If you love audiobooks and saving money, then this Audible Cyber Monday sale is the perfect discount for you.
Audible Premium Plus is Amazon’s top-tier subscription to its audiobook platform, unlocking thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and other exclusive content. You get to listen to the back catalog of included titles and you get one new release or best seller to add to your catalog every month. There are also great deals and discounts to be had on titles. Normally, you’d pay $15 a month for this privilege, but right now you can get four months of the premium service for less than $6 a month. What’s more, if you sign up you’ll get a $20 Audible credit to spend on anything you want. After your four-month discount period, the service will revert to its original price, unless you cancel. This deal is only live until November 27, so you’ve only got until Cyber Monday to sign up.
Streaming and entertainment deals
4 months of Audible Premium Plus for $6/mo
The good thing about the Audible is you can cancel at any time and keep all the audio books that you’ve downloaded, there are thousands of titles to choose from, and most books will come narrated by the author. If you haven’t experienced audiobooks before (where have you been), they’re basically books in podcast form that make trudging through pages more interesting and convenient, given you can listen to them while commuting, at the gym, or anywhere else for that matter, all without a book in hand.
You don’t need to spend your days knee-deep in tech to know that Dbrand has been around for a long time, producing skins for just about everything from the iPhone 15 to the Nintendo Switch and a whole lot more.
You also don’t need to be an accessory aficionado to know that Casetify is a company that has been making pretty cool phone cases for years, and we’ve covered many of them here at iMore. Both companies have made some popular products.
So it was all the more surprising when Dbrand took to its X account to say that Casetify “stole our products” before adding “we’re suing them.” As you can probably imagine, the internet blew up. Eventually, Casetify responded with an X post of its own. But did it do enough?
A delayed reaction
First, the accusation. Dbrand says that Casetify copied its products that are based on X-ray images of devices that effectively make it look like they’re transparent when applied. Imagine an X-ray of an iPhone 15 Pro in skin form, stuck to the back of your phone. Pretty cool, right?
It appears that Casetify agreed with Dbrand accusing it of copying its work. How does Dbrand come to that conclusion? Because Casetify’s own X-ray-themed cases have the same Easter eggs included.
As an example, the Dbrand products were created in collaboration with YouTuber JerryRigEverything (Zack Nelson) and one includes a phrase of his that reads “Glass is glass and glass breaks.” Sure enough, that same phrase appeared on cases produced by Casetify as shown in Dbrand’s breakdown of what’s going on below.
Exhibit A: The phrase “GLASS IS GLASS AND GLASS BREAKS”.This is a catch-phrase coined by Teardown co-creator @ZacksJerryRig. This tagline does not exist on the internal hardware of any smartphone, yet somehow appears on @Casetify’s products. (2/6) pic.twitter.com/UpB2u5zg3MNovember 23, 2023
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Shortly after Dbrand broke its news the Casetify website went offline. Why that happened wasn’t clear, but the case-maker was oddly quiet throughout. Then, almost a day later, Casetify responded by saying that it was investigating a DDoS attack that took its site offline. And as for the accusations, the company’s looking into it.
“CASETiFY has always been a bastion of originality, and we hold pride in that,” the statement says. “We are currently investigating a copyright allegation against us. We have immediately removed the designs in question from all platforms.”
The statement ends by thanking people for their support “during this challenging time,” which seems like an odd turn of phrase when you’re the accused party.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 families of devices, including the Pro models, can call for roadside assistance when you need it, even if you don’t have a traditional cellular connection. It’s a feature that has the very real potential to help save lives, and now we know exactly how it works.
Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite is a similar feature that’s been around since November 2022 and has already very much helped to save lives on many occasions, giving people a way to summon emergency services when in parts of the world where they would otherwise be left with no help at all. However, the roadside assistance component has only been around for a little while and requires iOS 17 or later to be installed in order to work.
Now, a YouTube video has been shared in which Roadside Assistance via SMS has been put through its paces to show just what it can do and, more importantly, what iPhone users should expect the first time that they have to use it.
AAA to the rescue
In a YouTube video put together by Brian Tong we see the exactly what’s required in order to use one of Apple’s best iPhones to contact the AAA when a phone call just isn’t possible. It’s worth noting that the AAA is the partner Apple chose in the United States and that the U.S. is the only country where this feature is available right now. However, Apple is expected to bring the same feature to other countries in due course.
Don’t worry if you aren’t a AAA member, though. Those who are yet to sign up will be given the option to do so when using the Roadside Assistance via Satellite feature, ensuring that they still have the chance to be rescued.
In the video, we see the steps required to get assistance when it’s required and they’re far from complicated. In fact, I’d wager that anyone who has sent an iMessage before will be able to do it.
The steps are simple so long as you can get a solid satellite fix, of course, but Apple does guide users through making that happen which should ensure a solid success rate. Once a connection is established everything is handled via the Messages app with Apple’s compression algorithm allowing the iPhone to send and receive text messages in a relatively speedy fashion considering there’s a direct connection to a satellite in Earth’s orbit.
Emergency SOS via Satellite and Roadside Assistance via Satellite are both free for two years after buying a new iPhone with Apple recently extending the timeframe by an extra year for those who already own an iPhone 14. Why it did that isn’t yet clear, but I do wonder whether Apple is concerned about charging a fee for a feature that could potentially cost someone their life if they miss a payment.
More lifesaving features to come
Whatever the reason for Apple not charging yet, it’s good news for people who could one day rely on their iPhone to help save their lives. Other features like Crash Detection and Fall Detection (on the Apple Watch) have already helped countless people get help when they are unable to summon it for themselves. And the more features that Apple can offer that help keep safe, the better.
As for what’s next, Apple is routinely rumored to be working on blood pressure monitoring technology for an upcoming Apple Watch, something that could well make a huge difference for hypertension sufferers around the globe.
The iPhone SE is the most budget of Apple’s budget iPhone options right now, and it’s starting to look a little long in the tooth. The Home button and Touch ID give the game away in a world of Face ID and edge-to-edge displays. Thankfully, an update is expected to bring those to the next iPhone SE, and this concept shows just how gorgeous that could be.
We’ve been hearing iPhone SE 4 rumors on and off for a long time now, and they call for what will amount to a modified iPhone 14 design mixed with a little bit of the iPhone 15 Pro for good measure. This concept imagines that in 3D form, complete with a trailer that shows off what an Apple-style ad might look like.
If you’re holding off buying a new iPhone because you want to shop in and around the iPhone SE’s $429 price point, this concept is for you.
iPhone 14 looks at an iPhone SE price point
The concept and video were created by designer 4RMD and you can watch the whole thing below. It isn’t a long video — Apple ads aren’t long, after all — but it’s long enough to show off everything that could make the iPhone SE 4 so awesome.
Those things begin with the removal of the Home button and the arrival of Face ID to handle biometric authentication. That also means that we swap the 6.1-inch OLED display as it works its way to all four corners of the device.
Relatively recent rumors have been incorporated here, including the 48-megapixel camera that is expected to make the move from the iPhone 14 Pro. USB-C is also present, as will be the case with all future iPhones. The iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button is also tipped for a move down the lineup and it’s part of this concept as well.
If all of the rumors come true the iPhone SE 4 will be a great addition to the lineup and a true powerhouse at the price point.
Apple announced its first mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, earlier this year. The headset was expected to be released to the public in January 2024, and an in-person sales experience was said to be on the cards. However, it appears that Apple may not make the original January launch timeline after all.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman revealed that Apple is unlikely to release the Vision Pro at the earlier expected launch window. Gurman says that he is expecting the Vision Pro to be released in March 2024, now.
Apple is polishing up the Vision Pro experience for launch
Gurman says Apple is looking to delay the Vision Pro launch to “sometime around March.” The headset was unveiled earlier this year at the WWDC 2023, where Apple announced that it will be available for purchase in January 2024.
The device is currently in the last stages of testing, with Apple working on the distribution plans for the retail release of the Apple Vision Pro. The launch isn’t going to be very typical for the company, either. It’s a $3,500 headset, and a new product category for Apple, and the company is preparing accordingly.
Gurman had previously revealed that “The company will designate special areas in the stores with seating, headset demo units and tools to size accessories for buyers. While the device will be sold at all of Apple’s roughly 270 US locations, the company is planning the sections for the Vision Pro initially at stores in major areas — such as New York and Los Angeles — before rolling them out nationwide, according to people with knowledge of the plans.”
As such, it makes sense that the launch will take a little longer than previously thought. The software also needs to be very solid, which is a challenge for any new product category, so we hope the delay means a polished experience at launch.
As the Christmas holidays get closer, I’ve begun to look at a bunch of Black Friday deals to see what could appeal to friends and family. From air fryers to game controllers, there’s already plenty of big discounts. When it comes to my mother-in-law, though her Christmas present is the biggest priority above everyone else’s this year.
You see, she has had a terrible Android phone for several years now, but she also has a 9th-gen iPad — not the best of both worlds. I’ve been waiting for November to come around, just so I could see how low the prices on certain iPhone models will go. After seeing the 128GB iPhone 12 for $340, down from $448 on Amazon, it’s the perfect iPhone for her. It’s not an easy affair to just buy her a new phone. It’s something I’ve been laying the groundwork for, for years, so she can use it with ease without worrying about a new operating system.
For her, it’s a smaller iPad
First, a little history. For as long as I’ve known her, this Android phone has been the constant when we would come round to visit. I’d also be the technical support for her, solving issues like freeing up storage or removing a misplaced widget from her phone’s home screen.
By now though, it’s reaching the point where the phone is showing its age, no matter what I do to optimize it. Apps refuse to run, the battery lasts just a few hours, and there are plenty more issues. Lately, I have tried to steer her into using the iPad when she doesn’t want to use WhatsApp or to call people. But I’ve got another reason for doing this: I want her to get used to Apple’s ecosystem.
Granted, the tablet has a 9.7-inch display, but iPadOS looks very similar to iOS just on a bigger screen. Having this iPhone 12 will be like using a smaller iPad for her, using existing apps from the tablet, but one that can also make phone calls and use WhatsApp.
The other aspect is that, much like other family members and friends, she doesn’t care about the new features such as a 120Hz ProMotion always-on-display. As long as it works and takes good photos, she’s happy.
Is an iPhone 12 still worth it in 2023?
The other point is — why an iPhone 12? Granted, it was released in 2020, but it’s currently on a great discount, thanks to Amazon’s Black Friday deals. There’s also the matter of the third-gen iPhone SE, released back in March 2022. When you compare some of its features, the iPhone 12 easily beats the entry-level device.
For instance, the 12MP TrueDepth front camera with 4K video recording on the iPhone 12, easily trounces the 7MP front camera with 1080p recording that’s on the iPhone SE. There’s also the brighter 6.1-inch OLED display with FaceID on the iPhone 12, while the iPhone SE features a 4.7-inch LCD display. When you consider the iPhone 12 also has MagSafe and dual cameras with the ability to take photos at night, the choice seems like a no-brainer.
I’d be doing my mother-in-law a disservice if I bought her an iPhone SE — I know she’ll want to take many photos of her new grandson — so the better camera in iPhone 12 is essential for her.
When all of these features are added up, the 128GB iPhone 12 for $339 is a fantastic deal for what it offers. Especially when her iPad will be able to sync up with the iPhone, so apps, messages, passwords, and more will live on both devices, not just one.
I’d be surprised if this deal goes any lower. So, if you’re in a similar situation to me, do what I’m about to do and buy that iPhone 12 to get your loved one out of Android prison.
The AirPods line is filled with some excellent headphones — there is a pair for anyone and everyone, with each use case considered. There are, however, some key things that might put people off, like the price, and the style. If you don’t want white earbuds, for example, then you could be stuck when you’re looking at AirPods.
Not only that, but even the Best AirPods Black Friday deals come in at a higher price than their competitors, leaving you with a large bill if you want to pick up some new headphones for your brand-new iPhone 15 Pro. Thankfully you needn’t worry too much about spending loads on a pair of new headphones: There are some great options out there that perform like AirPods, but don’t cost as much. Here are some of my favorite alternatives to Apple’s most popular headphones, all in for some of the best Apple Black Friday deals.
AirPods Pro 2
The AirPods Pro 2 are an epic pair of noise-cancelling in-ear headphones, but they have their weaknesses. To some, they sound a little too neutral, with no focus on dynamism or fun — if this is your main complaint, then boy, do I have the option for you. Want something a little cheaper?
We’ve got you covered with some excellent noise-canceling earbuds. Don’t get too confused with the USB-C and Lightning models — we’re finding the latter becoming harder to find, and all these alternatives use the USB-C standard.
AirPods 2
The AirPods 2 are the budget offering in the AirPods line, yet they usually cost just over $100. If you don’t mind about the lack of Spatial Audio or Noise Canceling with AirPods 2, then there are some excellent alternatives out there that cost less, sound better, or offer more features for a similar price.
AirPods 3
The AirPods 3 are the weird middle child of the line, without ANC but with Spatial Audio. If you want Spatial Audio at this price then you’ll struggle for an alternative, but:
1. You’re better off without it 2. You can save money with headphones that sound better
Here are a couple of options that you should consider.
AirPods Max
The AirPods Max are the big tasty ones, that come in a lovely metallic sheen. They’re also mighty expensive, coming in at a hefty price no matter how you look at it. Thankfully, you don’t need to spend loads for something like the AirPods Max — or you can spend more and get something even better.
Apple has announced that it will be adding support for RCS messaging on iPhone from early next year.
As reported by our friends at TechRadar, RCS is a communications system developed by the GSM Association and used across most of the Android ecosystem. Apple’s refusal to support the standard has been a source of much discontent because its adoption on iPhone would bring much better interoperability between iPhone and Android when it comes to sending messages.
It’s possible support will end the classic Green and Blue bubble divide that has plagued the two camps.
“Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users,” Apple said in a statement.
No more blue and green?
According to the report Apple has acknowledged “that RCS is an improvement over MMS and SMS but made it clear that RCS is not replacing iMessage and its host of features like memojies, stickers, and the ability to edit and unsend messages.”
RCS will come to the iPhone in a software update and then it’s up to carriers to add it. The only timeframe given is “early next year.”
While this has been touted as an end to the aforementioned green bubble issue, there’s nothing to indicate that Apple won’t keep its shiny blue bubbles for iMessage while leaving RCS messages green, just like it does with SMS or MMS. Further details reveal Apple will not support any extensions that try to add encryption on top of RCS, which will be interesting given RCS messages are not end-to-end encrypted, unlike iMessage. As 9to5Mac notes, it will bring some cool features like read receipts, better quality images, and typing indicators.
It follows a bizarre story this week in which Nothing revealed it had created a way to send iMessage from Android with a very sketchy workaround that involves giving the company your Apple ID username and password.
Whether this step paves the way for iMessage on Android devices and beyond is another story entirely, and nothing about Apple adopting RCS will require the company to make its iMessage service any more open or interoperable. This is at least some good news for users communicating between the two platforms.
Given this will be a software update, we can assume this is a feature coming to all of Apple’s iPhone range supported by iOS 17, including its best iPhone the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro.
The extremely fast and pretty M3 iMac just launched last week and with it comes a new chip, capable of handling productivity apps and games easily. If your machine is starting to get a little old or you haven’t yet made the upgrade the Apple’s own Silicon chips, now is the perfect time with a $100 discount over at B&H Photo.
Given they just launched last week, we can’t imagine Black Friday offering any better deals on them at $1,199 from November 24, and they are only at this reduced price until November 19th so you better get on this deal fast. Unfortunately, this price is only on the Silver version of the home computer so you may be holding out a while to get that pretty pink one.
Not only is the M3 iMac excellent when it comes to productivity apps and media watching, due to its nice screen and unified RAM but the M3 chip is also great for gaming. Hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading help make running games smoother and better.
If you aren’t into gaming, the M3 iMac is up to 2x faster than the M1 version, with Safari and Excel performing 30% faster, and games loading with up to 50% better frame rate. As well as this, you can play back up to 12 streams of 4K video when editing, and Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier Pro perform up to 2x faster. All of this combines to make one of the very best computers out there right now.
Nothing, a company founded by Carl Pei, the man who co-founded OnePlus before it, today announced that it “made iMessage for Android,” releasing a video with a faux interview with a journalist to back it up. Except, it didn’t. But don’t worry, we’ll get to why that is soon enough.
First, let’s look into the announcement itself because it sounds pretty great if you’re an iPhone owner looking to ditch Apple and go all-in on Android. Or more specifically, Nothing because that’s where the app is. It isn’t available to everyone who owns an Android phone — you’ll need a Nothing Phone (2). But again, we’ll get to that.
First, let’s look at how the Nothing implementation brings iMessage to the Nothing Phone (2) or, more specifically, most of iMessage. Because some of its best features aren’t supported yet, if ever. But we’ll get to that.
First, let’s dive into how all of this happens in a secure way which means your data is always safe no matter what. In fact, we can’t do that either.
Oh boy.
The announcement
OK, snark aside — but only for a minute — let’s really take a look at what’s going on here. Because on the face of it, it’s impressive. Carl Pei and team announced Nothing Chats, a new messaging platform/app that will let you sign in with your Apple ID and then effectively send and receive iMessages as if you were using an iPhone.
Things like group chats work, to some extent, and you can send and receive full-quality media. You’ll even get the typing indicator that some love so much, too. Although Mr Pei doesn’t — he explains that in the strange announcement video below. But group chats with Android users don’t work, and reactions don’t, either. Maybe in the future, though.
Nothing calls its Nothing Chats app “a game-changing solution,” adding that “if messaging services are dividing phone users, then we want to break those barriers down.” Burn, Apple.
That’s obviously aimed at the way some people seem to obsess over so-called blue and green bubbles. Blue bubbles are those who have iPhones and use iMessage. Green bubbles are those who have Android phones and have to resort to SMS like cave people. Apple could fix that by implementing RCS, but that’s another discussion for another time.
With Apple understandably not keen to open iMessage up to Android users — although the EU might not give it a choice on the matter — it’s left to Nothing to fix things. So long as you buy its latest phone, that is.
But, how?
So, if Apple doesn’t want iMessage on Android, how has Nothing managed it? Well, it hasn’t. Because it’s farmed that out to a company called Sunbird which already has a waitlist for its service that you can conveniently bypass by buying, you guessed it, a Nothing Phone (2).
“Nothing Chats is an app developed in partnership with Sunbird, which allows you to message other users via blue bubble,” Nothing’s website reads. “We are currently in a Beta phase, which means more features and improvements are coming down the line. Stay in the loop by signing up for updates.” The whole thing goes live on Friday in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the EU.
So how does Sunbird work?
Well, its FAQ section says that “the Sunbird app is fully encrypted while SMS text messages are not.” It goes on to add that “your messages from the Sunbird app will appear as blue bubbles to iPhone and Mac users.” Cool.
Sunbird’s Privacy and Security Standards page has a bit more information, at least. We’re told that it doesn’t collect any message data, nor does it siphon out your content, contacts, or “etc”. “We only collect Sunbird App account information from you to authenticate your account. This means that the company does not store any user data on its servers, nor does it collect any metadata about messages,” it adds.
But I couldn’t find any indication of how it connects to Apple’s iMessage service, nor how it does that using your Apple ID credentials. Worryingly, Marques Brownlee says that the whole thing is”… literally signing in on some Mac Mini in a server farm somewhere, and that Mac mini will then do all of the routing for you to make this happen.” That sounds … bad?
Nothing’s head of PR has told The Verge that those Mac minis are housed in the US and Europe and that they store iCloud credentials as a token “in an encrypted database.” Account information is deleted after two weeks of inactivity, too.
But call me old-fashioned — I’ve been called worse — I just don’t like the idea of any of this. I guess a lot of the issue here is how much you trust Nothing and/or Sunbird. I’ve nothing against either, particularly. But I’ve barely heard of the latter and frankly, I don’t know that I trust any of these companies to do the right thing or be as clued up on data center security as they should be. What happens if someone gains access to one of those Mac mini servers? How readily can they gain access to my iCloud account as a whole?
Maybe these are all questions we’ll get answers to in the future. Maybe we won’t. But for now, I wouldn’t go anywhere near this with a ten-foot pole.
It might not matter anyway
One of the more interesting things about this announcement is that Pei seems to be aware that Apple might not let this fly. Whether or not this whole thing breaks Apple’s terms of service or not, I don’t know. But I find it odd that the announcement came today (Tuesday) but Nothing Chats won’t go live until Friday.
Is Nothing waiting for Apple to throw a legal spanner in the works so it can point a finger and shout “bad guy Apple”? Nothing wouldn’t be the first to do it after all.
As a European, it always strikes me as strange that we’re even having this conversation. The App Store is filled to the gills with apps that offer cross-platform messaging features. If the bubble problem really is a problem, just use WhatsApp.
It’s free, and you don’t have to buy a Nothing Phone (2) to use it.
The NEXA laptop sleeve by Journey is a 4-in-1 protective case for your MacBook with incredible versatility. It takes a lot to make a laptop sleeve stand out, but NEXA has done a fine job with its included wireless charging pads for phones and AirPods. Not only does it protect your laptop and wirelessly charge devices, but it also doubles as a nifty desk mat or even a mouse mat for true 4-in-1 utility.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
The NEXA 4-in-1 laptop sleeve is only available from Journey’s official website. In the U.S. it costs $109.99 for either the 13 & 14-inch or the 15 & 16-inch versions. It comes in two colors, Black or Dove Grey, pictured here. It’s also available in the UK for £79.99, Canada for $119.95 CAD, and Europe for €113,95.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Design and Build
(Image credit: Future)
The NEXA 4-in-1 boasts a tremendous design and a lovely finish and feel. Apple users will be impressed by the unboxing experience, which takes inspiration from Apple’s own boxes and features flush accessories packed into a neat housing, and of course, stickers.
For the most part, it’s a fairly regular laptop sleeve. The “top” side is made of vegan leather that naturally feels more synthetic than regular leather might. However, it also feels much tougher and durable, and more practical in mouse mat mode, which I’ll get onto later. This leather is very neatly stitched to the opposite panel, which is a much more textured grey finish. Both exude quality and it’s a slick-looking piece of kit. It’s only when you get to the mouth of the sleeve that you realize this is no ordinary laptop pouch. The aforementioned rear panel is extended and features a flexible flap that folds over to seal up the pouch, keeping your MacBook secure. And it’s here too where the magic happens. Within the extension are subtle but defined raised areas for wireless charging a phone and a pair of wireless earbuds.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Features
(Image credit: Future)
As a MacBook sleeve, the NEXA feels very protective, and I would have no problem lugging my MacBook around in this all day, throwing it into a bag, commuting, or anything else. Its smooth surfaces also wipe clean with ease, so it can brush off any grime from the slightly sticky table at the local cafe. You know the one I’m on about.
The NEXA features a USB-C 12V/2.5a port that can be connected to a plug socket (not included), or directly into a MacBook, as I’ve found most useful. Once plugged in, those two charging pads supply wireless charge to two devices simultaneously. The round one is a Magsafe compatible wireless charger for phones that delivers 15W of power, while the rectangular one can house any wireless charging earbuds including Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Pro, charging them at up to 5W.
Both use magnets to keep your devices securely in place, and there’s no hint of them being disturbed if you move the NEXA itself or anything in the surrounding area. The charging response is instant, and thanks to the aforementioned magnets you know your device is always aligned correctly and receiving juice.
Not content as merely a sturdy laptop sleeve with wireless charging, the NEXA triples, nay quadruples as a mousemat, and a nifty desk pad. If you sit the NEXA adjacent to your MacBook you’re left with a sizeable surface to situate a mouse on. Naturally, it’s about the same size as your MacBook itself. As such, this mode doesn’t lend itself well to small spaces, but in the right environment, it’s perfect. The leather surface is definitely noticeably draggier as a mouse surface than my own highly-tuned gaming pad, but for a portable mousemat solution, it’s a sure-fire upgrade to nothing at all and very snazzy.
(Image credit: Future)
If you do find yourself limited on space, you can stow the mouse, pop your MacBook atop the leather, and use the NEXA as a mobile desk pad for any workspace. Just because it’s more compact and the NEXA is a great travel companion, this is my preferred mode of use. What’s more, even if your devices don’t need to be charged, they sit flush on the magnetic pads neatly arranged and secure. Take it to any local artisan roastery and you’ll be the envy of every digital nomad in the room.
I’ve most enjoyed using the NEXA plugged into my MacBook, as this keeps everything nice and neat with the cables. You can, of course, plug your NEXA into the wall or a charging bank of sorts for juice too. The former will of course drain your battery, more so than simply plugging in an iPhone to charge. But it’s more convenient, turning one USB-C port into two and giving you that extra flair of a mousemat or a deskpad. If I had one complaint, it’s that the NEXA functions best in this configuration, but the included cable is much too long for this, and there’s a lot of excess. But this is such a minute detail it’s not enough to dent the five-star rating.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Competition
(Image credit: Future)
In so far as I can tell, the NEXA is completely unique as a MacBook sleeve that offers this much functionality. If you want a MacBook sleeve without any of the bells and whistles, then I’d recommend the Moshi Muse 3-in-1 from our best MacBook Pro cases roundup. The HYZUO Laptop Sleeve case is also very stylish. Apple also stocks the von Holzhausen MacBook Portfolio case, which is a bit more expensive and is made from 100% vegan leather, as well as microfibre made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles. None of these, however, entice me more than the NEXA.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Should you buy it?
You should buy it if…
You want the coolest laptop sleeve money can buy
You want a protective laptop sleeve made of premium materials
You want a versatile sleeve that can charge your devices
You shouldn’t buy it if…
You want a barebones MacBook sleeve
You don’t need to charge devices wirelessly
You don’t need a sleeve for traveling or working on-the-go
(Image credit: Future)
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve: Verdict
(Image credit: Future)
The NEXA 4-in-1 laptop sleeve is an absolute triumph. I love the ingenuity of its design and the features Journey have packed in. The materials themselves are lovely and this is a well-built, rugged, and durable MacBook sleeve that still feels premium and quality. The charging is surprisingly useful and not gimmicky at all, with magnets and solid power delivery this is a genuinely excellent on-the-go charging solution for any MacBook user. It’s also a premium portable desk pad and a fine mouse mat to boot.
NEXA 4-in-1 Laptop Sleeve with Wireless Charging
Bottom line: This is my favorite Mac accessory of all time and one I don’t ever want to go without.
Apple introduced its first mixed-reality headset earlier this year. The Vision Pro marks Apple’s entry into a new product category for the first time in a while, but Apple isn’t planning on slowing down now. With the Vision Pro yet to actually go on sale, Apple is already making progress on the sequel, according to a new report.
A new report by Macrumors sheds light on the development of this next-gen Vision Pro, which is apparently codenamed Project Alaska. The report had some details on what we can expect from the headset, even though it’s pretty early in the development process, as well as a potential launch window.
Vision Pro sequel likely to arrive in late 2025 or early 2026
Macrumors notes that Apple is working on the new headset under the codename Project Alaska and device identifier N109. Apparently, it looks rather similar to the first-gen Vision Pro.
There may be changes to the speakers, with some designs showing missing speakers housing while others show speaker-type holes near the top vents area. References to an audio accessory have also been found in documentation, which could mean we see an external speaker accessory for the next headset.
Straps are another difference in the new design, according to the report.
“The second-generation headset features straps that are simpler in design and appearance, being somewhat reminiscent of the flat straps commonly found on laptop bags or backpacks. Prior rumors have suggested that the next Apple headset could be cheaper than the Vision Pro, and the design of the rear straps on the second-generation headset lends some credence to this theory.”
The report also listed key hardware components of the second-gen Vision Pro. The sensors include a compass, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, and gyroscope. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, and ultra-low latency audio. The rest of the hardware includes two micro-OLED displays, a TrueDepth camera, four computer vision cameras, two RGB cameras, two infrared illuminators for low light, and semi-automatic interpupillary distance adjustment.
The headset is expected to enter the product validation testing (PVT) stage in 2025. That means we could see Apple launch the second-gen Vision Pro by late 2025 or early 2026. It’s expected to be cheaper than the first-gen model, but we’ll have to wait a while longer to know exactly how much it will cost.
The iPad Pro arrived on November 11, 2015, and while it’s always been considered by Apple as the pinnacle of its tablet lineup, there’s a good chance you don’t know many people who actually own one.
Eight years on, Apple’s push to develop an iPad that could feasibly outperform your laptop is no longer a dream, but it comes with strings attached. That’s not to say progress hasn’t been made, though – the current M2 iPad Pro is expensive (and that’s before you add the Magic Keyboard), but it’s undoubtedly the best tablet out there.
With this in mind, here’s a look back at bezels, LiDAR scanners, a floating keyboard, and that mini-LED display.
Humble beginnings
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
The first iPad Pro made its debut in September 2015, but outside of it being a larger, 12.9-inch tablet, you’d have a hard time telling it from the base iPad lineup.
The first iPad to come with LPDDR4 RAM, came packing the A9X chip but on the outside, it still had chunky bezels and a home button with Touch ID. One of the iPad Pro’s earliest successes, though, was its quartet of speakers, with one on each corner, which made it a great way to watch movies. It also offered Apple’s Smart Connector for using the Smart Keyboard peripheral.
This also heralded the arrival of the very first Apple Pencil, which worked exclusively with this model, until the third-gen iPad Air was released in 2019.
Still, even with a 4G cellular option, many wondered why it was so much more expensive than the regular model. The 9.7-inch model launched just seven months later in March 2016, with that screen size being phased out in 2017 when the iPad Pro lineup moved to 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch displays with the second generation model.
Growing pains
(Image credit: Apple)
The second generation iPad Pro still had the bezels and Home Button, but under the hood, the A10X chip was starting to close the gap on traditional laptops. It even added ProMotion, Apple’s moniker for a variable refresh rate, allowing for smoother gameplay and scrolling, allowing a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
Perhaps given the price, though, you’d expect it to – the iPad Pro was starting at $799, even without the keyboard, and in a pre-iPadOS world, was shipping with iOS 12.
Still, the camera was improved, and there was now a 512GB option – if you could afford it. A year and a half later, though, it was time for a change.
Hello, handsome
(Image credit: Apple)
The third-generation of iPad Pro marked a major hardware revision for not just the tablet, but also the rest of Apple’s products. Its industrial look, with flat sides and rounded display corners, would go on to appear on the iPhone, revamp the iPad mini, and is still the same design seen on the iPad Pro today.
Unveiled in October 2018, and debuting a month later, the iPad Pro’s third generation shifted to 11 and 12.9-inch models, but with a rounded display. This allowed for thinner bezels, finally removing the Home Button and shifting to Face ID for the first time – with portrait and landscape unlocking, something that it beat the iPhone to.
Adding a 1TB storage option, it was powerful but, as it still does today, came at a hefty price – a 1TB, 4G enabled iPad Pro would run you $1999 with the 12.9-inch display, and it still does.
Perhaps the biggest upgrade was the move from Lightning to USB-C, which allowed for a wider array of peripherals to be connected, including storage drives and docking stations.
Further refinement
(Image credit: Apple)
After the 2018 glow-up, the fourth-generation iPad Pro didn’t get people talking – but its new keyboard attachment did.
The basic design remained almost the same, save for the new LIDAR sensor which would improve AR capabilities by measuring depth – something the average consumer would likely find little use for.
(Image credit: Future/Lloyd Coombes)
Instead, the reveal of a Magic Keyboard, complete with trackpad, drew the attention of many – until they saw the price of $349 for the 12.9-inch version. Its weighted design allows for the iPad to ‘float’ above the keys, and also offers a charging port – freeing up the USB-C port on the device for other uses.
It felt like Apple committing to the iPad at least, and followed on from the debut of iPadOS in 2019 which made multitasking adjustments, added the option to request desktop versions of websites, and allowed for mouse and trackpad support.
Other than that, the fourth-generation iPad Pro saw a performance bump with an A12Z Bionic chip, but the big boost was yet to come.
Apple silicon makes a surprising appearance
(Image credit: Future/Lloyd Coombes)
After Apple’s M1 processors had rolled out to a few Mac models, many were surprised to see this chip make its tablet debut in the fifth-generation iPad Pro.
This meant that the iPad Pro could feasibly match Apple’s own laptops in benchmarks, and while it often felt like a caged beast with iPadOS a less mature platform than macOS, it arrived with increased RAM (up to 16GB for larger storage models) and did allow for some impressive new capabilities.
Chief among these was external display output (albeit mirrored), as well as a new 5G modem – up from the last generation’s 4G.
This also marked the first time that the iPad Pro’s different sizes would offer different specs, as the iPad Pro 12.9-inch added a ‘Liquid Retina XDR’ display that’s powered by mini LEDs.
A Small Step
(Image credit: Future/Lloyd Coombes)
Finally, that brings us to the M2 iPad Pro, which marks the sixth generation – but there’s not a lot to get excited about.
The M2 chip inside is certainly welcome, and as this is the tablet I own, I can certainly testify to just how hard it is to slow down, and the display, particularly on the 12.9-inch, remains spectacular.
Other improvements are limited to ProRes video recording, with Apple claiming the iPad Pro M2 is a portable movie studio in its reveal video and the new ‘Hover’ feature for second-gen Apple Pencil that lets users preview actions by holding the pencil close to the display.
With rumors suggesting an M3 iPad Pro could be seeing a design overhaul, it feels like a great opportunity to revamp its hardware after 5 years of the same – but make no mistake, the iPad Pro has made big steps in 8 years, and it’s still my favorite device in Apple’s portfolio.
Its display and speakers make it great for watching movies, the keyboard is great for powering through work, and it’s a damn fine machine for gaming, too.
Which iPad Pro is your favorite? What do you want from an M3 version? Let me know in the iMore Forums.
Apple recently announced the updated 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with a whole new line of chips. Starting with the M3, the new laptops can also be configured to ship with the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips inside. The latter, as you’d expect, is the most capable of the three and according to one review, it’s quite the gaming powerhouse.
As well it should be. The M3 Max comes with a 30-core GPU attached to a 14-core CPU in its base configuration, but it’s likely the model given to this particular reviewer was the upgraded one. That means it has a 16-core CPU and a GPU with a whopping 40 cores. That’s a lot.
But while we’re told that 4K gaming on this thing is “amazing,” the same old Mac gaming problems remain. And no number of GPU or CPU cores is going to fix that, meaning gamers are probably still going to overlook the M3 Max MacBook Pro no matter how capable it might be.
All the performance
The review in question was by YouTuber Marques Brownlee for his hugely popular MKBHD channel. It isn’t a hugely long one, running for less than 10 minutes. But it gives us all the highlights that you’d expect from such a thing — the Space Black color isn’t as black as it could be, and the machine is incredibly fast. No surprises there.
Brownlee also took us on a whistle-stop tour of the MacBook Pro’s gaming capabilities, noting that he’d been playing Lies of P on what is clearly Apple’s best Mac to see how it ran. The result? “Amazing.” Brownlee was playing in 4K with plenty of graphics quality settings ramped up and the game does indeed look great.
But for once, the Mac’s performance isn’t the problem here. There was once a time when buying an Apple laptop almost guaranteed that you wouldn’t be playing a game on it. Integrated Intel GPUs were bad, and adding a discrete one meant paying a lot more and then dealing with the terrible battery life it brought with it. Today, things are different.
Sure, the M3 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro isn’t cheap, although the 14-inch model can be had for less. Starting at $3,499 the big aircraft carrier of a laptop is a costly option, no doubt. But you get performance for days and a machine that looks like it costs $3,499. But is it a gaming laptop?
Where are the LEDs?
(Image credit: Razer)
No, it isn’t.
Over in the gaming world, you’ll find laptops that cost even more than the M3 Max MacBook Pro, but they have some key things going for them — real gaming GPUs, and a gaming library that’s second to none.
An example? The Razer Blade 16 costs $3,599 at its starting price point. It has the same size SSD and essentially the same amount of RAM as Apple’s base M3 Max model, but has the Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU. Both of those things will make the Razer a very capable gaming laptop. And it has LEDs — everyone knows gamers love those.
And then, there’s the library.
Sure, Apple’s trying its best to get games into the App Store and sure, Steam’s on the Mac now. But not all games are available to play on Apple’s computers and if they are, there’s no guarantee they’re optimized for them. Contrast that with the PC where you just know the hit new game will make an appearance and the choice is easy.
Would I buy the Razer? I wouldn’t, I’d get the MacBook Pro all day long. As would creatives working in video and photo apps that make use of every little core the M3 Max has to offer. But gamers? For people willing to spend around $3,500 on a laptop to play games with, it makes sense to go where the games are. And that’s Windows.
And no number of GPU cores in the M3 Max or beyond will change that.
