Review: Mophie's Juice Pack Air Doubles Battery Life for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and X in a Slim Case

Earlier this summer, Mophie announced and launched a new line of Juice Pack Air cases for the iPhone XS and XS Max, which promise to add extra hours of battery life to your iPhone while providing drop protection. The cases offer many of the same features as Apple's 2019 Smart Battery Case line, but there are a few key differences that I found in terms of their physical design and day-to-day usefulness. Performance In regard to daily battery life, I found the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ and Juice Pack Air similar in terms of performance, with an edge given to Apple's case. The Juice Pack Air has a 1,720 mAh battery, while the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ has two 1,369 mAh batteries that allow it to run at a higher voltage to yield a total of 10.1 Wh of energy. On average, the Juice Pack Air lasted until 4 p.m. during a day of normal use, and one day when I was streaming music from my iPhone to my HomePod for a few hours in the morning, the case died at 1 p.m. that afternoon. Although I found that Mophie's accessory died a bit too early in the day, my iPhone's battery was always able to make it to bedtime so I still never had to worry about finding a charging source at night, which is the entire point of battery cases. Still, in terms of all-day battery Apple's case routinely beat Mophie's in my testing. The ‌Smart Battery Case‌ usually died around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. on my normal usage days, and I'd go to bed with my iPhone at around 70-80 percent battery, compared to 30-50 percent battery with the Juice Pack Air. On the plus side for the Juice Pack Air, it never faced repeated

Review: Satechi's Dual Smart Outlet Offers HomeKit Compatibility and Power Monitoring

Satechi this summer launched its first HomeKit-compatible product, the Dual Smart Outlet, a HomeKit plug that turns dumb appliances and electronics into smart electronics that can work alongside other ‌HomeKit‌ products. There are quite a few HomeKit-enabled smart plugs on the market, but Satechi's version is relatively compact and offers some bells and whistles that not all ‌HomeKit‌ plugs provide. Design wise, the Dual Smart Outlet is made from an unobtrusive white plastic, and it offers two separate ‌HomeKit‌ plugs. It plugs into a standard socket horizontally, leaving the other socket of your standard dual socket outlet free to use. Satechi's Smart Outlet is one of the better space saving plugs on the market, even though it's not exactly small. Other options from companies like iHome or Wemo take up similar amounts of space, but offer just one smart outlet. There are some smaller single plug options on the market that are better picks if you only need a single smart outlet, but Satechi's is a good way to connect two devices.

Review: Twelve South's USB-C StayGo Hub Offers Plenty of Ports and Two Handy Cable Sizes

Twelve South recently launched the StayGo, a portable USB-C hub that's designed to add additional ports to USB-C MacBooks and MacBook Pros. There are a lot of hubs out there on the market, but Twelve South is known for its high-quality Apple accessories, so I thought I'd take a closer look at the StayGo. Design wise, the StayGo offers a simple but attractive design that's slim, portable, and easy to carry so it can go wherever you need it, but it's not quite as slim as some other USB-C hubs on the market. The StayGo is made from a black aluminum material with a dot design on the front, and it measures in at about five inches by 2.5 inches and it's half an inch thick. There are four little rubber feet at the bottom so that it's stable and won't move when on a flat surface, and on the whole it's about as attractive as you can expect a USB hub to be. The rectangular shape of the StayGo houses multiple ports and a short built-in USB-C to USB-C cable so that you're never without a cord to use the StayGo with a Mac notebook. There's also a longer USB-C to USB-C cord included for when you need to position it further away from your Mac. The longer USB-C to USB-C cable is meant to provide users with a way to tidy up the cables on their desks while also providing additional ports, which it does successfully. The idea is to set it up away from where the Mac is, hiding most of the mess of the cords for a tidier workspace. The built-in cable is a unique feature that other USB-C hubs don't include, and I appreciated always having a USB-C to USB-C cable on hand.




Apple wanted to make a wireless charger, the AirPower, that could charge the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at once no matter where the devices were placed on the charger, but ultimately, the idea didn't work out and the ‌AirPower‌ was shelved. That's led multiple companies to come out with AirPower-style charging accessories that are able to provide power to multiple devices at once, and the AirUnleashed is one such product. Priced at $99, the AirUnleashed promises to charge the iPhone, ‌Apple Watch‌, and ‌AirPods‌ all at the same time with a single oval-shaped wireless charging mat. The catch is that the devices need to be placed in specific spots on the charger rather than anywhere. Design wise, the AirUnleashed is a simple flat wireless charging mat with a suede-like microfiber coating. Two "+" icons let you know where to place the iPhone and the ‌AirPods‌, while the indentation at towards the middle right lets you know where the watch needs to go. The ‌Apple Watch‌ needs to be specifically placed in this spot because the ‌Apple Watch‌ uses a magnetic inductive charger (underneath the mat's surface) and is not able to charge via Qi wireless charging. The larger charging spot on the left side of the mat is designed for the iPhone, and the smaller charging spot is meant for ‌AirPods‌. The AirUnleashed has a design that's reminiscent of the ‌AirPower‌. In fact, it straight up copies the ‌AirPower‌'s design, which would have been an issue had the ‌AirPower‌ ever launched. It's a fine design -- Apple came up with it after all -- and it doesn't take up too much room








Brydge, known for its line of keyboards for the iPad, recently debuted its newest keyboard, an updated model designed for Apple's 2018 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. The new Brydge Pro has been highly anticipated by ‌iPad‌ owners who have used Brydge keyboards in the past and prefer the bulk-free Brydge keyboard style. I've teamed up with MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera to review the Brydge Pro, so make sure to check out his hands-on video below to get a visual overview of the keyboard and read on for my own review. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Design If you're familiar with Brydge keyboards, the Bluetooth-enabled Brydge Pro features the same general design as past Brydge options. It is the least bulky of the third-party keyboards for the new ‌iPad Pro‌ models that I've used, and it's my favorite third-party keyboard design by far. There are two rubber-lined hinged clips on the keyboard that your ‌iPad Pro‌ fits into, which hold it securely in place and mimic a MacBook setup. The clips move forwards and backwards so you can fold it up just like you would a laptop (and when you close it, there are little rubber nubs to prevent the keys from touching the display). Because of the rubber lining, the ‌iPad Pro‌ is secure and stable in the Brydge Pro, but I have noticed that the weight of the ‌iPad Pro‌ can cause to it flip backwards a bit when I pick it up using the keyboard portion. The hinges are tighter than a MacBook hinge, but it's still easy to open and close the keyboard and the ‌iPad‌, and when you close it up, the ‌iPad‌'s



Review: Eve's Energy Strip Gives You Three HomeKit-Compatible Outlets











Apple makes a keyboard designed for the 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, the Smart Keyboard Folio, but some people dislike it because of the thin keys, the lack of key travel, and the high price tag. For those who don't like the ‌Smart Keyboard‌, Logitech has designed the Slim Folio Pro, a new keyboard case available for the 2018 ‌iPad Pro‌ models. Logitech's Slim Folio Pro is more affordable than Apple's ‌Smart Keyboard‌, with the 11-inch version priced at $120 and the 12.9-inch model priced at $130. For comparison's sake, Apple charges $179 for its 11-inch Slim Folio Keyboard and $199 for the 12.9-inch model. Design wise, the Logitech Slim Folio Pro is a lot thicker than the Apple Smart Folio Keyboard and it adds quite a bit of weight and bulk to my iPad. I am not and have not ever been a fan of thick cases that add a lot of extra weight to my devices, and for my iPads, I almost always go case free and use a Smart Cover. With my ‌iPad Pro‌, I've been using Apple's Folio, which is already more thickness than I like. If you're like me and prefer devices with thin cases or with no case, the Logitech Slim Folio Pro probably isn't going to be what you're looking for, but let me go into a bit more detail on how it works and how it looks on the ‌iPad‌. Like the Smart Folio Keyboard from Apple, the Slim Folio Pro is available in dark gray. It would be nice to have color options, but the gray is an appropriate neutral color. The Slim Folio Pro connects to the ‌iPad Pro‌ using Bluetooth, so you're going to need to set it up in the Settings app the first time you use it. After








Nomad is a company that creates useful accessories built around rugged simplicity, and in the past it has released iPhone cases, Lightning cables, and Apple Watch straps. This year, Nomad launched its first metal strap for the ‌Apple Watch‌, called the Titanium Band, a full-metal link bracelet built with over twenty titanium links and a set of custom lugs, designed for the 44mm ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 and the older generation 42mm models. Design Similar in design to other metal link bracelets for ‌Apple Watch‌ -- including Apple's own accessory -- Nomad's Titanium Band has a series of metal links connected by a slim clasp system that snaps closed around your wrist. The Titanium Band comes in both Silver and Black, to match both metal finishes available for the ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4. To adjust the fit, the accessory has up to ten removable links that lets you customize the band length so that it can fit any wrist, according to Nomad. On the clasp, which sits under your wrist, there is a small and unobtrusive Nomad logo, and the lugs on the band are designed like most other third-party ‌Apple Watch‌ bands, built to slide easily into the ‌Apple Watch‌ case. Adjusting Size The Titanium Band ships at the largest size, so most people will have to go through the size adjustment process before they're able to wear the band. I found this process to be lengthier and a bit more troublesome than I was expecting, and definitely not as simple as Apple's Link Bracelet. Nomad provides you with a link removal tool, which is a small metal device with a screw system that pushes