Apple updated many of its products during Monday’s Spring Forward event. If you’re strong enough to resist these new models, you can stand to save a lot of money. Apple has issued deeper discounts to a range of products in its refurbished online store. All of these items include a full one year warranty and are…
Admittedly, I am a bit of a bag connoisseur. Hauling around all my gear requires a well thought-out solution that not only keeps my stuff organized but also looks good doing it. There are plenty of bag options out there, but less that offer charging solutions and even fewer that do it well. Today we’ve spotted a new company that is aiming to solve on-the-go charging challenges and device storage. Through Indiegogo, AMPL has raised over $213,000 towards “the worlds smartest backpack”.
The SmartBag has a number of unique and interesting design cues, most notably providing a USB port in every pocket. However, the real question is how many times can it recharge your gadgets?
Big Value Inc. via eBay Daily Deals offers the Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ Laptop (MD760LL/A) for only $829.99 shipped. That’s $269 off the original list price, $79 less than Amazon and the lowest we can find for a new one. This mid-2013 Macbook features a 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 Haswell processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage.…
Back in January, San Francisco-based bag and accessory maker WaterField Designs announced its Bolt Briefcase. Since then we’ve had the opportunity to put the Bolt through its paces. Designed to be a professional alternative to the leather briefcases of old, this bag is for travelers and techies in need of a solution for multiple occasions.
Head below for our hands-on impressions and to learn how you could win this Bolt Briefcase.
In late 2012 Apple released a super slim unibody iMac. Its tapered 5mm design is simply an engineering feat and is most definitely worth gawking at. The front is free from ports, which creates an ultra clean look, but comes at the expense of functionality. It’s a first world problem, I know, but it can be a real nuisance having to crane your neck to plug in a USB cable. Luckily a couple accessory makers have tackled this issue by moving the iMac’s USB ports to its front panel.
Today we’ve put together a really impressive bundle of 8 Mac apps including the latest versions of Screenflow and Things (which are $100 and $40 at the Mac App Store by themselves!). Using the coupon code ULTRAMAC5 at checkout, 9to5 readers can get an extra $5 discount over at Specials.electronicsforward.com to buy the whole bundle for $39.99 – that’s 91% off…
Throughout Small States you’ll hear stories of people that are making a conscious effort to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Companies that strive to create products in a way that has escaped our country and fled overseas. We are finding that these manufacturers have a great pride in what they do — this week we’re taking a look at Woodchuck USA, a company who’s pride is evident across all aspects of its business.
“Nature back to people. Jobs back to America. Quality back to products.”
With its locally grown hardwood accessories, Woodchuck has managed to create beautiful additions for your Apple devices. All the while doing it with a focus on integrity and creating jobs here in the United States.
Developed by former Apple engineers, the Duet Display app allows you to use your iPad or iPhone as an extra display for your Mac. The setup requires both an iOS app, which typically runs for $15.99 (after a $9.99 introductory price for a short time) and a Mac companion app that is free, but today the iOS side of things has dropped to its lowest price ever: $7.99.
Head below for a closer look in the intro video and more details:
Your personal music collection is one of the most, well personal, things that many of us have in our lives. Everyone has different tastes and likes to listen in their own way. What many consumers do not realize is that they are typically not hearing the music as it was intended. We’ve covered the importance of digital-to-analog converters (DAC) before, but today we are seeing a new option that packs everything a DAC offers into a smaller, portable package.
Life as a student can be a struggle, from trying to keep up with your classes to working at a part-time job. Don’t forget about your girlfriend or those student loans weighing over your head as well. The good news: we’re here to help put a couple bucks back in your pocket so you don’t have to settle for cheap beer this weekend…
Electronicsforward has scoured the internet looking for some of the best discounts available to students and rounded them up. Below we’ve got details on potential savings at Apple, Amazon, Eddie Bauer, J. Crew and more. You probably had no idea that you’ve been missing out on those discounted burritos.
IK Multimedia, one of the leading iOS (and more recently Android) audio production device makers, has announced a series of new products at NAMM 2015. On top of a new power adapter that keeps your iDevice charging while your recording or performing on-the-go and a new Android interface/audio effects processing unit, the company has revealed its new digital mobile/desktop condenser mic…
Update (1/23 11:46am): the discount code available in this post has now expired. If you are an iMac user you like nice things. Reaching around to the back of your iMac every time you want to plug in a USB object is not nice. Sure there are options out there. You could drop $15 on…
Owner Gary Waterfield describes the new Bolt as so:
When designing the Bolt, we started with a list of what we travel with and how much protection and accessibility we need for each item. For example, my wallet and smartphone—high accessibility items—are safely stowed, but easily accessed from front magnet-closing pockets, while my laptop sits securely inside its padded main-compartment laptop sleeve.
This new bag features two “easy-access” compartments for the gear that needs to be pulled out regularly, a waterproof compartment, a padded sleeve area for laptops and a slot to slide over suitcase handles. It is available in two sizes, 13 and 17-inch and is available in a variety of colors. Starting at $249 for the small model, and $30 more for the larger rendition, the Bolt Briefcase is set to ship on January 20th.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCVplBHmggs&w=704&h=396]
Full PR below:
As the new gear rolls in from our team on the show floor of CES 2015, consumer audio and electronics lifestyle company ION has a few announcements of its own. Makers of everything from Bluetooth speakers to headphones and DJ gear (among other things), ION Audio is introducing new hybrid light bulb speakers and a new Bluetooth turntable/audio interface…
You love games, but your girlfriend or wife doesn’t. My goal is to change that. This week, Electronicsforward is debuting Gaming For Couples, a new weekly column looking at great games for couples to play together. We’re not necessarily going to pick the newest or hottest games for this column — instead, we’re going to suggest titles that are reasonably priced, made for both girls and guys, and widely available.
Our first edition looks at two picks just in time for the holidays: the Peggle franchise and The Beatles: Rock Band, both from Electronic Arts.
Incase is offering 40% off select items as a part of its “Toys for Tots” event with coupon code TOYS40. Incase offers a wide variety of accessories for Mac, iPhone and iPad in addition to action cameras and backpacks. Free shipping is available in the 48 contiguous United States only. A portion of profits from this…
It has a 2560 x 1440 resolution on a wide-viewing angle screen (that’s the same resolution you would get on a 27-inch iMac) and HP claims that you get “vibrant detail from practically any position.” You also get the “best sounding, richest audio” available from a monitor with Beats audio. You can connect with MHL, HDMI or Display Port, with optimized upscaling for great mobile streaming.
It received 4.4/5 stars and impressive reviews from Amazon customers.
This laptop is a powerhouse. It features a 2880 by 1800 Retina display, 16GB of DDR3 RAM, and a quad-core 4th generation Crystalwell 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.
Don’t worry, all of our favorite good looking accessories, iPad docks and Bluetooth speakers are on the way. For now its all about how to amplify your home Mac set-up and integrate it with iOS. Mainly geared towards Mac/iOS musicians, here are some of my favorite pieces of gear to crank your home studio/office up a notch:
Many Black Friday deals are officially going live today with others likely arriving tonight and through the weekend into Cyber Monday. We’re tracking deals for all platforms and gadgets, but below we’ve rounded up only the best accessories for iOS devices and Mac seeing big discounts this weekend.
Following an announcement last month that the latest entry in the popular Civilization strategy game series would hit Mac sometime this holiday season, today Civilization: Beyond Earth has officially arrived for Mac users. The game, developed by Firaxis and brought to Mac users by Aspyr, first hit PC on October 24th. Beyond Earth offers a…
Amazon has the Livescribe smartpens on sale today for as much as 53% off the original listings. You’ll find the 2GB WiFi model for $79.99 shipped (orig. $170), the 4GB WiFi model for $99.99 shipped (orig. $200) and the 8GB WiFi Propack for $119.99 shipped (orig. $250). All of which are the lowest prices we…
Flexibits, known for it popular calendar and reminders app, is putting its flagship software on sale up to 65% off across all platforms for Black Friday. You can pick up Fantastical 2 on iPhone for $1.99 (Reg. $3), on iPad for $4.99 (Reg. $10) and the Mac version for $9.99 (Reg. $20). This is matching the…
Apogee, well known for its studio quality audio interfaces and converters, has kicked of its Black Friday 2014 sale today. Running from now through December 2nd, you’ll find as much 60% off its factory refurbished iOS/Mac interfaces and multi-channel flagship options. Due to how rare it is for these interfaces to go on sale from any…
Update (11/26 2:00am): We have added the entire MacMall Black Friday ad.
MacMall is a shopping mecca for Apple fans looking to save some money. With the biggest shopping day of the year coming up, there’s no doubt many of you have been waiting to get a peek at MacMall’s Black Friday plans. Well, we’ve finally got our hands on them and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Black Friday always offers a wide variety of discounts on a number of products, but so far this year its been slim for consumers looking for a new Mac. We have confirmed some deals from Best Buy, but they are not offering a wide variety of configurations, and have tax implications depending on your state.
Adorama and B&H Photo are both offering discounts on most Mac models this week, we’ve already spotted a nice price drop on an iMac with Retina 5K display + AppleCare from Adorama.
In some cases Adorama is bundling AppleCare with a purchase for a discounted price. B&H currently only charges for taxes for New York residents at the time of purchase, while it varies for Adorama. Additionally, you’ll need a free Adorama VIP membership to take advantage of these prices.
Below you’ll find our top picks for deals on current generation MacBook Air, Retina MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and Mac Mini from these two retailers so far:
Update (11/20 4:259m): The below 13” MBP w/ Retina is now out of stock. and the 15″ inch is only available for in-store pickup.
Best Buy has a couple late 2013 MacBook Pros with deep discounts today. The 13.3” MacBook Pro with Retina display (ME866LL/A) is $1,359.99 shipped, which is as much as $340 or more under some listings and $140 under the next best price we can find from a trusted retailer. It has a 2.6GHz processor, 8GB RAM and 512GB of flash storage. While the newer models are slightly faster, some feel that considering the price difference the late 2013 models can offer a better value for users that don’t require the latest and greatest hardware. A current gen model with similar specs will run you as much as $1800.
You’ll also find a late 2013 15” model (ME294LL/A) for $1,999.99 shipped, which is down as much $500 compared to other retailers and $200 under the next best price we can find. It packs a 2.3GHz processor, 16GB RAM and 512GB of flash storage. More details on both models below.
IK Multimedia has been providing musicians with software and recording gear for years now, with a number of affordable products available for Mac, iOS and PC. Its mobile interfaces and midi instruments allow iOS users to track and record musical ideas on the go, and today it is finally announcing its first step into the Android space…
Small States features small companies that design and manufacture within the United States.
Since we began writing Small States about two and half months ago, we’ve been afforded the opportunity to tell the story of many great companies in the United States. It has been an incredible journey of meeting people that are passionate about bringing old world craftsman skills back to a country that has found peace in buying things from overseas. We have met and profiled so many great proprietors of high-quality products, telling their story has been an honor for us.
Today, we highlight DODOcase, makers of beautiful goods that provide a home for your iPad, iPhone, laptops and more. With Small States, we’ve found an opportunity to highlight products that are manufactured within the United States, but with DODO it’s about so much more.
This San Francisco based company is not only manufacturing beautiful products, they are bringing back a way of life and skill that has quickly escaped our country over the last 50 years.
But the standout of the bunch is the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (MGXA2LL/A) for $1,799.99, which is a drop of $200. All other retailers are charging at least $100 more. Usually we only see significant discounts on entry-level Air/13-inch Retina Macs, so if you’re looking for more power then this is the deal you’ll want to grab.
Additionally, you can shave another $50 off your final price if you have access to a .edu email address.
Apple has blessed us with a beautiful 5K Retina iMac, but somehow forgot to update the ancient Thunderbolt Display. Now, Mac owners are once again forced to look outside of Apple to get the most from their computers. Apple will sell you a Sharp 32″ PN-K321 4K Ultra HD LED Monitor for $3,595 – but you’re much better off opting for the ASUS version (w/ the same panel) that just dropped another $500…
Originally released in late 2010 for $999, this MacBook Air features a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB flash storage. It’s obviously not the latest technology, but keep in mind it’s a full-featured Mac for the same price as a 16GB iPad Air 2. Great as a secondary computer for travel or as a child’s first laptop. Eligible for a 14-day return policy.
AgileBits has just put its popular password manager app 1Password on sale for $34.99(Reg. $50). While not the lowest we’ve seen, its the best price in around 6 months. Recently the company went freemium with the iOS 8 version, adding touch ID support in the mean time. This marks the first price drop since the company adopted the freemium model. Both versions are considered to be among the best options available for password management and sit with 4+ star ratings from thousands of reviewers.
The Pokémon Company International announced that its Pokémon Trading Card Game Online is coming to the App Store today. Already available on Mac and PC, this marks the very first time an official Pokémon game has debuted on the iOS platform outside of Pokémon TV and the Pokédex app.
Head below for availability details and the release trailer:
Feral Interactive’s latest console/PC port has now made its way to the Mac App Store in the form of GRID 2 Reloaded Edition. Originally released on PC and consoles, the Codemasters developed title was a successor to the original GRID title and designed to hit the sweet spot between frantic arcade racing and realistic simulation.
Head below for more details and some brief gameplay in the trailer video:
Originally released in June 2012, this model features a 1.7GHz dual-core Intel processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB SSD, and a 1366×768 resolution.
This deal nets you a 64GB MacBook for the same prices as a 32GB iPad Air. We’ve seen this deal pop up a couple times over the past few months and it always sells out quickly.
Announced today, Avid and Apogee have teamed up to offer a new line of Avid Artist Suite interfaces. The new Avid branded Apogee Duet and Quartet feature the same awarding winning I/O and functionality as their non branded counterparts, but sport an all black exterior and come bundled with Pro Tools 11. With the new…
AppSumo is offering 6 months of Todoist Premium for free. A one year Premium subscription to the popular note taking/agenda app will run you $28.99 via in-app purchases, so with today’s deal you are savings as much as $14.50.
With support for 13 platforms in total, including iOS, Android, Mac, Kindle, Windows and many more, Todoist Premium is a convenient way to keep all of your notes, reminders, location alerts and more synced across all of your devices. Other features include turning emails into tasks, auto backups, as well as a handy notificationsystem.
Even though there are many different apps of this nature out there, with over 2 million users and strong reviews across the board, its hard not to want to give Todoist Premium a spin for free.
Today, Pioneer announced the latest edition to its affordable WeGO DJ controller line. The new WeGO3 is an “ultra compact” controller designed to make DJing approachable with support for all the popular DJ apps on iOS and Mac right out of the box.
Along with a quick demonstration video of the new WeGO3 in action, head below to find out more about what it has to offer including some interesting iPhone/iPad features with the included Lightning cable:
Autodesk has released a new Mac version of its image editing app Pixlr today, while its popular SketchBook Mobile for Android goes free. SketchBook Mobile is a “professional-grade painting and drawing application” with 65 preset brushes and a wide range of customizable workflows. It has received excellent ratings from thousands of reviewers on both iOS and Android.
While still offering in depth editing for more professional users, Pixlr is designed to to make it easy “to transform everyday images into stunning works of art.” It features all of the same basic editing capabilities you’re used to along with an interesting double exposure effect and the handy Color Splash brush for injecting (or removing) color into particular aspects of an image. You’ll find over 100 effects, 340 overlays, 200 borders and more, but only a certain portion of the feature set is available for free:
Update (8/27 11:00am): Now only available for new LastPass members. Developer AppSumo is offering a premium membership to its password manager app LastPass for free. Normally $12 a year, the service brings password security and management across all your devices including Mac, PC, iOS, Android and others for just $1 a month. The deal is…
Apple has recently added the 2014 MacBook Air to the refurbished section of the Apple Online Store. Currently, the 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 11-inch MacBook Air is available in two configurations priced at $769 and $929, with 128 GB and 256 GB SSD’s respectively. 13-inch Air’s have also been in the store at various times in the last couple of days, so should return once Apple replenishes their refurbished inventory. These reduced prices are equivalent to around 15% savings in comparison new models from Apple’s site. The products were added two days ago, and have been lapsing in and out of stock constantly, so — like much of Apple’s refurbished offerings — quantities are obviously limited.
The iRig Pro is an all-in-one recording solution for singer/songwriters and podcasters as well more experienced musicians looking for a quick demoing set-up on the go that works with all of their Apple devices. It offers mic and guitar inputs with “high definition, high-quality A/D conversion,” +48V phantom power for use with condenser mics, a suite of music-making software and apps, and will also double as a Midi interface using the included iRig Midi cable.
It comes with three cables: “a Lightning cable for newer iPhones, iPads and the iPad mini; a 30-pin dock connector for “older” devices; and a USB cable for connection to your Mac laptop or desktop.”