Reviews

I recently bought myself an Apple Watch. Now it’s time to find the perfect band for my wrist and I’m a sucker for a good leather cuff. For those of us who have expensive taste (I’m looking at your Hermes) but want to stay in a reasonable budget, this is the list for you. Just make sure to keep these out of water; your Apple Watch may be waterproof, but leather bands are not!

Before the Apple Watch was released, I rarely considered watch bands to carry much interest. Perhaps at the time of purchase, the watch band style made the difference between one watch or another. But when the Apple Watch was released, I was perfectly content with bland black band that strapped the watch to my wrist. But as the variety of band styles blossomed and the ease of swapping bands on the watch became frictionless, my curiosity piqued. So I made a concerted effort to seek out the bands I found best aligned with my fashion sense and personality. Fortunately that search ended rather quickly and successfully once the website Supwatch.com came to my attention.

Apple introduced MagSafe accessories for its new iPhone 12 lineup today at its October 13 iPhone event. MagSafe will make charging your iPhone 12 easier and faster than previous wireless generations; the frustration of placing your iPhone "just so" for wireless charging will also soon be a thing of the past. The line of MagSafe accessories includes cases, chargers, and wallets that connect to your iPhone with magnets. Read on to learn about MagSafe improvements to the iPhone 12, how MagSafe accessories work, what kind of gear you'll be able to purchase, and what MagSafe means for the iPhone accessory market. If you enjoy learning about wireless charging, fast charging, and charging myths, we can also give you the 411 on how to safely charge your device, MagSafe or otherwise.

As winter descends upon the northern hemisphere, we Apple device users have plenty of apps and accessory options to keep us active during the brisk days and cold nights. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful and innovative winter-centric apps for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, as well as high-tech gear to keep you warm and connected during frosty outdoor excursions.

An Apple Pencil is a great tool that can help you make the most of your iPad. It can be used for drawing and designing, or simply to taking quick notes by hand. There are many iPad Apple Pencil apps that help you explore your creativity and boost productivity. Check out these third-party Apple Pencil-compatible apps that will allow you to step up your iPad game.

An adventurous or active lifestyle means you're more likely to invest in an iPhone that takes great pictures and videos to capture your favorite memories, such as the iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max. Unfortunately, adventure and shenanigans go hand in hand with an increased likelihood of dropping or damaging your phone. I can't count the number of times my iPhone has fallen off of a rock climbing wall, slipped out of my backpack on a hike, or tumbled from a saddle bag while riding. Needless to say, I'm a bit of a protective iPhone case connoisseur, and I have high expectations of any case I use. With that in mind, I've put together a list to help you narrow down your search for the best drop-tested, shock proof, or otherwise strong and durable iPhone case.

If you're willing to make the investment to add a HomePod or HomePod mini to several rooms in your house (if not all of them), you'll be able to take advantage of the new Intercom feature. Intercom is incredibly handy, allowing users to send and receive communications via a network of Bluetooth connected devices. This means that, for instance, instead of yelling to your kids that dinner is ready, now Siri can do it for you. That's right, you can now use Intercom to make Siri do some of your parent-to-child yelling. Just keep in mind that they, too, can join in the fun!

Due to its early establishment in the consumer autonomous lighting space, the Philips Hue brand has been one of the most successful and prolific in the home automation market. The Philips Hue Play product line intends to elevate their capabilities beyond simply turning lights on and off by augmenting the home entertainment experience. Are these expensive enhancements worth the aesthetic response they elicit when activated? Read on to find out.

With the advent of streaming gaming services along with the migration of Apple Silicon-powered laptops to run iOS applications, the ability to play high-end, graphically intense games on iOS devices has arrived. PlayStation 4 owners have had the ability to stream their PS4 games to their iPads or iPhones ever since Sony released its free PS4 Remote app. Unfortunately, even though Microsoft has provided Android users the ability to do the same for Xbox owners, iOS users are still waiting for official support. Given the ongoing public battles between Apple and Microsoft on being allowed to stream games via Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service, Xbox owners wanting to stream games to their iOS devices need a third-party alternative.