone or Mac user. However, one complaint raised in our AirTag review was that it doesn’t have an attachment hole, which means you’re forced in most situations to buy an accessory to put it in. Want to attach it to your keys? You need to buy a special key ring. Want to attach it to your luggage? Special luggage label. An ecosystem has quickly sprung up offering straps, loops, pet tags, cases and holders for AirTag owners. But which ones are worth buying? We’ve been testing out all the AirTags accessories we can get our hands on, so we can help you find the best AirTag holder for your needs from key rings, luggage tags, wallets and more. Best AirTag Key Rings Apple AirTag FineWoven Key Ring Pros Made by Apple Cons Fabric can scuff Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $35 View Deal $41 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $35 at Best Buy$41 at Amazon There are cheaper alternatives, but this is the classic AirTag key ring—replacing the previous Apple Leather Key Ring, now that Apple has gone fully vegan in honor of its legendary co-founder Steve Jobs. It’s light, attractive and reassuringly well-made. It’s easy to put the AirTag inside, but the metal popper won’t let it escape. And we love the large, chunky (but quite flat) ring, although we’d recommend testing it out in a shop if you’re planning on attaching car keys with a small aperture. This reviewer’s Nissan and Skoda keys were both a tight fit. The fabric covering protects the AirTag’s edge from drop damage but leaves most of its chassis, both front and back, open to the elements and liable to scuff a little—a complaint publicly made about Apple’s FineWoven iPhone cases. We think this is worth it for the pleasing look, and scuffing is both inevitable and minor, but if you want total protection you’ll need to look elsewhere. It’s available in five colors: Black, Deep Blue, Blackberry, Dark Green and Chartreuse–David Price Belkin Secure Holder with Wire Cable for AirTag Pros Feels more secure than Apple ring Cons Plastic feel Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $14.99 View Deal $19.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $14.99 at Amazon$19.95 at Apple Belkin’s Secure Holder is made of hard plastic, which gives it more of a budget feel, but it’s reassuringly robust, and looks tough with its wire cable that includes a hex key to lock the AirTag in place. As with Apple’s key ring, both faces of the AirTag are left exposed, but the plastic surround sticks out more and thus provides more drop protection. It’s available in white or black.–David Price OtterBox Rugged Case for AirTag Pros Super protective Cons Larger than most Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $12.99 View Deal $19.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $12.99 at Amazon$19.95 at Apple OtterBox is a company known for its ultra-protective phone cases, and its Rugged Case for AirTag continues this tradition, as its name suggests. The protective perimeter is increased to allow for larger bumps and mishaps than most AirTag key rings. OtterBox also has a Rugged Passport Series of the Rugged Case that is styled with the coordinates of iconic cities, such as New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, as well as a large range of other AirTag cases and key rings.–Simon Jary Nomad AirTag Keyrings Pros Range of AirTag keychain options Available in black and white, the Nomad Rugged Keychain is built with a polycarbonate frame and TPU overmold, and ships with two enclosure options: a closed back option and an open speaker option. It is rated IP66 for water and dust resistance. With a Rustic Brown option, the Nomad Leather Keychain carries your AirTag in a good-looking, thermoformed, American Horween Leather holder. Over time, the raw, vegetable-tanned leather will patina to create a unique lived-in look. Adding a third available Natural (tan) color, the Nomad Leather Loop for AirTag is a Horween leather loop that attaches to your AirTag with a powerful 3M adhesive. The AirTag battery, however, remains easily accessible for replacement.–Simon Jary OtterBox Core Series Case for AirTag Pros Sustainable materials Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $17.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $17.99 at Amazon The OtterBox Core Series Case is the most sustainable AirTag key ring—made from a FSC-certified recycled and recyclable material. Its speckled looks shows off an authentic recycled appearance.–Simon Jary Orbitkey Leather Holder for AirTag Pros Leather Cons Covers one side Slight wobble Orbitkey‘s leather offering is well worth your consideration. It

Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Super fast 6GBps reading, 5GBps writing via Thunderbolt 5 Rugged and weatherproof Handsome design A bargain compared to Apple internal SSD upgrades Cons Expensive compared to Thunderbolt 3/USB Requires an M4 Pro/Max Mac for full 80Gbps performance Limited compatibility with older hardware and software. Our Verdict We love that the new Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD from OWC is almost as fast as Apple’s internal storage, but it’s not cheap and backwards compatibility isn’t all-encompassing. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: OWC Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD Retailer Price Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket If you’re looking to take full advantage of the Thunderbolt 5 ports on your M4 Pro Mac mini or M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro and possibly circumvent Apple’s avaricious storage upgrade pricing, you should consider OWC’s Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 external SSD. The Envoy Ultra is hardly cheap, but it’s nowhere near what Apple charges. On the downside, there are more backwards compatibility issues than expected. This is the compatibility statement from the Thunderbolt 5 PR deck. “Broadly” apparently doesn’t mean “Completely”. Especially with older software and hardware. Thunderbolt 5 compatibility While the speed is alluring, and Thunderbolt 5 itself is backwards compatible with older Thunderbolt specs, it’s not nearly as backwards compatible as you might think, we wish, or is hinted at. First, you need a Thunderbolt 5-enabled Mac or Windows PC to take full advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s 80Gbps transfer rates. 80Gbps? Yes. While you may have seen 120GBps quoted in some articles as Thunderbolt 5’s top speed, that’s only unidirectional for displays. Bi-directional, as with storage, is limited to 80Gbps. The first compatibility issue is that to utilize a Thunderbolt 5 drive, Apple silicon Macs need either macOS 14 Sonoma, or macOS 15 Sequoia. Thunderbolt 3 Macs with Intel chips must run Sequoia. Note that the Envoy Ultra did enumerate on my Mac Studio Thunderbolt 4 bus when I was back on Ventura, but it wasn’t available in Disk Utility or Finder. Also, while the Envoy Ultra’s captive cable prevents me from testing it on older Thunderbolt 1/2 using an adapter, the image above indicates that this is off the table. OWC confirmed that Thunderbolt 5 won’t work with the older standards, so stick with Thunderbolt 3 equipment for older Macs. OWC’s Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5SSD.Jon L. Jacobi Additionally, in my testing for PCWorld, there was a rather large issue with the official test bed. That issue is that the Envoy Ultra completely failed to register in the BIOS, Disk Manager, or Thunderbolt utility. Oops. This is despite updating all the drivers, removing everything non-essential, and even updating Windows 11 to the latest release on the test bed. Eventually, a BIOS/Thunderbolt firmware update from Asus solved the issue. This iffy backwards compatibility could be a problem if you’re working in a mixed operating system environment. Some older equipment might not be updated. Features The OWC Envoy Ultra shares the handsome, sculpted styling of the Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps/USB 3.2 10Gbps Envoy Pro FX. However, it’s a bit larger chunk of black metal, measuring about 0.75 inches thick, 2.8 inches wide, and 5 inches long. The Envoy Ultra weighs in at a satisfyingly substantial 10.5 ounces or so. The OWC Envoy Ultra attached to the MacBook Pro M4 Pro used for testing. I already mentioned the captive cable, which is for weatherproofing (it’s not IP-rated, but it seems as if it could pass the tests) and making sure you can’t lose it. It does, however, make it a bit harder to stow the Envoy Ultra in tight quarters. Also, as with all captive cables, you should avoid stressing the attachment point for longevity’s sake. The OWC Envoy Ultra carries a three-year warranty, but no TBW (Terabytes that may be Written) rating was given. Price If you thought a Thunderbolt 5 SSD was going to be cheap….well, I have some interesting real estate properties you might be interested in. The Envoy Ultra costs a cool $400 in its 2TB form and $600 at 4TB. Given that you can grab a Thunderbolt 3/USB4 SSD for roughly half that, and a 20/10Gbps unit for far less than half, you’d better really need or want the speed. Note however, that despite a new 20Gbps 3.2×2 tunneling protocol that may work with docking stations, 3.2×2 SSDs still drop to 10Gbps when attached directly to a Thunderbolt 5 port. 20Gbps USB4 SSDs will operate at full speed attached to Thunderbolt 5. Then again, compared with Apple’s egregious price gouging for internal storage upgrades ($1,200 for 4TB???), the Envoy Ultra is a fantastic bargain. Performance Short answer: Very fast. Benchmarks showed anywhere from 5.2GBps (Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Speed Test), to 6.5GBps reading (AmorphousDiskMark), to near 7GBps reading and 5.57GBps writing (ATTO). Even my real-world read of approximately 330GB of .mov files showed an excellent turn of form–almost 6GBps reading. Alas, writing was considerably slower, only around 1.5GBps. Note I copied to and from the same M4 Pro MacBook Pro (2TB) that I ran the synthetic benchmarks on. By way of comparison, and for the enlightenment of those who might be looking to avoid paying ridiculous sums for Apple’s internal storage, I included the benchmark results from the MacBook’s internal SSD. These are shown to the right of the OWC Envoy Ultra’s in the images below. The difference between the internal and external storage isn’t as severe as you might expect. Long story short, read results are remarkably close for the most part, though the internal SSD was a good deal faster writing under nearly all circumstances. Note that the fastest external SSD we’ve previously tested, the USB4 Adata SE920 only just exceeded 3GBps reading. Yes…Very fast. Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Speed test showed consistent 5.2GBps performance in both reading and writing for the OWC Envoy Ultra (left). The Internal M4 Pro MacBook Pro SSD results are shown on the right. AmorphousDiskMark showed better numbers for the Envoy Ultra reading–a rather scintillating 6.44GBps. Not that far off the MacBook Pro M4 Pro’s internal SSD. Approximately 5GBps writing from the Envoy Ultra seems to be the consensus from all three synthetic benchmarks. AmorphousDiskMark showed the Envoy Ultra reading far faster than Disk Speed test. Nearly 6.5GBps. ATTO Disk Benchmark paints largely the same picture, though read speeds for the Envoy Ultra actually exceeded those of the MacBook Pro M4 Pro’s internal SSD. Writes? No, though around 5GBps is hardly anything to sneeze at. ATTO Disk Benchmark paints largely the same picture, though read speeds for the Envoy Ultra actually exceeded those of the MacBook Pro M4 Pro’s internal SSD. Writes? No, though around 5GBps is hardly anything to sneeze at. Although our real-world file writes didn’t match the benchmarks, they were still quite good. In total, the OWC Envoy Ultra is a very nice upgrade performance-wise from the average Thunderbolt 3 SSD, and a worthy companion for any Thunderbolt 5 Mac. Note that the SSD inside the Envoy Ultra is the Auro Pro IV. You can read more about its performance (good at the time, not so much now) in sister publication PCWorld’s review. That said, the Envoy Ultra, once running on our updated test bed, turned in a very, very slow 450GB write time. Should you buy the OWC Envoy Ultra? If you want, and can afford the absolute fastest storage for your new Thunderbolt 5 Mac, then the answer is yes. Have at it. Also, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than Apple’s rapaciously priced internal storage and nearly as fast. That said, Thunderbolt 3/USB4 SSDs are still plenty fast, cheaper, and far more compatible with older Mac hardware and software. I’ll leave the value equation up to you.