Stocking stuffers for techies

If you want some actually thoughtful gift ideas, check out our top post today.

We list eight gadgets that might make for the perfect gift for the technophile in your life.

And it's not just the same old stuff you see in every other gift guide; we actually took the time to sniff out some unusual gadgets that you may not know about.

But don't delay -- the holidays are fast approaching. Shipping deadlines will soon be upon us!

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

P.S. If your New Year's resolutions involve any kind of podcasting or streaming, check out the Setups post below. It serves up some good gear advice from a pro streamer who has quite the setup.

The holiday season is fast unfolding, and Christmas will be here before Hermey the elf from the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can say, “Well, sir, someday I’d like to be a dentist.” So it’s time to act fast if you want to get a gadget-y gift for the techie or geek in your life in time for deliveries by December 25. Check out some cool ideas.

After recent problems in China, Apple continues to ramp up iPhone assembly in India. The number of iOS handsets assembled in that country reportedly will triple in coming years.

An epic story of a slave's quest for freedom, Emancipation is now streaming on Apple TV+. And to make sure Will Smith fans can watch it, Apple is offering a free two-month trial of its streaming video service. That’s much longer than the usual seven-day trial.

A clamshell case that charges and protects your gadgets on the go, the Momax Airbox might be the ultimate companion for your Apple devices. This road-worthy Apple accessory is on sale now -- and Cult of Mac readers can save an extra 10% with promo code CULTOFMAC10

Matter lets devices from different makers work together over the same network, and it's coming to Thread-enabled devices in the Eve Door and Window, Eve Motion and Eve Energy lineups.

Apple TV+ earned Golden Globe nominations in five important categories, including Best Drama. The creepy, very popular series Severance earned two of the nominations, and prison thriller Black Bird got the rest.

Managing passwords is and always has been a giant pain. It isn’t the best system, but it’s the system we’ve got. Well, actually, not if Apple can do anything about it. Passkeys are a new system that automatically signs you in to online services using your phone’s Face ID (or Touch ID) or your computer’s password.

On December 12, 1980, Apple went public, floating 4.6 million shares of stock at $22 per share. The Apple IPO makes some people rich -- and others quite mad.

Ahoy there, would-be video streamers — today’s featured computer setup comes from an airtight and seaworthy pro streaming operation you might want to emulate. The folks behind Sailing Illustrated shared their streaming rig, based on a Mac Studio, an M1 Mac mini, an M1 MacBook Pro, a Rode RodeCaster Pro production studio and a slew of related gear and software.

Tweetz o' the day

One more thing ...

"I think death is the most wonderful invention of life. It purges the system of these old models that are obsolete. I think that's one of Apple's challenges, really. When two young people walk in with the next thing, are we going to embrace it and say this is fantastic? Are we going to be willing to drop our models, or are we going to explain it away? I think we'll do better, because we're completely aware of it and we make it a priority." -- Steve Jobs, Playboy interview, 1985.

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