9to5Mac Reviews

If you want to raise your iMac or Apple Thunderbolt Display to eye-level, there’s no shortage of ways to do it – at every price level.

Search for iMac stand on Amazon and you’ll find everything from ugly plastic ones for around 20 bucks through some nice-looking aluminum ones around the $70 mark to a clever Twelve South version for $130 (review of an earlier incarnation) …

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I love music, and am perfectly happy to pay for good-quality audio – but $279 for a speaker which delivers only ok audio quality doesn’t sound like a great deal.

However, music isn’t what the Humu Augmented Audio Cushion is all about …

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Saddleback, left; Brooks, right; 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro for scale

My name is Ben Lovejoy and I’m a bagaholic.

I admit it: I’m a sucker for bags. I seem to have a particular problem with backpacks – I couldn’t even begin to count the number I’ve had over the years. Some of them chosen for special features, like the anti-theft Riutbag and the easy-access Wolffepack, while others were chosen for more mundane layout reasons, especially when it comes to camera bags.

But whether clever or simply well-organised, few backpacks are beautiful. Most use the same Cordura nylon fabric, and a large majority of them are black. So my eye was caught by two leather backpacks made by premium leather companies, the Saddleback Thin Front Pocket, and the Brooks Piccadilly …

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Alongside the new MacBook Pro launch and Blackmagic eGPU, Apple also released a new Leather Sleeve for its flagship laptop, albeit to significantly less fanfare and/or controversy. The MacBook Pro Leather Sleeve follows in the footsteps of similar leather-based offerings for the 12-inch MacBook and iPad Pro.

Comprised out of high-quality European leather, the MacBook Pro Leather sleeve is available in one of three colors for both 13- and 15-inch models. Should you consider dropping $179 (13-inch) or $199 to protect your MacBook Pro in style?
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Early standing desks didn’t really get much traction. Few people wanted to be standing all day, so it was only when adjustable sit-stand desks came along that they increased in popularity.

Apple is so committed to them that it is ensuring that every employee at its new Apple Park campus has one, a discreet button moving them between sitting and standing positions.

We’ve reviewed a couple of sit-stand desks, but nice ones aren’t cheap – a problem Dutch company Upstaa set out to solve …

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It doesn’t seem that long since we had a choice to make when it came to external drives: we could opt for spinning metal drives if we wanted high capacities at affordable prices, or SSD if we wanted fast transfer speeds, were willing to compromise on capacity and were prepared to pay the substantial premium. But that’s beginning to change …

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Many years ago, I used a desk striplight with a clamp. I clamped it to the back of my desk, then adjusted the angle arm so it was just above and in front of my monitor. That way, it lit the desk, didn’t cast any light onto my monitor, and effectively took up no space.

It took some time to find a suitable light, and a fair amount of messing around with clamp positions and angles until I had what I wanted. Now BenQ has created a product that achieves the same result in a really neat fashion: the ScreenBar …

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It’s usually me making the case for new smart home gadgets, but when it came to a robot vacuum cleaner, it was my partner, Steph, who suggested it. Unusually hot weather in London causing our cats to moult more than usual may have been the triggering event!

I’d looked at them when they first came out, and wasn’t that impressed by what I saw and read. Early models tended to wander randomly about the home, didn’t cope well with obstacles, and their battery-powered vacuum motors weren’t very powerful.

But it had been quite a few years since then, so it seemed a good time to check out whether today’s robot vacuum cleaners are gimmick or genuinely useful home appliance …

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Lume Cube, the high-powered portable photography light, is now available in an exclusive kit at Apple Stores country-wide. The Lume Cube Creative Lighting Kit includes a number of accessories with the compact flash to refine the photography experience.

The team at Lume Cube had recently reached out to us asking if we’d like to take a look at what the small cube could do. As I’ve been getting more and more into mobile photography, a portable lighting system piqued my interest. After having received a review unit from Lume, I set out to see what all the fuss was about.

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We took our first look at the unique jimmyCASE approach to wallet cases over a year ago. Now we’ve been putting the company’s latest offering for iPhone X to the test. Just like earlier models, the new Slim Classic Wallet Case uses a mix of great materials including mahogany, silicone, and high performance elastic that provide a sharp blend of function and form. Read on for our full review and why jimmyCASE is a distinct and flexible choice for iPhone X.

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Since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were introduced last year (and long before), wireless chargers have become a dime a dozen. With so many options available on the market, it takes a lot for one to stand out from the crowd.

Earlier this year, Nomad released its versatile, travel-oriented wireless charger for iPhone 8 and iPhone X, joining the company’s range of high-end accessories. Since it was released, we’ve been using it day in and day out. Read on for our thoughts on how it compares to the rest of the crowded wireless charger market…

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HomeKit adoption has grown swiftly over recent years, with lights of all shapes and sizes adopting the platform for smart control. In 2016, we took a look at the popular Nanoleaf Aurora light panels, and now Lifx is looking to enter the HomeKit accent lighting market with its new Beam accessory…

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If you are like me, Spring means biking season and I want to tell you about two great bike helmets that connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth to not only make your ride more safe but also more fun too. For over a year, I’ve had the Coros LINX helmet which uses bone conducting conduits to safely send audio signal to your eardrums without blocking natural sound.

A few weeks ago I peeped the new $179.99 Lumos Helmet at the Grand Central Apple Store touting bright lights and a turn signal activated from your phone.

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Twelve South is best-known for its BookBook cases for MacBooks and iPhones, but subsequently expanded into a wide range of stylish accessories for Apple kit – they have products for MacBooks, iMac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and more.

Its latest product, launched earlier this month, is a Bluetooth transmitter designed to let you use AirPods or other wireless headphones with in-flight entertainment systems or other equipment with a 3.5mm headphone socket: AirFly …

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Case-Mate released its Power Pad Qi wireless charger last month and we’ve been testing it out for the last few weeks. With a unique design that allows it to stand or lay flat while in use, Power Pad is worth checking out. Read on for our full review.

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For the last year or so I’ve been on the fence about picking up a new router. But along with moving into a new house, I decided to finally retire my Time Capsule. After a lot of deliberation, I landed on TP-Link’s deco mesh Wi-Fi system and I’ve been really impressed with the features it offers, such as the app, performance, and price. Read on for our full review.

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We tested out the ElevationDock 4 (reviewed) last fall and concluded that it lives up to the self-proclaimed title of “the best dock for iPhone.” The company released its latest offering, CordDock – a hybrid product last month, and we’ve been able to test it out for the last few weeks. Here’s how this slick offering stacks up against ElevationDock 4 and the rest of the market.

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I’ve always travelled hand-baggage-only (except when taking my bicycle with me), and when you carry as many gadgets as I do, that can require some efficient packing.

I usually travel with my MacBook Pro, iPad, camera & lens, drone – and sometimes a test gadget or two. Plus, of course, chargers and cables for all of the above.

The higher power output of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar means that I can use it as a charging hub, but if you’re looking for standalone chargers, as well as a way to reduce the bulk of a MacBook charger, OneAdaptr has some very neat solutions …

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Back when I bought my 2016 MacBook Pro, I was kind of tempted to get all the expense out of the way in one hit and upgrade my monitor at the same time. The problem, as I wrote later, was finding someone to take my money.

What I really want now is to replace my existing two-screen setup – 15-inch MacBook Pro on the left, 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display on the right – with a single monitor.

That means I need something substantially wider than 27 inches and 2560 pixels. My colleague Jeff tested one candidate back in 2016, LG’s 34-inch UltraWide. But that didn’t tick all of my boxes, so I held out …

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There are a ton of wireless chargers on the market, with many companies offering more choices as Apple’s iPhone lineup adopted the capability last fall. Aukey has a mix of options, but for this review we’ve tested out two of the company’s $30 offerings, the first has won two design awards and the other offers a unique and sleek aesthetic. Keep reading after the break for our full rundown.

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Historically, I have flitted between many different routers. I used AirPort Extreme for a while, and then a variety of third-party options. A couple of years ago, mesh WiFi became a popular buzzword. I kind of passed it over, thinking it was more of a marketing gimmick, but I recently got the chance to review one such mesh WiFi system.

I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Read on for my hands-on with the Netgear Orbi mesh WiFi system.