Cult of Mac Today
Posts
🎧 AirPods gift guide 🎧

🎧 AirPods gift guide 🎧

Choose the best models and accessories.

Leander Kahney
November 22, 2023

Every year for the last couple of years, I’ve bought my kids AirPods for Xmas.

Every year? Wait, what? Why every year?

‘Cos they keep losing them! Great for Tim Cook, but not great for me.

Despite being eminently losable, AirPods make for great gifts. What’s better than the gift of sound? They’re among the best products Apple ever made, packed with fantastic features, and the case can be engraved, which adds a great personal touch.

If you’re thinking of giving AirPods as a gift, check out our AirPods gift guide, which lays out the options and will help you decide which model is best.

As luck would have it, the entire AirPods line is on sale right now for Black Friday. We updated our Black Friday deals page, with AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) for just $189, the lowest price ever on the best AirPods you can buy. Plus, we found Apple Watch SE (another great gift) for just $179, the M1 MacBook Air for just $600 (refurb, but still great), and a whole lot more.

Also in today’s newsletter:

That annoying light on your car dashboard? No idea what it means? Is it bad? Use your iPhone camera to find out.
The EU is at it again, seeking to bar Apple and other tech companies from pairing parts and engaging in other consumer-hostile practices.
We have an exclusive discount on great MagEasy accessories for Black Friday. Save up to 60% and take another 5% off with coupon code cultofmac at checkout.
This setup uses a Thunderbolt dock to hook up a giant smart TV as a monitor.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

AirPods gift guide: Choose the best models and accessories

In our AirPods buying guide, we'll look at the pros and cons of AirPods 2, AirPods 3 AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max — and the best accessories.

Apple Black Friday deals: AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad and more [Updated Again!]

Here are the best Black Friday deals we've found on Apple gear so far. We will keep updating this post until the shopping event ends!

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Store}

A personalized AirTag dog collar keeps track of your best friend

Never worry about losing your pet again with one of Nine Twenty Eight's AirTag dog collars.

EU's proposed right-to-repair law incentivizes repairs, bans parts pairing

The European Parliament approves legislation that would require manufacturers to offer an additional year of warranty on repaired products among other things.

Elago Clear band for Apple Watch looks great, feels even greater [Review]

Almost everything is cooler when you can see right through it. Sadly, Apple stopped making transparent devices when it discontinued the iconic iMac G3. Not so with these watch bands!

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

Pick Wall Street winners with lifetime access to this powerful stock screener

The Tykr stock screener does more than identify strong performers. It also delivers investing knowledge and offers other useful tools.

Save more on excellent Apple accessories with this Black Friday code

Get 60% off great MagEasy Apple accessories for Black Friday. And take another 5% off is you use coupon code “cultofmac” at checkout!

Look up symbols from laundry tags and car dashboards with your iPhone camera

You can figure out the meaning of those cryptic icons with your iPhone. You don’t have to look up a guide or check Google to see what they mean; just take a picture and your phone will tell you.

Today in Apple history: iTunes cracks top 10 on list of US music stores

November 22, 2005: Two-and-a-half years after opening its virtual doors, the iTunes Music Store entered the list of top 10 U.S. music retailers.

Thunderbolt 4 dock helps M3 MacBook Pro share massive display and more [Setups]

In today's setup, two powerful MacBook Pros connect to a giant smart TV and other peripherals via a Thunderbolt 4 dock.

Tweet o’ the day

Apple Maps just hits different at this point, especially with this awful new Google Maps color scheme rolling out. Compare place views and directions...
— Mark Otto (@mdo)
5:28 PM • Nov 21, 2023

One more thing ...

❝

It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple.

— Steve Jobs, 2011.

Today’s poll

Which AirPods are your favorites?

Results from yesterday’s poll: How do you like Apple TV+ these days?

Best reader comments

Subscribe to The Weekender — Get the week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.

Reply

or to participate.