TL;DR: Grab an iScanner Lifetime Subscription for just $39.99 (reg. $199.90) and turn your phone into an all-in-one document scanner, PDF editor, and file manager.

The days of searching for a scanner every time you need to send a document are officially over. With an iScanner Lifetime Subscription for $39.99 (reg. $199.90), your iPhone, iPad, or Android device becomes a portable scanner, PDF editor, and document organizer — all without another subscription fee.

Need to scan a receipt, contract, tax form, handwritten note, ID card, or even a passport? Simply point your camera, and iScanner automatically detects document edges, straightens pages, improves image quality, and recognizes text in more than 20 languages. You can export files as PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, JPGs, and more.

The app goes beyond scanning, too. You can sign documents, merge or split PDFs, blur sensitive information, organize files into folders, and protect important documents with PIN-locked storage.

If your phone is already your everyday productivity tool, adding a scanner you’ll actually use feels like an easy win.

Get lifetime access to the iScanner App while it’s on sale for just $39.99 (reg. $199.90).

iScanner App: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get a Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 lifetime license for Mac for $49.97 (reg. $219) and own Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote with no monthly subscription.

There’s something satisfying about buying software once and knowing it’s yours. No monthly charges hitting your credit card. That’s exactly what makes this Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac deal so appealing.

For just $49.97 (reg. $219), you’ll get a lifetime license that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams (Basic), and OneNote. Instead of paying an ongoing Microsoft 365 subscription, you’ll make one purchase and keep using these classic Office apps for years to come.

Whether you’re polishing up a resume in Word, building a budget in Excel, putting together a presentation in PowerPoint, or keeping your inbox under control with Outlook, this bundle covers the productivity essentials most Mac users rely on.

Better yet, your license is tied to your Microsoft account, making it easy to reinstall if you replace your Mac down the road, rather than being locked to a single device.

If you’re looking for a straightforward way to equip your Mac with Microsoft’s most popular productivity apps, this lifetime license is an easy decision.

Get Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac for just $49.97 (reg. $219) right now.

Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

One of the things I enjoy doing most with my family is traveling. Annually, we go on two or three domestic trips (at least one of them to Hawaii to visit relatives). We try to go on an international trip every 18 months or so. Our most recent trip abroad was to South Africa in 2024, and we’re heading to Iceland this August. Then there are weekends away a few times a year.

Every great trip requires planning, whether it’s an overnight stay an hour away from home or a grand vacation in a country I’ve never visited before. Besides all the travel logistics (that my wife handles), there’s the tech you need to bring, which is my responsibility in my household.

Over the years, I’ve figured out what tech I absolutely need to take with me. There’s an art to figuring out what to bring. You don’t want to overdo it, because you’ll end up lugging around stuff you aren’t using. But you don’t want to be left without that thing you absolutely need and don’t really have a means of obtaining that item where you are.

While I now rely on my iPhone for all the photos and videos I shoot, I need other items to ensure a successful and enjoyable trip. Here’s a list of the gear I bring with me on my trips. This is the stuff I almost always bring no matter where I’m going. Hopefully, you can use this list to help you figure out what you need to bring on your next trip. If you have suggestions, drop me a line at rloyola@macworld.com. (Note: Prices stated here are MSRPs, but Amazon often runs sales and discounts on many of them.)

Best Prices Today: Journey NOVA 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station

We have reviewed a lot of MagSafe and compatible magnetic chargers ever since the first wireless iPhone 8 and later magnetic wireless iPhone 12. Check them out in our best MagSafe chargers roundup. Some have been useful as phone stands, some have folded into pocketable travel companions, while others have included built-in power banks to save you on the road.

But few have been able to grace a bedroom nightstand or designer desk without incongruously looking exactly like something there do charge your devices. That’s where the Journey Nova stands out, and a new black model adds a touch of sultry class.

Design

The Journey Nova looks like no other wireless charger and is sure to grace the pages of your favorite home-style magazine. Journey has directly tried to find an “anti-tech aesthetic” that it believes will complement decors “much like a vase, chair, or pot plant might”.

Its 6-inch vertical hollow block gives it a feeling of both weight and lightness while taking up little space with its small footprint: 3.2 x 3.6 inches (8 x 9.2cm). The split-material—with either wood grain or what Journey calls “Sparkle Gray” below a matte Corian-like white and now black—look gives it a Skandi design identity. The look won’t be for everyone, but there’s no denying the striking pose it cuts on a desk or table.

The iPhone magnetically connects to the 15W Qi2 wireless charging space above the hollow 5W Qi pad for AirPods charging. Inside that hollow is a guiding night light that can be switched on or off with a light touch under the roof.

At the back you can flip out the 5W Apple Watch charger module, keeping it both hidden and protected when not in use. That means each device gets as fast a wireless charge as can be got outside of Apple’s unique (iPhone 16-only) 25W MagSafe Charger. Additionally, the Apple Watch module is certified by Apple for fast Watch charging, and 5W is plenty for a swift AirPods power-up.

If there anyone out there who owns an Apple Watch and AirPods but an Android phone (unlikely given the Watch doesn’t play well with Android and AirPods work best with an iPhone), Journey includes a magnetic ring to update non-MagSafe smartphones to work with Qi2.

Price

The Journey Nova costs $139.99 / £119.99 / AU$189.99. This is not a huge extra expense on some of our favorite 3-in-1 wireless chargers such as the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, which is more flexible but looks utilitarian in comparison to Nova.

The Mophie StealthCharge 4-in-1 Wireless Charge Stand (also available as a 3-in-1) is a speedier 25W charger with a spare retractable USB-C cable for your MacBook, but it doesn’t have the interior design chic of the Nova.

There are certainly cheaper 3-in-1 chargers but none would grace the style section of the Sunday newspapers with the possible exception of the squatter but still lovely Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock.

What you get is a bold, décor-friendly look allied with top-end charging tech that features just one cable to power all your mobile and wearable gadgets in a style sympathetic to the smartest homes.

Verdict

If you value your home décor and don’t want an out-of-place ugly charger sitting by your bed or on your minimalist desk, the Journey Nova offers style-magazine looks alongside the fastest wireless charging speeds, and now a new black model if you prefer your chargers dark and moody.

TL;DR: Stop paying monthly just to edit a PDF. AcePDF Converter & Editor gives you lifetime access to conversion, editing, OCR, form creation, and document management tools for just $23.97 through August 2 (MSRP $99.99).

PDFs have a special talent for becoming uncooperative the second you need to change something. Suddenly you’re converting files, taking screenshots, or signing up for yet another subscription just to move a paragraph. AcePDF Converter & Editor fixes that problem with an all-in-one toolkit, and a lifetime license is on sale for just $23.97 through August 2 (MSRP $99.99).

Convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and more without wrecking the formatting. Built-in OCR lets you pull editable text from scanned documents, while editing tools make it easy to merge, split, compress, annotate, password-protect, and organize files in just a few clicks. It now fully supports both Windows and Mac, including Apple Silicon.

It’s easy to see why it’s popular, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot.

If PDFs are part of your daily workflow, this is one of those tools you’ll wonder how you managed without.

Get a lifetime license to AcePDF Converter & Editor for just $23.97 through August 2 (MSRP $99.99).

AcePDF Converter & Editor: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Apple doesn’t make formal product announcements or discuss future product plans during its quarterly financial results announcements. But every once in a while, it shares some details that offer a peek at what’s coming.

During Thursday’s Q3 2026 financial call, Apple indicated the higher iCloud+ tiers could be on the way. While it has already said it will offer some kind of iCloud+ tie-in to accommodate heavy AI usage, when Goldman Sachs’ Michael Ng asked about Apple Intelligence and “compute costs and the ability to recover some of those costs through iCloud+,” Apple CEO Tim Cook had this response:

In terms of what it means for compute cost, it’s obviously early going for us, and so I don’t want to say that we have a complete plan for that. We do believe there will be people that want to use it a lot, and so we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud+ where people can buy up the stack on iCloud+, and we’ll see how the pickup for that is. But we could not be more excited about where the product is.

Details about the “upgrade possibilities” weren’t provided, but Apple’s plans aren’t a surprise. At WWDC26 last June, Apple demonstrated several AI features and noted that there would be daily usage limits, which expanded access available through iCloud+. But at that time, no further details were provided.

Apple is expected to officially release iOS 27 in September, around the same time the company unveils the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra. Apple will likely announce these new iCloud+ plans at the same time. It’s unclear as to what Apple will offer to accommodate AI usage; iCloud+ currently offers 5GB of free storage, with upgrade plans up to 12TB, though other AI companies offer storage up to 100GB. It sounds like Apple will explore these higher storage options for iCloud+ plans primarily built for AI use.

We’ve been reporting on the supposedly imminent launch of a foldable iPhone for years. There have been strong and reliable rumors of a foldable iPhone being just two years away, dating as far back as 2018, at least. Back then, reliable reports from the likes of CNBC said Apple was going to have a folding iPhone on the market in 2020.

That became 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025… and now it’s expected to land in 2026–yes, this year!

While the rumors and reports from parts suppliers and analysts are heating up and we have more specifics than ever before, we would advise even more caution and skepticism than usual with Apple speculation. With that said, here’s what current rumors suggest about the release of a folding iPhone.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to launch in September 2026 featuring several cutting-edge hardware advancements, including the debut of Apple’s C2 modem, and a shift to a 2nm manufacturing process for the A20 Pro chip. 

Other key rumored upgrades include a smaller Dynamic Island with under-display Face ID components and camera improvements that may include variable aperture on the Pro Max and enhanced sensors.

Alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Apple is said to be planning to launch the ultra-premium folding iPhone. However, in a change to the usual schedule, the company is expected to shift the launch of the iPhone 18 spring 2027 to keep the spotlight on the Pro series during its traditional September debut. Here’s a quick summary of what all the rumors and leaks say to expect from the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in 2026.

iPhone 18 Pro/Max vs iPhone 17 Pro/Max

Feature	iPhone 18 Pro/Max rumors	Likelihood	iPhone 17 Pro/Max
Launch date	September 2026	Very likely	September 2025
Dynamic Island	Smaller design	Credible rumor	No change since 2022 iPhone 14 Pro
Face ID	Under-display	Credible rumor	No change since 2022 iPhone 14 Pro
Modem	C2 modem	Credible rumor	Qualcomm modem
Camera	Improved aperture technology for rear. 24MP selfie cameras	Possible	All three rear cameras are 48MP, optical-quality 8x zoom. 18MP front camera.
Colors	Dark Cherry, Light Blue, Dark Gray, Silver	Macworld source confirmed	Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue, Silver

iPhone 18 Pro/Max	September 2026
iPhone Fold	September 2026
iPhone Air (2nd gen)	Spring 2027
iPhone 18	Spring 2027
iPhone 18e	Spring 2027

iPhone	iPhone	Capacity
iPhone 17 Pro Max	From $1,199	256GB – 2TB
iPhone 17 Pro	From $1,099	256GB – 2TB
iPhone Air	From $999	256GB – 1TB
iPhone 17	From $799	256GB – 512GB
iPhone 17e	From $599	256GB – 512GB

If you have a lot of accessories and peripherals for your Mac, a good docking station will help keep them all organized and tidy. They all basically do the same thing, adding ports, slots, and functionality that otherwise isn’t available on your Mac. But this deal for the Baseus SpaceMate RD1 Pro, on sale for $209 ($90 off), has a little extra: an adjustable MagSafe wireless charger on top. At the time of writing it is selling for $210 on Amazon, but use the special code at the end of this article to get the price as low as $199 at checkout.

With a single 10Gbps USB-C cable (included in the box along with an 180W GaN power adapter) connected to your computer, the SpaceMate RD1 Pro adds a slew of ports to your Mac, including 2 HDMI, 2 USB-C (10Gbps), 2 USB-C PD (100W), 4 data-only USB-A, SD/TF slots, and Ethernet. For such connectivity, the device is remarkably small, measuring just 18.58 x 10.75 x 4.13 inches.

Use either HDMI port to connect a single display up to 4K at 120Hz (or two mirrored displays), while the USB-C ports are capable of charging three devices at once with even power distribution. Plus, you can get 1Gbps wired Ethernet for stable Internet connectivity.

But the best part of this docking station is the top. That’s where you’ll find a 25W Qi2.2 MagSafe charger for your iPhone. It’ll securely hold your iPhone at any angle so you can still see what’s on the screen as well as charge supported iPhones (iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and all iPhone 17 models) at a max of 25W. It’s a unique feature not available on any other docking station we’ve seen.

So if you want lots of ports, a second monitor, and a place to charge your iPhone at the fastest possible wireless rate, look no further than the Baseus SpaceMate RD1 Pro, on sale for $90 off today.

A special discount for Macworld readers, using the code BASEUSPR will further reduce the price to $199.99 (33% off the original price of $298.49), valid from July 21st to August 31st at Amazon.

With the calendar about to change over to August, all eyes will soon be on Apple’s fall event, and with it, new iPhones. This year, we’re expecting the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max to arrive alongside the brand-new folding iPhone Ultra, and demand is sure to be bigger than ever.

But if you’re planning on buying one of these new products, you might not be able to. During Apple’s Q3 earnings call Thursday, Tim Cook warned that “the impact from the supply constraints (will) increase significantly” in the coming quarter. In plain English, that means supplies of new products could be severely limited.

Of course, that’s not a new thing for new iPhone launches, but it sounds like this year will be particularly bad. While Cook stressed that the current shortage is due to an “incredibly strong iPhone and Mac product cycle that has really yielded a demand beyond our expectation” and “isn’t a partner or supplier issue,” the fact of the matter is RAM is becoming very expensive and hard to get.

Cook explains that Apple sees “the market pricing for memory continuing to increase and having an increasing impact on our business.” Apple raised prices significantly last month to offset the rising costs of memory chips, but left iPhone prices stable, though they, too, are expected to rise in September. 

Higher prices aside, there is sure to be tremendous demand for the new iPhones in September, especially the Ultra. And if RAM is still hard to get, that’s going to create something of a perfect storm for buyers, with stock of the iPhone Ultra likely selling out as quickly as the iPhone X and the hot new iPhone 18 color backordered for months.

If the rumors are true, Apple’s next few years are shaping up to be the most exciting in a long time. The company has been working on intriguing new devices, including its first foldable iPhone, a touchscreen MacBook Pro with an OLED display, and smart home devices powered by Siri AI and Apple Intelligence.

All of this sounds amazing, but there’s just one problem. All these innovations are likely to come at a high price, especially at a time when prices are already rising due to a global shortage of RAM and other components. In the end, most people probably wouldn’t buy all or possibly any of these innovations.

But Apple’s new Upgrade program changes the script and makes it possible for even more people to get their hands on Apple’s highest-end products, even if they don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on a new laptop or phone. 

Apple already has niche premium products

Apple has never been afraid to build products that only a few people can justify buying. The Mac Pro was never a product for the masses. It was an expensive computer aimed at engineers and film directors. The same applies to the XDR Studio Display and Apple Vision Pro.

Those products serve an important purpose. They demonstrate what’s technically possible, even if they aren’t expected to become best sellers. They cater to a niche market that is willing to pay a high price for them. For these users, price isn’t important.

What’s changing over the coming months is that even products on the way aren’t niche high-end devices. The rumored iPhone and MacBook Ultra are designed to be mainstream devices with high price tags, and this could have a major impact on which devices the average consumer chooses.

The iPhone has always been Apple’s most popular product. Even the Pro models, while expensive, remain attainable for many customers through financing, trade-ins, or carrier promotions. Likewise, the MacBook Pro has become the default recommendation for professionals and enthusiasts alike.

However, the rumored iPhone Ultra and MacBook Ultra suggest that Apple may be about to introduce a new product tier positioned well above its Pro models. Not simply because they are faster or more powerful, but because they are much more ambitious to build.

Innovation comes with a price

New technologies always come at a higher price. Typically, building a device with a radical new design requires new manufacturing methods, which drives up production costs. This was the case in 2017 with the iPhone X, which raised the starting price of the high-end iPhone from $649 to $999.

At the time, people were shocked by the higher price. But quickly, $999 became the new normal for a premium smartphone. Now, the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099, which is only 10 percent more than the starting price Apple set for its new iPhone in 2017.

But given the current rumors, Apple’s new “Ultra” devices won’t just be a few dollars more expensive. They could cost up to twice as much as the current Pro models.

Let’s take the iPhone Ultra foldable as an example. Flexible OLED panels remain expensive. More durable hinges require intricate engineering. Thinner batteries, custom display technologies, and increasingly complex camera systems all push manufacturing costs higher.

Based on what multiple sources have been saying, Apple’s foldable iPhone could cost as much as $2,500 depending on the configuration. That would already be $1,300 more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro Max costs today. By comparison, Samsung now charges $2,100 for the entry-level version of the new Galaxy Z Fold Ultra and $1900 for the shorter model that mimics the rumored iPhone Ultra.

The rumored MacBook Ultra follows a similar pattern. An OLED touchscreen display with a new design, along with even more RAM and SSD storage, would significantly increase the cost of this machine compared to current MacBook Pro models.

But with Apple Upgrade, those prices aren’t nearly as eye-watering. On a 24-month lease, the iPhone Ultra would likely cost around $70 a month, while a 36-month MacBook Ultra lease would run roughly the same for a 36-month lease. That’s still not as cheap as an iPhone 17 Pro, but it’s much more affordable—and you can bet Apple will advertise it as such.

The products most people buy won’t stop being good

Of course, having new, high-end products in the lineup doesn’t mean everyone will need them. The current iPhone Pro models are already more than enough for most users. The latest MacBook Pro is so powerful that many buyers have never even come close to using its full potential. Even the base model iPhone has become quite appealing.

In fact, Apple itself has, in a way, anticipated that premium products would become much more expensive and has also been investing in more affordable products that meet the needs of the vast majority of people. This includes devices such as the MacBook Neo and the iPhone 17e.

Ever since we began hearing about them, it seemed as though the new Ultra products would be just like the Vision Pro: cool, futuristic products, but priced way out of reach for most buyers. Ultra products will naturally be aimed at enthusiasts, those who are willing to pay thousands of dollars for an iPhone or a MacBook that looks completely different from current devices and employs the most cutting-edge technologies. And like Vision Pro, the rumored prices didn’t leave much hope for a trickle-down effect.

But with Apple Upgrade, the barrier to entry isn’t nearly as steep. Apple doesn’t offer Vision Pro in its Upgrade program, but a $3,699 Mac (the same price as Vision Pro after last month’s price hike) costs just $76.52 per month for 36 months. Apple would have probably sold quite a few more of them if those terms were available at launch.

Apple’s next era seems genuinely exciting. It just may be an era in which more people than ever don’t own Apple’s latest products—but they still use them around every day.

Best Prices Today: OWC 4M2 Ultra 80Gbps 4-disk RAID enclosure

OWC’s 80Gbps 4M2 Ultra is a four-slot RAID enclosure that lets you build your own high-capacity, super-fast external storage using NVMe SSDs.

Depending on the RAID mode you use, you can saturate the 80Gbps Thunderbolt 5/USB4 bus to the tune of 7GBps sequential transfers. You can also safeguard your data with mirroring or parity, which a single external SSD enclosure won’t allow.

What are the OWC 4M2 Ultra’s features?

The 4M2 Ultra is a black, mostly aluminum box measuring around 4.75-inches tall, 4.5.inches deep, by 2.35-inches wide. Unlike the 40Gbps 4M2, the sides are finned to create more heat-shedding surface area. Nice. On the back are two Thunderbolt 5 ports (one marked as the computer port), a Kensington lock port, and the AC adapter jack…

You didn’t think you could run four SSDs on bus power alone, did you? Well, being curious and considering that Thunderbolt 5 is required to deliver 140 watts (240 watts optionally) I pulled the power jack with the 4M2 Ultra attached to my M4 Max Studio. No blue power light. Sigh.

I was a bit surprised to see the 4M2 Ultra open like a flower when I removed the screw-down backplate. The backplate holds the two side plates (keyed for reattachment) in place, so both fell to the side, revealing two 2280/2242 M.2 slots under each.

Thermal strips are pre-attached to the side plates, which is thoughtful, though mine didn’t have any protection on them. Before I realized that, I’d minimally damaged one by stacking one side plate on the other. Easily repairable, so no big deal.

The 4M2 Ultra’s dual PC board, chips and fan are sandwiched between the two dual-drive bays. The front of the 4M2 Ultra is perforated to allow air flow through the unit to the vents on back.

You can hear the fan when it kicks in. It’s not loud, but if such things bug you, you’ve been informed. I find the sound reassuring in that the 4M2 Ultra isn’t allowing your SSDs to fry.

The Intel JHL9480 (Barlow Ridge) controller allocates each of the 4M2 Ultra’s M.2 slots a single PCIe 4.0 lane, which amounts to around 2GBps of bandwidth per slot. Hence, while you could run the four SSDs singly, you’ll only get 80Gbps (or 40Gbps) performance with all four drives combined in RAID 0 (fastest) or RAID 10 (next fastest).

To operate the Express 4M2 Ultra in RAID, you need software. OWC provides a license for its handy cross-platform SoftRAID, though the inlcuded Pro license expires three years from the date of purchase. However, the core functions (operation and rebuilding arrays) remain eternally functional.  

If expiring software makes you nervous, there’s always macOS RAID or Windows Storage Spaces. Sadly, Windows Storage Spaces is pathetically slow, but macOS RAID 0 was competitive with SoftRAID

The 4M2 Ultra is warrantied for two years, however, given the quality of the construction it should last well beyond that.

How fast is the 4M2 Ultra?

When running four SSDs in RAID 0, the 80Gbps 4M2 Ultra is a very fast reader, up to 7GBps (Windows). It’s a considerably slower writing at a little over 2GBps according to most of our tests.

The 4M2 Ultra is also significantly faster in every RAID mode than the older 40Gbps 4M2 — hardly surprising given twice the older unit’s 40Gbps bandwidth. Note that all RAID tests were done while using OWC’s SoftRAID in RAID 0.

AmorphousDiskMark had the 4M2 Ultra at 6.35GBps reading, and 2.35GBps writing.

Disk Speed Test from Blackmagicdesign wasn’t quite as giddy as AmorphousDiskMark, and for some reason, likely a much smaller data set, showed 5GBps writing and only 2GBps reading.

I also ran the 4M2 Ultra through PCWorld’s battery of tests for comparison purposes. However, the other drives shown: the Satechi DotDisk, TerraMaster D1 SSD Pro, and OWC’s own 1M2 are 80Gbps single drive enclosures, which makes these comparisons a tad unfair. But the charts do show what you stand to gain or lose by going the RAID route.

The 4M2 Ultra did well in some CrystalDiskMark 8 (the code base for AmorphousDiskMark) tests, while in others, not so much. And with four SSDs to stripe writes across, the 4M2 Ultra’s write performance is a tad disappointing.

The 4M2 Ultra lagged a bit in CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K tests, but it’s still fast in the grand scheme of external storage.

In PCWorld’s real life 48GB transfers, the 4M2 Ultra was quite close to the competition, and even tied for first in one test.

PCWorld’s 450GB write test proved the 4M2 Ultra to be a very fast solution when transferring very large files using Windows Explorer, but didn’t perk up, as is usually the case, with the fantastic FastCopy utility.

All told, the 4M2 Ultra is fast, and a great improvement over the older 40Gbps 4M2. However, it’s not as fast as single enclosures, so its most salient strength is combining smaller SSDs into a single large volume, up to 32TB with 8TB SSDs.

Note that while testing, it was discovered that Phison E26 controllers apparently require more power than my M4 Max Studio can provide under heavy loads at 80Gbps (10Gbps and 40Gbps are fine). Using these in the 4M2 Ultra was a rocky experience–they would disconnect under load. This did not occur with the 4M2 Ultra on PCWorld’s Wintel test beds. If you’re a Wintel user who has E26 SSDs, you’re safe. Have an 80Gbps Mac? Avoid them.

Should I buy the 4M2 Ultra?

If you want fast, super vast external storage, the 80Gbps 4M2 is a great way to create speedy large volumes from smaller SSDs. Just avoid E26-based SSDs.

TL;DR: Master Claude AI beyond simple chatting with four practical courses covering prompting, coding, automation, and integrations. Get lifetime access to the Claude AI Professional E-Degree for $13.99 (MSRP $159) with code COURSE30 through August 2.

If you’re only using Claude AI to answer questions, you’re missing the bigger picture. With the right setup, it can help automate workflows, speed up coding, and handle repetitive tasks — and the Claude AI Professional E-Degree shows you how. Right now, you can get lifetime access for just $13.99 with code COURSE30 through August 2 (MSRP $159).

This four-course bundle goes beyond basic prompting with hands-on lessons covering Claude best practices, agentic coding, automation, integrations, and plugins. You’ll learn how to build smarter workflows, connect Claude with everyday tools, generate and troubleshoot code, and apply AI to real-world projects.

Backed by Eduonix Learning Solutions, a training platform with more than 1.17 million students worldwide and 82,000+ reviews, the course delivers practical AI skills for beginners and experienced users alike.

Upgrade your Claude AI skills with lifetime access to the Claude AI Professional E-Degree for $13.99 with code COURSE30 through August 2.

Claude AI Professional E-DegreeSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Apple’s third-quarter 2026 earnings report on Thursday wasn’t your typical financial announcement. It was Apple CEO’s Tim Cook’s last full quarter, which gave it a bit of nostalgia. But more importantly, it marked the end of a quarter where Apple announced steep price increases for the Mac, iPad, HomePod, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro following increased costs for RAM, storage, and other components.

Turns out that Apple posted its strongest June quarter ever. Apple announced revenue of $109.4 billion for the quarter, a 16 percent year-over-year increase. The company’s gross margin was 50.1 percent, and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $2.02, up 29 percent year over year.

“Today, Apple is proud to report our strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment,” said Cook in a press release. The Mac boasted a 29 percent increase (a June quarter record), and Apple said it set a new all-time record with upgraders and customers new to the Mac. iPhone revenue increased 22 percent, and Services jumped 12 percent.

Apple declared a cash dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on August 13 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 10.

However, there are signs that higher prices affected Apple’s overall earnings in the quarter. For one, the EPS included “a favorable impact of $0.11 from tariff refunds,” meaning the actual price would have been $1.91, a lot closer to the expected $1.88. Furthermore, the all-important Greater China region saw a softening to $18.8 billion versus an expected $19.5 billion, a fairly significant miss. Also, iPad sales are clearly struggling and won’t be helped by dramatically higher prices.

A notable change in Apple’s financial statement is an increase in research and development expenditure. Apple spent $11.7 billion, up from $8.9 billion year over year, a sizable 31 percent increase.

During the call, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh stated that Apple expects revenue to increase between 9 and 11 percent overall for the upcoming quarter and that the current supply-chain shortage will have an effect on Mac, iPhone, and iPad sales. Cook stated that the constraints will have a more severe impact on Apple’s production and that Apple expects to spend more on memory than in the previous two quarters. Apple’s stock was down $23 after the company announced the next quarter outlook

The call was the last for Cook, who is stepping down as CEO in September. During the call, Cook made the following statement:

The transition [to John Ternus as CEO] is going seamlessly, and I am beyond excited for John to step into his new role and lead Apple into its next era. He is truly one of a kind and there is no better person to take the helm of the company. As I’ve said, I couldn’t be more confident in his leadership, in our executive team, and in the extraordinary people at Apple who are determined to enrich the lives of our users all over the world. We have a bright future ahead, and I truly have never been more optimistic.

Apple CEO Tim Cook

In 2012, Cook’s first year as CEO, Apple posted annual revenue of $156.5 billion. In Cook’s final quarter as CEO, the company posted $109.4 billion. In 2025, Apple posted revenue of $416.16 billion.

In an era where social media seems to be doing more harm than good, the Minimal Phone 2 seems like a really good idea. Billed as a distraction-free device, it’s a mobile phone with a physical keyboard that offers no social media access and only basic apps, including the ability to send and receive messages.

However, it’s still an Android phone, so when you send a chat message from the Minimal Phone 2, it naturally appears in a green bubble on an iPhone. As silly as it sounds, there’s a stigma that some iPhone users attach to Android phone users because iOS displays chat messages from Android phones as green bubbles instead of blue ones, the telltale indication that a message came from an Apple device.

There’s a fix for that, though, in case you’re worried about being a social outcast by your iPhone buddies. Andre Youkhna, the founder of The Minimal Company, points out that the Minimal Phone 2 can run OpenBubbles, which means messages for the phone appear as blue bubbles on iPhones. It even has a blue blinking indicator light on the front to let you know when one arrives.

Pre-order soon… iMessage thanks to open bubbles 🙌

— Andre (@Youkhna) July 28, 2026

OpenBubbles is an app that basically spoofs a Mac or iPhone that you can access, so that an Android phone can access Apple’s Messages, FaceTime, and iCloud Shared Albums (though it’s not clear if the latter two can be accessed by the Minimal Phone 2). If you don’t have an Apple device to spoof, you can sign up for OpenBubbles Hosted, which is $16.99 per month.

Doesn’t OpenBubble sound like something Apple would disapprove of? OpenBubbles has been around since 2020, so Apple would’ve sicced its lawyers on the company by now if it cared at all. Learn more about OpenBubbles. If you want to jump on the waitlist for Minimal Phone 2, you can sign up on the Minimal website.

Ever since Apple raised prices on MacBooks last month, we’ve been on the lookout for anything that comes close to the prices they were before. Today’s deal gets there: B&H Photo is selling a 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro with a 96W power adapter for $1,729, a savings of $290 on the price Apple charges and just $10 more than the price before the hike.

This is the base-model MacBook Pro, but you’re still getting a lot of high-end features, including the speedy M5 chip, 1TB of storage, 2x faster read/write performance compared to the M4 model. You can also hook up a pair of high-resolution external displays as well as Thunderbolt 5 drives. And with the bundled 96W charger, you’ll get fast charging (up to 50 percent battery in around 30 minutes) as well.

Of course, it also comes with a brilliant Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion and XDR, tons of expansion, including Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, and an SDXC card slot, and Wi-Fi 6E. And it all comes wrapped in Apple’s sleek design that’s gorgeous in either silver or space black. We loved this model when we reviewed it and still recommend it even at the higher price.

So go save $300 and get a great laptop at the price it should be.

We’ve all done it. Some more than others (just ask Justin Bieber). That annoying microphone button on the text entry line in the Messages app that kicks off dictation. It could be a button to start recording an Audio Message, depending on context.

Either way, it’s not something you want to tap when you’re trying to type text. And for far too many people, that’s exactly what happens.

Good news! In iOS 27, Apple allows you to decide whether that button activates Dictation or Audio Messages, or turn it off entirely. Here’s how you do it.

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down and tap Apps
3. Tap Messages
4. Scroll down and tap on the Show in Text Field setting
5. Select either Record Audio, Start Dictation, or None.

If you turn off this button, you can still use Dictation by tapping the microphone button on the keyboard. If you want to send an Audio message, tap the (+) button on the left of the text entry field and select Audio. (And remember, you can tap-and-hold then drag to reorder that list!)

The Apple Upgrade purchase program was introduced earlier this week in the U.S. It’s a leasing program where you agree to a term, pay a monthly fee, and then have to decide what to do with the device you bought at the end of the term. If you are familiar with car leases, Apple Upgrade will make perfect sense.

When you’re in a situation where you need to buy a new Mac, it’s nice to have purchasing options that suit your finances. But regardless of how you buy a Mac, you should understand the implications of how you pay for your Mac. Sometimes, it’s pretty straightforward, but other times, it’s a little more involved.

Apple Upgrade is one of those times when it’s a little more involved. Let’s take a look at what you’re getting into if you enroll in Apple Upgrade. This can help you decide if it’s a plan that suits your needs, or if you should pay a different way.

Apple Upgrade: What I’m buying

In this examination, I’ll be looking at what’s involved with buying a 14-inch MacBook Pro. Apple Upgrade will appeal to customers in the market for pricier Mac models, so with that in mind, these are the specs of the MacBook Pro I’ll use for this article.

14-inch MacBook Pro	Specifications
CPU	15-core CPU/16-core GPU M5 Pro
RAM	24GB
SSD	1TB
Display	Nano-texture
Power adapter	70W

The price of this laptop as configured is $2,649 without AppleCare+. Apple Upgrade does not include AppleCare coverage, and I won’t be including it in the analysis. Sales tax and other fees are also not calculated here.

Apple Upgrade: Terms and cost

For this particular MacBook Pro, Apple offers two Apple Upgrade term options:

• 24-months: $74.34 per month. After 24 months, the total payment equals $1,784.16 (67 percent of the total $2,649).
• 36-months: $52.87 per month. After 36 months, the total payment equals $1,903.32 (72 percent of the total $2,649).

Apple Upgrade looks appealing: The monthly fees are a lot more manageable than paying full price for an outright purchase or even financing it through the Apple Card, which would cost $220.75 per month for a year. The total amount you have spent when the term ends seems attractive, too.

With leases such as Apple Upgrade, the true value–or lack of it–comes when the terms end, and you have to decide what you are going to do with the Mac. Apple Upgrade gives you three options; let’s take a look.

End of lease: Buy the Mac

You can decide to buy the Mac after you’ve made all 24 or 36 payments. The fees you’ve paid count towards the original purchase price; you then pay the remaining cost in one sum. In our example, the price would be:

• $864.84 when the 24-month term ends
• $745.68 when the 36-month term ends

This option is essentially an interest-free loan. You have the burden of making monthly payments and the payment at the end of the lease, but that setup might be more manageable than paying full price all at once at the original point of purchase

Is this a good deal?  If you lack the funds to buy a new Mac upfront, this option is attractive. However, Apple products tend to hold a substantial amount of value over time. Leasing means you miss out on getting a good return when selling or trading in the Mac when you upgrade. You’d almost certainly get more for a two-year-old M5 Mac Pro on eBay or Facebook Marketplace than $865. A similarly specced M4 Pro MacBook, for example, sell for about twice that.

End of lease: Upgrade to a new Mac

Since this is the Apple Upgrade program, Apple expects most users to return the Mac and get a new one. In this case, you’re basically renewing the Apple Upgrade lease. How much you pay with the new lease depends on the new price of the new model. If it’s the same, then you’ll make the same payments.

Say you had a three-year term, so over those three years, you paid $1,903.32. If the upgrade you get has the same price, you’ll be paying another $1,903.32 over three years.

After six years, you will have paid $3,806.64. If you decide to buy the device after the end of the second term, your final payment would be $745.68. The total cost would be $4,552.32 (lease of first laptop + lease of upgrade + final payment). You’re still paying $750 less than you would have if you bought both laptops, but remember, you never actually owned the first one.

As I mentioned earlier, Macs hold their value better than PCs, so if you owned the old MacBook Pro and sold it before upgrading, you’d almost certainly recoup more than $750.

Is this a good deal? During the Q3 2026 financial announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the Apple Upgrade program is ideal for users who have a regular upgrade schedule. A lease program is a good option for users who upgrade often and don’t want to deal with selling old Macs. It’s not the most cost-conscious, but that’s the price of avoiding the hassle of selling old stuff.

End of lease: Return the Mac

When the term ends, you can simply return the Mac and walk away.

Of the three options, this is the least cost-effective. Using the three-year term as an example, your total cost is $1,903.32, which is $745.68 less than the full price.

Once again, Mac value plays a key role in this scenario. Based on what we’ve seen with other older Macs, if you buy the MacBook Pro and then three years later decide to sell it, there’s a pretty good chance you can get more than $750 and end up with a larger amount than the end-of-term payment.

Presumably, the reason you want to leave the Apple Upgrade program is that you want to buy a new Mac and pay for it in full. In this case, you’d take that $750 and use it towards that new Mac. Had you bought and sold that same MacBook Pro, you’d likely have more money towards the new purchase,

Another situation that can be compared to this Apple Upgrade option is Apple’s trade-in program. For a 2023 M3 Pro MacBook Pro, Apple offers  $900 to $1,300 if the laptop is in excellent condition, and $700 to $1,000 if it’s in average condition (which is more likely). There’s a good chance you can get more than $750, the amount of your final Apple Upgrade payment that you are walking away from and presumably are pocketing.

Is this a good deal? The walk-away option is the least attractive one because you could be leaving money on the table. While you avoid the big purchase payment at the end, you could get more if you buy the Mac first, then sell it and use that money towards a new Mac.

One of the things most of us love best about being in the Apple ecosystem is how easily we can move between our devices with our data always available. No matter if we’re on our iPhone, iPad or Mac, the continuity of experience is one that makes us feel at home. This also means that it’s important that our digital security covers all formats and works on all of them at the same time. So, how can we be sure that connections to networks remain private and our identities are protected whichever device we’re using? Surfshark has the solution.

The internet with no one watching

With so much of our lives now being conducted online, there’s never been more need to ensure that no-one can see what you’re doing or the sites you’re visiting. Advertising trackers are constantly trying to follow you around the web, to build profiles which enable them to sell you more things. Hackers are always looking for ways to inject malware or viruses onto your system so they can steal your data, plus there’s the background threat of governments and authorities wanting to know who you’re talking to and what it’s about. One effective weapon against these invasions of privacy is Surfshark VPN.

Rather than leaving your communications with online servers open and easily readable, Surfshark VPN creates an encrypted ‘tunnel’ that protects any data passing through. This means that even if spying eyes manage to get hold of your communiques, they won’t be able to read them as the encryption will make them incoherent. It also has a MultiHop feature that acts as essentially a double-VPN for additional security, plus a rotating IP address to prevent profiling and Kill Switch that automatically ends your online session if the VPN becomes unavailable.

So, you can use your Mac at the coffee shop or your iPhone at the airport, connecting to public Wi-Fi networks without worrying about your data or identity being compromised.

Surfshark VPN uses industry-leading AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption, alongside the latest VPN protocols, such as WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 to keep your data secure. It also employs its own proprietary Dausos protocol, which uses AEGIS-256X2 encryption to defend against the growing threat of powerful Quantum-computer attacks, all while delivering speeds up to 15% faster than other industry-standard protocols.

Even Surfshark can’t see your data, thanks to its no-logs policy which is audited by the third-party company Deloitte. This means it doesn’t store or access your information or web activity, and its 4,500+ RAM-only servers (located in 100 countries across the world) wipe all data when they reboot. It’s how the internet should be: private and secure.

Best of all, Surfshark can be used simultaneously on an unlimited number of devices, rather than the 5 or 10 that other services offer, so you can stay safe no matter what you’re using and your family can even use the same subscription.

A cleaner and safer online experience

Surfshark offers more than a VPN, as its various plans (Starter, One, and One+) come with extra security features to improve the safety and quality of your online life. The Clean Web ad blocker does exactly that, stopping annoying pop-ups, banners and other intrusive messaging that get in your way and slows down your connection. There’s also antivirus protection that makes sure no-one can use your webcam without you knowing or load malware onto your system.

With so many data leaks being reported these days, Surfshark Alert monitors the web to see if your account or credit card details have been exposed, then warns you so you can prevent disaster. One way to stop this happening in the first place is to use Alternative ID, a feature in the Surfshark suite that allows you to create temporary online personas for signing up to services or sites, so your actual details are never given out and therefore can’t be stolen.

Such is the commitment to your privacy that Surfshark even offers up to $1milion in reimbursement for any expenses incurred should your identity be stolen. It also partners with data specialist Incogni to ensure you get your details removed from any data broker servers who would sell it on to interested parties.

Protect your data, identity and bank balance with Surfshark

As you can see, there are many reasons to sign up to Surfshark: privacy, security, and the freedom to use all your devices with the same levels of protection. But another compelling incentive is the current promotion that means you can get a two-year plan that starts at only $2.49 per month, plus Surfshark will throw in an extra 3-months for free! That’s 27 months of online safety and anonymity with up to 85% off the normal cost of the plan. In these times when prices everywhere else only seem to be going up, it’s good to know that someone has your back.

TL;DR: Get the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription for $69.97 (reg. $540) through Aug. 9 and access leading AI models plus writing, image, video, audio, and document tools—all in one app.

Does your AI workflow involve opening five browser tabs before you’ve even started working? 1min.AI might be the productivity upgrade you didn’t know you needed. For $69.97 (reg. $540) through Aug. 9, you get lifetime access to the Advanced Business Plan, bringing an impressive collection of AI tools together under one roof.

Instead of jumping between separate apps, you can access top models like GPT-5.5 Pro, Claude 4.6 Sonnet, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Llama 3, and more from a single dashboard. Whether you’re writing blog posts, brainstorming ideas, researching a topic, or creating marketing content, it’s easy to switch to the model that fits the task.

The platform goes well beyond chat. You can generate images, edit photos, create videos from text or images, summarize YouTube videos, translate documents, chat with PDFs, clone voices, remove backgrounds, and even generate presentations.

It also includes 4 million credits each month, plus opportunities to earn even more credits through the platform.

For anyone who uses AI every day, this is a practical way to simplify your workflow.

Get lifetime access to the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan for just $69.97 (reg. $540) through Aug. 9.

1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal

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