Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Incogni.
Back when I used to work as a reporter for MacWeek circa 1996, a fellow reporter and cubicle buddy was assigned to cover storage, or “snorage” as he disparagingly christened it.
I’ve been chuckling about it ever since. There’s nothing sexy about storage, but it’s increasingly important as media libraries balloon and everything needs backing up.
I’ve been using Synology network-attached storage devices for years, but almost exclusively for Time Machine backups of my Mac. I never really use them to their full potential, beyond a bit of BitTorrent pirating.
For example, I just recently discovered the magic of Plex, the media-streaming app that’s like having your own personal Netflix.
So I read with interest our hands-on review of Ugreen’s new NAS lineup, which is gunning for Synology and other NAS makers.
Ugreen is best known for its charging products, which are generally excellent, and it’s one of those low-cost but fast-rising Chinese brands that’s killing it on Amazon.
We like Ugreen’s new NAS devices a lot, but as our review explains, the cheapest one — which naturally is the most attractive to cheapskates like me — has a big drawback that makes it a no-go for me. Still, YMMV — and there’s always the more expensive one!
Also in today’s newsletter:
If you’re interested in really customizing your Mac to your liking, you’ve got to use custom icons for all your drives, folders and files. It can look amazing, and it’s a lot easier than you might think.
I’m looking forward to stuffing my face later this week (🦃), and maybe picking up some inexpensive baubles on Black Friday (wife already nixed the giant flat-screen TV upgrade I’d been eyeing). Early BF deals are already rolling out, and several of Apple’s newest and best products are already on sale. Here are some highlights:
🔥🔥🔥 M4 MacBook Air for $749 (regularly $999)
🔥🔥 iPad 11 for $279 (regularly $349)
🔥🔥 M3 iPad Air for $449 (regularly $599)
🔥 AirPods Pro 3 for $220 (regularly $249)
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I was surprised by the results of last Friday’s poll, which asked what everyone tracks with AirTags. Only one person said their wallet or purse, which is whack! I track my wallet — why does nobody else? Is it because AirTags are too bulky for most wallets? Or is it because of the way we wrote the poll? (That’s most likely, actually.)
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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Black Friday special coverage
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Cult of Mac’s buyback program
A message from The Deep View
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Tweets of the day
Wallpaper of the day
One more thing ...
Apple was about as pure of a Silicon Valley company as you could imagine. We started in a garage.
Today’s poll
What are you shopping for this Black Friday?
Results from last Friday’s poll: What items do you track with AirTags?
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