Accessories

Welcome to 9to5Mac’s iPhone Holiday Gift Guide. Bookmark it or send it to your favorite people, because either you or someone you care about is going to find the ideal iPhone holiday gift inside!

I’m genuinely excited to present this collection to you, because the iPhone is the one Apple product I take everywhere — and couldn’t give up. Since I’ve been using iPhones and their accessories since the first iPhone debuted in 2007, I have a lot of experience sorting the good and great stuff out from the junk.

My iPhone Holiday Gift Guide picks are all best-of-breed options, selected for their combination of reasonable pricing and excellent performance. Whether you’re looking for the perfect case, great headphones, a smart car mounting solution, a battery pack, or a way to improve your iPhone’s camera, you’ll find the smartest iPhone gift picks below…

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With iPad Pro officially going on sale tomorrow (possibly at midnight tonight Cupertino time if Apple follows past launches), it’s time to move our attention to accessories for the device.

Will you go the Apple route and stock up on the official but pricey Apple keyboard, case & cover, and Apple Pencil? Or perhaps you’re looking for accessories with features that aren’t offered by Apple’s. Whatever the case, below we’ve started rounding up the best of the best accessories for iPad Pro. Most are available to order now while a couple are coming soon. We’ll be adding more as they pop up in the weeks following the iPad Pro’s launch.
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The Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 headphones ($49.90) are not especially meant as a replacement for EarPods, but that’s how I see them. Apple’s bundled EarPods have a lot of positives. They are ‘cheap’, lightweight and small. You can chuck them in a bag or pocket without worrying too much. This is in stark contrast to Beats on-ear and over-ear headphones, for example, which are expensive, bulky and heavy. However, EarPods leave much to be desired in regard to sound quality.

It turns out the Rock Jaw Alfa’s fill this gap nicely. They have the same portability as EarPods but with a focus on also providing great sound to listen to. They aren’t perfect but they are pretty great value earbuds. Read on for our full review …

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STM is a relatively well-known Australian company that makes great quality, but slightly pricey bags and cases for your gadgets. What I’ve always loved about the company is that most of its bags don’t look anything like the typical accessories you’d associate with consumer tech. They just look like regular bags, except they’re not. Nowhere is that more clear than with the STM Drifter; a well-made, lightweight, spacious and durable back pack with enough pockets and compartments to carry virtually anything…

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The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch is right around the corner and today we’re taking a closer look at Apple’s new Leather Case and Lightning Dock. These accessories are about as simple as it gets, but keep that Apple vibe going on if that’s what you’re going for…

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If you don’t want to spend $50 for a case every time Apple announces a new device, you still have great options: cases with comparable quality are available for much less money if you do your research. One of the best brands for that is Poetic, maker of an Apple Watch stand we loved, and today the company has released brand new, sub-$20 iPhone 6s and 6s Plus cases called Revolution and Affinity.

They are both available to order now in anticipation of the new iPhone launch later this month. Here’s the rundown…
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Following the announcement of the new iPhone 6s today, Apple debuted several new accessories for the upcoming smartphone. The company announced that the existing silicone and leather cases will be available in five new colors, while a new line of metal docks will be available in colors matching the phones at $49.99.

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Alongside the highly anticipated iPad Pro, Apple also revealed a variety of new accessories designed to be used with the new tablet.

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A lot of Apple Watch owners who splashed out on a nice charging stand must have been swearing at Apple when watchOS 2 was announced. Most existing charging stands out there position the watch vertically, which was the obvious thing to do at the time – but then along came watchOS 2, with Nightstand mode one of its headline features.

Nightstand mode allows the watch to serve as a bedside clock while charging – but only when on its side, with the buttons on top. Bad news for anyone who already laid out the cash for a vertical stand, and worse news for manufacturers whose stock was effectively rendered obsolete overnight.

For those who haven’t yet bought a stand, the good news is that manufacturers have been quick to respond. Zac Hall reviewed Spigen’s low-cost Apple Watch Night Stand, and now FŪZ Designs has launched a similarly-priced alternative in the form of the FŪZ Dock for Apple Watch … 
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Like a lot of 9to5Mac readers, I’m generally a purist when it comes to matching Apple hardware with accessories: I prefer iPhones and iPads without cases unless using one of Apple’s iPhone 6 Leather Cases or iPad Air Smart Covers and I can’t resist their overpriced Lightning Docks. If Apple made an Apple Watch Charging Stand, I’d be tempted to toss my Spigen Nightstand in a drawer in favor of the official solution.

And while I own both the Classic Buckle and Milanese Loop Apple Watch bands, I wear the simpler black Sport band on most days aside from a nice dinner or more formal occasion. Both are fine bands, but Classic Buckle can feel a bit too dressy with a t-shirt and shorts and Milanese Loop isn’t as comfortable as the other bands. For myself, I’ve found that there’s a space in between completely casual and totally formal for Apple Watch bands. Pad & Quill’s Classic Apple Watch Band takes a more traditional strap approach than even Apple’s Classic Buckle and fits this space, with four leather color options and two metal finishes that match stainless steel Apple Watches or Space Gray/Space Black Apple Watches.

I’ve been eager to try the Classic Apple Watch Band since Pad & Quill began transitioning their expertise in fine leather bag and case making toward prototyping Apple Watch bands a few months ago. After finally getting my hands on a Whiskey-colored American leather version, I’ve settled on a few first impressions on what is now my first favorite third-party Apple Watch band. Read on for details:

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Last week, Europe-based news website letemsvetemapplem.eu reported that Apple is preparing “Smart Bands” to add additional health tracking sensors to the current-generation Apple Watch. The article went on to say that Apple would release the bands starting next year instead of refreshing the Apple Watch’s core hardware, with speculation that Apple does not believe people will upgrade their Watches annually like iPhones. Based on discussions with our sources, we do not believe this report to be entirely true.

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The iPad accessory market is full of keyboards. Most of them double up as cases, they’re about as big as the iPad and they’re not well optimized for other devices. The Microsoft Universal Foldable Keyboard is different. It’s small enough to carry around in your pocket when folded, and works with iOS, Windows and Android devices. What’s more, you can have it paired to two devices at once and switch between them with the press of a button. It’s safe to say that this is one of the most versatile and portable Bluetooth keyboards on the market. This review was written entirely on it.

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Apple is preparing to make significant changes to its stores to simplify the experience by relocating iPod stock to accessory shelves and removing iPad-based Smart Signs, according to several Apple Retail managers briefed today on the plans. Apple will begin rolling out these notable changes overnight on Tuesday of next week to stores in the United States so that customers who begin coming in on Wednesday see the refreshed look.

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Spigen already created one of the most minimal and affordable Apple Watch charging stands with the Apple Watch Stand S330 — a design that fits right in next to an iMac, and works with both open and closed bands. But then Apple announced watchOS 2 and Nightstand Mode, which will will turn the Apple Watch into a proper alarm clock during charging, but only when it’s positioned on its side with the Digital Crown and side button facing up. Spigen’s new Apple Watch Night Stand S350 ($20) offers an even more minimal design with Nightstand Mode support, and an especially budget-friendly price. Check out my impressions below…

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Pixelmator is one of the best Photoshop alternatives available on the Mac App Store. I’ve been using it for quite some time now, but mostly just using a trackpad or mouse to manipulate layers, access tools and edit functions. There are tons of keyboard shortcuts. And if I had the time or patience to learn them all, I would have. Needless to say, I didn’t. So when I got the chance to check out EditorsKeys keyboard specifically designed for Pixelmator, I jumped at it.

To cut it down to the very basics – This is essentially a wired Apple keyboard with numeric keypad. Except it has custom keys to clearly label the Pixelmator keyboard shortcuts, making photo and image editing much quicker and easier. Simply put: If you use Pixelmator on Mac and you don’t already have a grasp of all the shortcuts, you should get this keyboard.

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Being a writer and video creator, my bags are easily some of the most important possessions I have. The reason is obvious: they protect my essential tech and gear. I’m always super picky about which bags or backpacks I choose for this hefty task, and most of them come at a steep price. They hardly every look what you may call “good” though. I’m usually all about function over form when it comes to my bag decision. Choosing durability and features like pocket space usually means you’ll need to compromise on design.

With that said, I don’t consider myself a “briefcase” kind of guy. The style has just never been my thing because briefcases tend to be rather conservative on space and stiff in shape. So what’s with all of this talk over bags and briefcases? It just so happens that I’ve found a briefcase that’s actually kind of a bag, and it delivers both form and function. If this is what you’d call a briefcase these days, I’m all in. Meet The Briefcase from Pad & Quill…
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