Michael Burkhardt

Belkin has just released two excellent new Qi2.2 chargers – providing 25W MagSafe charging in an ultra-compact design. Normally, these products are centered around the Apple ecosystem, but Belkin’s new 3-in-1 actually embraces modularity and gives Android users an option to bring their own watch charger. Both are very slim, and work excellently no matter which ecosystem you’re in.

Apple has included excellent display panels on iMacs for years, but for the longest time, there hasn’t really been a way to use it for anything other than macOS. There used to be a feature called Target Display Mode, but it’s long been discontinued. This has been a shame, since plenty of iMacs have excellent displays that go to waste after the compute is outdated.

I’ve found a pretty good solution though, and it involves a 4K capture card and one nifty app available on the Mac App Store. Any HDMI input, whether that be a Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, or something else – can display on your iMac (or USB-C iPad!)

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Packing for trips can be stressful at times. PackGoat makes the process much easier, and utilizes Apple Intelligence to help make just the right list for your trip – even down to the weight.

When AirPods Pro 3 initially debuted, I was a little bit hesitant about upgrading. I felt that AirPods Pro 2 were still excellent. On top of that, one of the key features of AirPods Pro 3, Live Translation, was also coming to AirPods Pro 2. However, now that I’ve actually given them a shot – I can genuinely say I was wrong about my pessimism.

Earlier this year, Apple introduced Apple Creator Studio – a new subscription bundle that provides users access to all Apple pro software on Mac and iPad, such as Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, and Pixelmator Pro.

With this launch, we got Pixelmator Pro on iPad for the first time – and a new Liquid Glass design on Mac. However, the latter is yet to be released for people who already paid for the app, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change.

The current 14-inch MacBook Pro design is nearing five years old. It’s also not at all a secret that Apple is working on a redesign for its MacBook Pro lineup.

Despite those facts though, there’s still one compelling argument to be made about buying one today – even with bigger changes right around the horizon.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Juggling loads of alarms in the Clock app can be annoying. VariAlarm aims to fix this, by dynamically adjusting your alarms based on your schedule, rather than having fixed times.

Internal Mac storage upgrades are expensive, often causing users to resort to external media when possible. That also has its own problems of sometimes compromising on speed or reliability. HyperDrive Next aims to bridge that gap, by bringing incredible performance to external drives for your Mac.

Last month, Apple acquired a popular Final Cut Pro plugin maker: MotionVFX. It isn’t clear what this acquisition will turn into, but based on the fact that it quickly followed the launch of Apple Creator Studio, it’s highly plausible that Apple will integrate its templates, effects, and other offerings as a perk of Apple Creator Studio.

While that on its own is interesting, I think the implication behind it is far more worth talking about.

Now through April 13th, new Apple Card users can receive a boosted 5% cash back on groceries for their first 6 months of card membership. This is considerably higher value than the typical 1-2% cash back you’d receive on groceries.

Toward the tail end of last year, agentic coding (otherwise known as vibe coding) truly took off. With the launch of models like Claude Opus 4.5, it suddenly became possible to ask AI to build something for you, and it’d do it in a nearly fully functional way. That level of accuracy led to people taking a hands off approach to app building, and even enabled people who’ve never coded before to make apps.

Whether or not you like this trend is another discussion. Either way, there’s one thing that holds true: App Store review isn’t cut out for it.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

If you’re someone looking to add more meditation to your life, Yogi Breath could be the right fit. Yogi Breath is a guided breathwork app that moves at your pace – with a number of helpful features to keep you motivated.

Apple unveiled the MacBook Neo earlier this month, and in my opinion – it completely breaks the MacBook lineup as we knew it. If you’re someone who previously bought a MacBook Air, and you don’t need 16GB of RAM for heavier multitasking – why wouldn’t you buy the MacBook Neo now?

In my eyes, the MacBook Neo is just as good of a general purpose laptop as the MacBook Air was, and besides more RAM, a much faster processor (though still a thermally limited one), and a larger display, it doesn’t feel like MacBook Air has much going for it – at least for now. Here’s how I’d improve it.

When Apple initially rolled out Apple Intelligence, the company was pretty openly against the idea of creating a Siri chatbot. Now, things have changed a little – and the company is rumored to be deploying a Siri app in iOS 27, so users can chat with the next generation of Apple Foundation Models. While that’s a great starting point, I think theres a better idea to be tapped into here.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple Stores are currently facing inventory shortages for three key products: HomePod, HomePod mini, and Apple TV 4K. This isn’t necessarily a sign of an imminent update, though it is worth noting the latter two products are due for a refresh.

As part of Apple’s week of product announcements earlier this month, many were hoping to see an update to Apple’s cheapest iPad, alongside iPad Air, MacBook Neo, and the other MacBook refreshes. However, the whole week came and went – with no new base iPad.

Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has a launch update – and the product is still on track to launch relatively soon.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Tasks, a very popular productivity app for the Apple ecosystem – just got a massive new update with support for loads of App Intents, an all new interface, as well as automations to help you manage your tasks. We covered Tasks when it initially launched back in 2020, and this week’s new update is a major one.

As someone who bought my first Mac in 2019 as a young student without much money of my own, the MacBook Neo is incredibly inspiring. When the M4 Mac mini came out towards the end of 2024, I had already felt quite strongly about its potential for inspiring young creatives – and the MacBook Neo takes that much further.

In just a few months, Apple is expected to unveil its latest round of operating systems: iOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and so on. Previous reports on iOS 27 have heavily focused on how this years operating systems should focus more on performance improvements and overall stability.

In today’s Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that we probably won’t see any serious changes to Liquid Glass, though there could still be some minor ones.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

iPhone cameras have come a long way over the years, but if you find yourself yearning for more of a classy, filmic look versus the computational photography of today, Kiosk 27 might be a fun fit for you.