Jeff Benjamin

Today we went hands-on with Razer’s new $399 Core X Chroma eGPU enclosure. The Chroma is based closely on the original Razer Core X, but there are several new enhancements, such as RGB lighting, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB ports. Watch our full video walkthrough for the details.
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In this week’s edition of Final Cut Friday, I explain why it’s advantageous to switch to the Checkerboard Player Background from the standard black background when editing video. Watch our brief hands-on video explainer for the details.
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In this hands-on video walkthrough, I show you how to put together a dual 4K video capture enclosure for saving ProRes videos directly to a Mac. In order to do so, I utilize Sonnet’s Echo Express SEIII and the Blackmagic Design DeckLink Mini Recorder 4K. Watch the full video for the details behind the setup.
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Along with its recently launched AirPods 2, Apple also released a standalone Wireless Charging Case for the AirPods. The Wireless Charging Case is an $80 accessory that works with both the first and second-generation versions of Apple’s wireless earbuds.

If you own a set of first-gen AirPods, should you consider forking over more money for the privilege of wireless charging? Watch our brief hands-on video review for the details.
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Apple currently sells four tablets — the entry-level iPad, the portable iPad mini, the midrange iPad Air 3, and the powerful iPad Pro — but which iPad is right for your needs? Watch our hands-on video as we briefly break down Apple’s tablet lineup and help you decide which iPad you should buy.
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The Logitech Slim Folio Pro for the 2018 iPad Pro is a product designed for iPad users whose workflow is primarily focused on typing. It features an excellent keyboard, along with key features like highly-tactile keys and backlighting to enhance the typing experience.

Is Logitech’s latest iPad Pro accessory right for you? Learn more in our hands-on Logitech Slim Folio Pro video review.
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One of the biggest complaints about recent Mac laptops is their lack of ports. Elgato’s Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock, like other docks we’ve seen over the years, seeks to solve that issue by making it possible to connect to a wide variety of accessories via a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.
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From the outside, the new iPad mini is virtually a carbon copy of the iPad mini 4, but it’s sporting some serious upgrades under the hood. As you’ve probably heard, the 5th-generation iPad mini is basically an iPad Air 3, just in a much more compact form-factor.

Indeed, the iPad mini 5 is a powerful tablet that can almost fit in your pocket, but the size, or lack thereof, can be both a gift and a curse depending on your needs. Watch our hands-on iPad mini 5 review video for the details.
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At this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, mobile video editing gained even more cohesiveness and traction. In previous years I felt like there was a push to legitimize mobile video editing, but this year it’s not even a question as to whether such workflows make sense for many iPad users.

The central hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center featured the likes of LumaFusion, Filmic Pro, and Gnarbox  — companies that are all heavily involved with mobile video editing workflows. In this post we’ll take a look at some of their current and future contributions to this space as highlighted at NAB Show 2019.
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Apple’s long-awaited refresh of the iMac lineup finally happened, and it brought about incremental, but nonetheless worthwhile, enhancements to the lineup. Along with new 6-core and 8-core Intel options for faster CPU performance, new Radeon Pro Vega GPUs provide faster graphics.

In addition to the CPU and GPU, there’s another key upgrade element that got some love this year: Memory, and lots of it. For the first time, it’s now possible to upgrade the 27-inch 5K iMac with 128GB of RAM, although you’ll need to do so using third-party memory suppliers.

The good news is that even if you’re not interested in maxing out to 128GB of RAM, it’s incredibly easy to upgrade your 5K iMac’s memory, and you can save a whole lot of money in the process of doing so. Watch our video tutorial for a step-by-step 5K iMac memory upgrade guide.

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The new iPad Air 3 is the follow-up to a legendary tablet, the iPad Air 2. The second-generation iPad Air introduced a thinner profile, laminated digitizer, and Touch ID to Apple’s tablet lineup for the very first time. The iPad Air 2 was also well-regarded for its speed — sporting 2GB of RAM for the first time in any iOS device, and a new chip that put an emphasis on GPU performance.

When looking back at the iPad Air 2, it goes without saying that the third-generation model has some big shoes to fill. And as you’ll see from our iPad Air 3 review, it proves to be a worthy, if not a slightly boring follow-up, because it’s essentially an iPad Pro lite.
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Earlier this week Apple released the initial developer beta of iOS 12.3. This latest update comes right on the heels of Apple’s recent Services event, and the iOS 12.2 public release. What’s new in iOS 12.3 beta 1? Watch our brief hands-on video for the details.
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The second generation AirPods landed on my desk today, and as a big fan of the originals, I was excited to review the AirPods 2 (2019) edition. At first glance it’s immediately evident that it’s not a radical change from the original design, even the box is more or less the same outside of a few changes.

The second-generation AirPods are more like AirPods version 1.5 than they are AirPods 2, but that’s primarily a testament to how right Apple got the product on its first at bat. Watch our hands-on AirPods 2 review video as we explore top features, make comparisons with the original AirPods, and share our hands-on impressions.
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Apple has released the public version of iOS 12.2, which includes the launch of the company’s brand new Apple News+ subscription service for magazines. The update, which is available for all eligible iPhone, iPads, and the iPod touch, includes a bevy of new changes, features and enhancements.

Needless to say, iOS 12.2 is a massive update, and likely the last big update before iOS 13 launches in beta later this year. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough and we step through all of the new changes and features in iOS 12.2.
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Apple has released the latest version of Final Cut Pro X, version 10.4.6. The update is dominated by stability improvements and bug fixes, but it also contains one major new feature pertaining to future versions of macOS. Watch as we explain what that means for current Final Cut Pro X users.
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If you’re looking for a Thunderbolt 3-enabled external display, then LG is pretty much where it’s at. Not only does the Korean company produce the 34-inch 5K2K UltraWide Display, which is great for creative professionals, but it also produces an LG UltraFine 4K Display with Thunderbolt 3 in tow.

Not to be confused with the 21.5-inch 4K UltraFine Display that’s sold in Apple Stores, this 32-inch display comes with Thunderbolt 3, and features the familiar LG design language found on many of the displays within the company’s lineup.

Is the LG UltraFine 4K Monitor worth considering for those looking to add an external display to their desktop setup? Watch our hands-on video review for the details.
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Apple announced two new iPads this morning, finally updating the iPad mini and bridging the gap between its entry-level and high-end models with a new iPad Air. For the first time, both new product lines gain Apple Pencil support, while also being the first new models since the sixth-generation 2018 iPad to feature Logitech Crayon support.

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Whenever I post a video on YouTube, I strive to post accompanying teaser footage on 9to5mac’s official Instagram account. Because Instagram Stories are traditionally viewed in portrait mode, you’ll need to configure your project and corresponding video export with vertical orientation in mind. Watch this week’s episode of Final Cut Friday as I briefly step through my Instagram Stories workflow.

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I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus to compare with my iPhone XS Max. Samsung was generous enough to throw in a free pair of its $129 wireless Galaxy Buds for early adopters. How does Samsung’s take on truly wire-free earbuds compare with Apple’s AirPods? Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for the details.
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