One of the big wins of using a password manager is that you don’t need to remember or enter most passwords—the app does that for you. Even those passwords that must be entered manually can be looked up if you forget them.

However, people who don’t use password managers regularly forget passwords and have to reset them—some surveys suggest that roughly half of all users admit to forgetting at least one password each month. While most account passwords can be easily reset by email, the Apple Account is a notable exception. Because it contains so much sensitive information, Apple protects it against relatively easy email hacks, which means recovering a forgotten Apple Account password requires different methods. So what should you—or someone you know—do if they forget their Apple Account password? And, what can you do in advance to make recovery painless?

Apple Account Recovery Methods

Apple offers five ways to regain access to an Apple Account if the password is forgotten and needs to be reset:

• Two-factor authentication: When you try to change your Apple Account password, Apple first sends an approval request to any trusted device that you can unlock with a passcode or password. By using this second, trusted factor, Apple can be sure that you’re the person requesting the password reset.
• Trusted phone number: If no trusted device is available because it has been lost, broken, or stolen, Apple falls back on sending a six-digit code via SMS text message or a voice call to a trusted phone number. While not quite as secure as a trusted device, this is still a good way to reset a password.
• Recovery contact: If neither a trusted device nor a trusted phone number is available, as might be the case for someone who has only an iPhone and has lost access to it, users can turn to a recovery contact—a person who can help in an emergency. The recovery contact simply looks up the one-time code and shares it.
• Recovery key: If the user has enabled a recovery key—a 28-character code—they can enter that to reset the password instead of using Apple’s Account Recovery (next). Using a recovery key is fast and easy, but you must first set it up and store it in a location accessible during a password reset. Only tech-savvy people who want more control over the account recovery process should set up a recovery key.
• Account Recovery: As long as the user hasn’t set up a recovery key, Apple offers an Account Recovery service when no trusted devices are available, no trusted phone numbers can receive verification codes, and no recovery contact is set or reachable. Account Recovery takes hours or days and relies on automated checks to confirm that the person resetting the password is doing so legitimately.

Setting Up Recovery Methods

Let’s run through how to set up each of these so you can enable the appropriate ones for your account and help your Apple-using family and friends do the same. Setting up all of these methods takes place in Settings > Your Name > Sign-In & Security (iPhone or iPad) or System Settings > Your Name > Sign-In & Security (Mac).

• Set up two-factor authentication: Nearly everyone already has two-factor authentication enabled. To confirm that, look at the Sign-In & Security screen. If two-factor authentication is off, turn it on; if it’s active, tap or click Two-Factor Authentication to view your trusted devices.
  
• Specify trusted phone numbers: You can set one or more trusted phone numbers in the same Two-Factor Authentication screen that lists your trusted devices for two-factor authentication. Scroll to the bottom and tap or click Add a Trusted Phone Number, as shown above.
• Add recovery contacts: Adding a recovery contact is similarly easy. On the Sign-In & Security screen, tap or click Recovery Contacts, then tap or click Add Recovery Contact. Apple suggests family members and frequent correspondents, but you can specify someone else as well. People in your Family Sharing group are added automatically; other people have to accept your request. There’s no harm in having multiple recovery contacts. If someone adds you as a recovery contact, you’ll see that at the bottom of the Recovery Contacts list. To help someone recover their account, tap their name on the Recovery Contacts screen, then follow the prompts to provide them with a recovery code.
  
• Create a recovery key: To set up a recovery key on the Sign-In & Security screen, tap or click Recovery Key, then follow the onscreen instructions. When you’re done, print or write down your recovery key and store it in a secure place. To complete the setup, you’ll need to confirm the key. Once you’ve set up a recovery key, resetting the password requires entering the key and a verification code sent to a trusted phone number. Also note that if you turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, you must have a recovery key or recovery contact because Apple won’t be able to help you recover your account.
• Invoke Account Recovery: You don’t need to do anything to set up Account Recovery—it’s merely the last-ditch option in case everything else fails.

Although that might seem like a lot, it should take only a few minutes to make sure two-factor authentication is turned on, specify a trusted phone number or two, and add one or more people as recovery contacts. Most people shouldn’t set up a recovery key because it prevents them from using Apple’s account recovery process.

Reset the Apple Account Password

You can start the process of resetting your Apple Account password in three places:

• On a trusted device: If you have a trusted device—one that you unlock with a passcode or password—using it to reset the password with two-factor authentication is by far the most straightforward approach.
• In the Apple Support app on a borrowed device: If you don’t have a trusted device but do have access to a trusted phone number or recovery contact, you can initiate the process from someone else’s device using the Apple Support app. Scroll down to Support Tools, tap Reset Password, tap Help Someone Else, enter your Apple Account email address or phone number, and follow the onscreen instructions.
• On the Web: If no other Apple device is available, you can start the password reset process using any Web browser at iforgot.apple.com.

If you need to fall back on Account Recovery, Apple says to avoid using any devices currently signed in with the Apple Account whose password you’re trying to reset, as activity on the Apple Account will automatically cancel the account recovery process. Remember, it can take days, though you can see how much longer you have to wait at iforgot.apple.com.

Finally, let us reiterate that storing the Apple Account password in a password manager—such as the free Passwords app Apple bundles with the current versions of its operating systems—means you can always look it up if you need it.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Francisco Javier Ortiz Marzo)

Spotlight has been a staple on macOS for decades, and at various points in its history, Apple has added new search capabilities. However, the revamp that Spotlight enjoyed in macOS 26 Tahoe is the most significant change in a long time. Here are the new features you’ll experience in Tahoe.

Filterable Interface

Apple has refocused the Spotlight interface to list all result types in a single view, rather than separating them by type as before. Apple claims the results are intelligently ranked, so in theory, what you’re most likely to want will appear at the top. As before, you invoke Spotlight with Command-Space, but when you start typing, it tries to auto-complete using the top hit. In the screenshot below, the user typed “Apple” and Spotlight added “Configurator” in white. Keep typing to change the autocomplete, double-click a result to open it, or use the arrow keys to select a result and press Return to open it or Tab to search inside it.

Having all the results in a single window may still be overwhelming, so Spotlight now lets you filter the results in several ways. Most notable is the horizontally scrollable line of buttons above the search results that lets you filter the results list to particular files or data types, results from specific apps, files stored in a third-party file provider like Google Drive, and even menu items. For example, clicking the Calendar button above the results shows only matching events.

Spotlight also features new dedicated browsing modes, so if you press Command-1 through Command-4 (or wiggle the pointer after invoking Spotlight to reveal browsing mode buttons), Spotlight limits the results to specific types of items:

• Applications: Press Command-1 to display all your apps in a Launchpad-like view; type a few letters to filter the results to matching apps. The button row at the top lets you filter further by App Store category.
  
• Files: Press Command-2 for a file browser. Although Spotlight provides suggestions and recent files, you’ll probably want to type words from the filename. The button row lets you limit the results to specific file types or documents from specific apps.
  
• Actions: Press Command-3 to see a long list of actions you can now perform from Spotlight. Many of these are from Apple’s apps, but third-party apps can also expose actions via Spotlight. More on this new feature shortly.
  
• Clipboard: Press Command-4 to see what you have copied to the clipboard recently and insert selected items with a click. More on clipboard history later, too.
  

Spotlight provides three additional ways to filter the results:

• By location: To search within top-level macOS containers and third-party cloud containers, you can type the location name and press Tab before typing a search string. Filtering by location works for the Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Applications folders, as well as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. (You may need to select the folder from the search results manually before pressing Tab the first few times; this trains Spotlight.) Unfortunately, searching by location doesn’t work for arbitrary folders; use a Finder search instead.
• By app: To filter the results to include only documents that a specific app can open, type its name and press Tab. Enter a search string to search within the filtered results.
• By kind: You can filter kinds of files by typing / and then the file type, like /PDF or /text, and then pressing Return. For even more kind searches, prefix your search with kind:filetype, like kind:csv or kind:presentation.

Trigger Actions (with Quick Keys)

Perhaps the most significant new feature of Spotlight is the ability to trigger actions across a wide variety of apps using the keyboard. For example, you can invoke Spotlight and type an action name, like start timer and press Return to initiate a timer in the Clock app. Spotlight then prompts you for the number of minutes.

For actions you perform regularly, you can speed things up by defining Quick Keys, which are character sequence shortcuts that stand in for the full action name. For example, you could set it up so that typing st in Spotlight expands to start timer.

Many Apple apps expose their features as Spotlight actions, and an ever-increasing number of third-party apps do as well. The only way to see which actions are available is to open Spotlight, press Command-3, and scroll through the list.

It’s worth calling out the fact that Apple’s Shortcuts app makes all its shortcuts available as Spotlight actions, so you can now use Spotlight to trigger additional automations.

Clipboard History

The other huge addition to Spotlight is clipboard history, which until now has required using a third-party utility. Clipboard history lets you access everything you have copied to the clipboard over a period of time, making it easy to paste text and graphics more than once. You turn on clipboard history and set Spotlight to remember clipboard items from the last 30 minutes, 8 hours, or 7 days in System Settings > Spotlight.

To access your clipboard history, invoke Spotlight, press Command-4, and either double-click an entry in the list or press the Down arrow key to select the desired clipboard item and press Return to paste it into the current text field. You can also type a few characters from the clipboard item to filter the list, but unfortunately, that works only with characters at the beginning of the item, not elsewhere.

Website Searches

Spotlight Web searches are quicker than switching to your Web browser, navigating to the site, finding the search field, and entering your search. Just open Spotlight, type the website name, press Tab, and then type a search string to search directly on that site. Sites that work well include Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon, IMDb, and eBay, but it’s worth trying any website you have already searched in Safari.

Spotlight learns its site‑specific searches from Safari; if you primarily use another browser, perform a few searches in Safari first to seed Spotlight’s knowledge.

Spotlight History

Finally, if you use the same Spotlight commands repeatedly, you might be able to avoid some unnecessary typing by invoking Spotlight and then pressing the Up arrow repeatedly to cycle back through your previous Spotlight commands. Once the one you want appears, press Return to insert it just as though you had typed it. Having access to your Spotlight history isn’t a game-changer, but it’s worth remembering for occasional use.

Going Beyond Spotlight

Spotlight in Tahoe takes a big step toward launchers like LaunchBar, Alfred, and Raycast, but those tools still lead in customization and extensibility. For many users, Spotlight now covers the basics—launching apps, opening files, triggering actions, and recalling clipboard items. If you need more—file operations beyond opening, deep in‑app data access, universal Web search, window management, or bespoke extensions—LaunchBar, Alfred, and Raycast remain the better choice.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Wirestock)

Social Media: Spotlight in macOS 26 Tahoe received a major upgrade, and you can now filter results, run app actions, search sites directly, and browse clipboard history—all starting from a quick press of Command‑Space.

We’re approaching the end of 2025, so we encourage you to consider your New Year’s resolutions. For many people, the new year offers an opportunity to reflect on habits we’d like to adopt or solidify. Although we support reducing social media use and making other positive lifestyle changes, we’d like to suggest a few additional resolutions to improve your digital security and reduce the risk of bad things happening to you online.

If you read through this list and think, “I’m already doing all that,” then you’re done. Keep up the good work!

Back Up All Your Devices Regularly

The most important thing you can do to avoid digital disasters is to back up your data regularly. Bad things happen to good devices, like a Mac’s SSD failing, an iPhone falling into a pool, or data being lost due to theft, fire, or flood. With a solid backup plan, you can recover from nearly any problem.

For the Mac, the easiest way to back up is to use an external drive with Time Machine, but an off-site or Internet backup is also essential. Backblaze is a good choice, but there are numerous online backup services. For iPhones and iPads, it’s simplest to back up to iCloud, which automatically happens every night if you turn it on in Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup. You can also back up iPhones and iPads to your Mac if you do not have enough iCloud storage space. Apple Watches automatically back up to their paired iPhones, and that Watch data is included in iPhone backups, making restores straightforward. Whatever your setup, restore a few files periodically as a test to make sure your backups are working.

Always Install Security Updates

An important step to enhance your security is to install new operating system updates and security updates promptly after Apple releases them. While the specifics rarely make headlines because they are highly technical and detailed, you can gauge the significance of security updates by noting that a typical update fixes 10–30 vulnerabilities identified by Apple or external researchers. Other security updates include only one or two fixes, as they’re aimed at addressing zero-day vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild.

It’s usually wise to wait a few days after an update appears before installing it, in case it causes any undesirable side effects. Although such problems are rare, when they do happen, Apple quickly pulls the update, resolves the issue, and releases a new version, typically within a few days.

Use a Password Manager

We’ll keep emphasizing the importance of a password manager until passkeys—the replacement for passwords—become widespread, which will take years. Until then, if you’re still typing passwords manually or copying and pasting from a list stored in a file, please start using a password manager like 1Password or Apple’s Passwords, which is now pretty good. A password manager provides six significant benefits:

• It generates strong passwords for you. Password1234 can be hacked in seconds.
• It stores your passwords securely. Anyone walking by your unlocked Mac can read an Excel file on your desktop.
• It enters passwords for you. Wouldn’t that be easier than typing them in?
• It audits existing accounts. How many of your accounts use the same weak password, which has likely been stolen in multiple breaches?
• It lets you access passwords on all your devices. Logging in to websites is just as easy on the iPhone and iPad!
• It can store and enter two-factor authentication codes. Whenever possible, protect important accounts with two-factor authentication so even a stolen password won’t provide access.

A bonus benefit for families is password sharing. It allows couples to share essential passwords or parents and teens to share specific passwords.

Using a password manager is quicker, simpler, and more secure. If you need assistance getting started, reach out.

Beware of Phishing Email

Individuals and businesses often experience security breaches due to phishing, which involves fake emails that trick someone into revealing login details, credit card numbers, or other sensitive data. While spam filters catch many of these attacks, you must stay alert. Here’s what to watch out for:

• Any email that tries to get you to reveal information, follow a link, or sign a document
• Messages from unfamiliar people, asking you to take an unusual action
• Direct email from a large company for whom you’re an anonymous customer
• Forged email from a trusted source requesting sensitive information
• Urgent threats like “account locked,” “unauthorized charge,” or “action required”
• All messages that contain numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes

When unsure, avoid clicking the link or replying to the email. Instead, reach out to the sender via another method to verify the message’s authenticity. Legitimate companies—especially Apple, financial institutions, and cellular carriers—will never ask for your password or two‑factor codes by email, text, or voice.

Never Respond to Unsolicited Calls or Texts

Phishing attacks increasingly take place via texts and phone calls—and even some via deepfake audio and video. Because of weaknesses in the telephone system, these messages and calls can appear to come from trusted companies like Apple and Amazon. Other common scams warn about unauthorized logins or payments to trick recipients into calling scammers, advertise fake deliveries with malicious tracking links, or send fake two-factor authentication messages that prompt recipients to click a link to “secure” their account.

Avoid clicking links in texts unless you recognize the sender and it makes sense for you to receive that link. (For example, Apple might send text messages with delivery details for a recently placed order.) Never enter login information on a website you reach through a link because you can’t be sure it’s legitimate. Instead, if you’re interested in more details, go directly to the company’s official website by typing its URL into your browser, then log in from there.

For calls from companies, unless you’re expecting a callback regarding a support ticket you opened, don’t answer—caller ID can be spoofed. Let the call go to voicemail, and if you believe it’s important to respond, look up the company’s phone number from a reliable source and contact someone at that number instead of using the one provided by voicemail.

Avoid Anything Associated with Sketchy Websites

We won’t dwell on this last point, but it’s worth noting that you’re much more likely to encounter malware on fringe websites or those that cater to societal vices. The more you can steer clear of sites that deal with pirated software, cryptocurrency, adult content, gambling, or the sale of illicit substances, the safer you’ll be. That’s not to say reputable sites haven’t been hacked and used to spread malware, but such cases are far less frequent.

Don’t call numbers from pop‑ups or ads, don’t grant remote access, and don’t pay for any service you didn’t seek out unprompted. Instead, go directly to the company’s official site (type the URL) or contact us for help. And never paste commands into Terminal from websites or “verification” pages—you could install malware without realizing it. If you are worried after spending time in the darker corners of the Web, download a free copy of Malwarebytes and manually scan for malware.

Let’s raise a glass to staying safe online in 2026!

(Featured image by iStock.com/Marut Khobtakhob)

Apple’s latest operating systems have eliminated a longstanding annoyance for frequent travelers: the lack of time zone support in Reminders. If you had set a reminder to alert you at 9 AM Eastern and then traveled from Virginia to California, your alert would go off at 6 AM, which is likely unhelpful and potentially sleep‑disrupting. In iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 Tahoe, you can tap or click the time in a reminder and set the appropriate time zone so the alert fires at the intended local “wall clock” time. For example, set a reminder for “9 AM Pacific” when you’ll be in California so it alerts at 9 AM local time there. There’s an option to turn on manual time zone support in Settings > Apps > Reminders > Time Zone (iOS and iPadOS) and Reminders > Settings (macOS), but it wasn’t necessary in our testing.

(Featured image by iStock.com/VTT Studio)

A potentially surprising and fun new feature in Messages in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 Tahoe is conversation backgrounds. To set one, tap the person or group icon at the top of the conversation, then tap Backgrounds, select an image, and tap the blue checkmark to save. What you might not realize is that conversation backgrounds are shared with others in the conversation who use iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26, so be sure to choose appropriate backgrounds. We recommend explaining what you’ve done, as the background can radically change the look of the Messages interface, which some people may find confusing or even upsetting if it happens unexpectedly.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Hector Pertuz)

If you use certain apps or documents regularly, you can ensure they’re ready to go after a restart by manually adding them to your Login Items list. Some login items are also added automatically by apps that want to be available at all times. Either way, when the Mac boots, it automatically opens all login items. But it’s easy to end up with login items for apps you no longer use, which can slow down startup and overall performance, increase the risk of conflicts, and even expose you to attacks. We encourage you to review your Mac’s login items periodically and remove any items you’re not using. Just navigate to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, select the unwanted items, and click the minus button. If you make a mistake, drag the app back in from the Finder.

(Featured image by iStock.com/artisteer)

Apple introduced a neat new feature in the Phone app in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 (but not macOS 26): callback reminders. Whenever you miss a call and think, “I’d better call this person back later,” you can now create a reminder to do that right within the Phone app. Swipe left on any call, tap the blue clock icon ➊, and select Remind Me in 1 Hour, Tonight, Tomorrow, or Later ➋. The first three options create a reminder in your default Reminders list immediately; Remind Me Later opens the New Reminder editor so you can set a specific time and add details ➌. Tap the blue checkmark button to save your changes ➍.

(Featured image by iStock.com/le_cyclope)

Phishing scams have entered a new, AI-powered phase and can now convincingly mimic real people. Attackers can generate fake voice or video deepfakes to impersonate CEOs authorizing urgent payments, IT staff requesting access, or family members needing help. If you receive a voice or video call from someone you know at an unknown number who urges you to reveal confidential information or send money immediately, slow down, check for telltale signs, and verify before acting. Listen for unnatural pauses, overly smooth phrasing, or odd emotional timing. Visually, look for inconsistent lighting or shadows, artifacts around the hairline, ears, or teeth—or anything that seems “off,” especially around the mouth and eyes when the person moves. For verification, ask for a detail that only they would know. If you’re at all unsure whether the call is legitimate, hang up and contact them—or someone else who will know more—through a separate, trusted channel. A few seconds of skepticism can prevent a costly mistake.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Tero Vesalainen; article image by iStock.com/Boris023)

If you lose or break the power adapter that came with your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, make sure to replace it with a charger that meets or exceeds the machine’s required wattage. A charger with too low a wattage may result in little or no charging (or even battery drain while working), and it certainly won’t enable fast charging. You can check the adapter’s wattage by reading the fine print on the charger itself, or by opening the System Information app (in the Applications/Utilities folder) and checking the AC Charger section in the Power screen. It’s safe to use an adapter with a higher wattage than required, but we don’t recommend going below the wattages of Apple’s included adapters:

• 13-inch MacBook Air: 30 or 35 watts standard, 67 watts for fast charging
• 15-inch MacBook Air: 35 watts standard, 70 watts for fast charging
• 14-inch MacBook Pro: 67 or 70 watts standard, or 96 watts for the Pro and Max chips, 96 watts for fast charging
• 16-inch MacBook Pro: 140 watts for both standard and fast charging

(Featured image by iStock.com/Isaac Lee)

The holidays may be just around the corner, but we field requests for tech gear recommendations year-round. Below you’ll find our suggestions, whether you’re shopping for an Apple tech enthusiast or simply looking to upgrade your own devices and accessories. Plenty of other excellent options exist—we’d love to hear about the peripherals that have worked well for you. We’ve included links to both the manufacturer’s website and Amazon, where you can sometimes find better pricing.

External SSD

All Macs now use fast internal SSDs, but built-in storage gets expensive fast. The pricing of external solid-state drives makes them compelling for both additional storage and silent Time Machine backups. SSDs also provide the ultimate performance for demanding workflows. The Samsung and Crucial SSDs are good general-purpose drives; for the highest performance with Thunderbolt 5, look at the OWC Envoy Ultra.

• Samsung T7 Portable SSD (Samsung, Amazon)
• Crucial X9 Portable SSD (Crucial, Amazon)
• OWC Envoy Ultra (OWC, Amazon)

External Hard Disk Drive

For high-capacity backups or archives, spinning hard drives remain the budget-friendly choice. They come in sizes up to 20 TB, and you can pay less than $15 per terabyte, although $20–$30 per terabyte is more common. It’s impossible to recommend specific models without knowing how much storage you need, but these manufacturers are generally highly regarded. Because hard drive prices can fluctuate, visit diskprices.com to identify current deals on new drives.

• Seagate: Seagate offers a collection of desktop and portable drives under its own name and the LaCie brand. Apart from some of the larger LaCie drives targeted at professionals, most are focused on the consumer market.
• Western Digital: Although some debate Seagate versus Western Digital reliability, many people like the company’s wide variety of external hard drives.
• OWC: Other World Computing sells desktop and portable drives with an emphasis on RAID storage and professional uses. OWC also offers enclosures for installing bare drives purchased elsewhere, which is a good way to save money if you want to upgrade the drive over time.

27-inch External Displays

An overwhelming number of displays in many different sizes work with the Mac. The sweet spot is often the 27-inch size used by Apple’s Studio Display, which leads the pack in both features and price. It’s a 5K display that provides unparalleled sharpness at its standard pixel-doubled resolution of 2560×1440. Competition in the 5K display space has picked up, with new entrants from Asus, Alogic, BenQ, Samsung, ViewSonic, and others. If 5K displays still exceed your budget, check out the 27-inch 4K displays from Alogic and BenQ below, which connect via USB-C. Dell and BenQ also make high-quality screens that connect using Thunderbolt, but they’re more expensive. Third-party displays often don’t include webcams and generally feature subpar speakers compared to the Apple Studio Display, so building a comparable display would require a separate webcam (or an iPhone using Continuity Camera) and speakers.

• Apple Studio Display (5K, Apple, Amazon)
• Asus ProArt Display PA27JCV (5K Asus, Amazon)
• BenQ PD2730S (5K, BenQ, Amazon)
• Alogic Clarity 27” 4K Monitor (4K, Alogic, Amazon)
• BenQ MA270U (4K, BenQ, Amazon)

Webcams

If you have a display that lacks a webcam, or you’re looking to improve on the relatively unimpressive webcams in Apple’s older devices, you now have some excellent options to choose from. These webcams offer top-notch image quality and often include advanced features, such as automatic framing, desk mode, and cinematic effects.

• Insta360 Link 2C (Insta360, Amazon)
• Logitech MX Brio (Logitech, Amazon)
• Elgato Facecam 4K (Elgato, Amazon)

Earbuds

A good set of earbuds is helpful for videoconferencing and, of course, for listening to music or podcasts while commuting, exercising, or just out and about. The AirPods and AirPods Pro are the default options for Apple users, and both are excellent, with the AirPods Pro in particular offering impressive noise cancellation. The AirPods 4 offer active noise cancellation as a $50 option, but they don’t match the AirPods Pro 3 in that category. EarFun has some good earbuds at much lower prices; Sony and Technics compete on the high end.

• AirPods 4 (Apple, Amazon)
• AirPods Pro 3 (Apple, Amazon)
• EarFun Air 2 (EarFun, Amazon)
• Sony WF‑C710N (Sony, Amazon)
• Sony WF‑1000XM5 (Sony, Amazon)
• Technics EAH‑AZ100 (Technics, Amazon)

Laptop Chargers

Although all MacBooks come with a power adapter (we’re fond of the two-port models), you might want additional chargers that stay plugged in wherever you work or take up less space in your laptop bag. Plus, Apple’s chargers, though high quality, are expensive and large. Consider these alternatives, keeping in mind that fast charging requires higher wattages than standard charging (70W for the MacBook Air, 96W for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and 140W for the 16-inch MacBook Pro). Extra ports are often welcome, and the OneAdaptr chargers work in 200 countries.

• Ugreen Nexode 100W 4-Port Charger (Ugreen, Amazon)
• Anker Prime 100W 3-Port Charger (Anker, Amazon)
• Ugreen Nexode Pro 160W 4-Port Charger (Ugreen, Amazon)
• OneAdaptr OneWorld65 and OneWorld135 International Adapter

USB Hubs

When you need to connect extra devices to your Mac, an inexpensive USB hub is often the answer (unless you prefer a Thunderbolt dock, next). The best hub for you depends on which ports you need, so our choices cover a range: the Anker 555 offers many different ports, the Anker 10-port hub provides many USB Type-A ports, and the Belkin 4-port hub focuses on USB-C ports.

• Anker 555 USB-C Hub (8-in-1) (Anker, Amazon)
• Anker 60W 10-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub (Anker, Amazon)
• Belkin USB-C to 4-Port USB-C Hub (Belkin, Amazon)

Thunderbolt Docks

For more demanding scenarios, a full Thunderbolt dock is worth the extra cost over a USB hub. A Thunderbolt dock lets you connect multiple high-resolution monitors, high-speed drives, Ethernet, and more—all while charging your laptop through one cable. For the ultimate performance on a Thunderbolt 5-equipped Mac, go for the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock. Otherwise, the Sonnet and CalDigit docks boast the most ports in horizontal and vertical form factors, respectively, and the OWC Thunderbolt mini Dock trades some ports for portability. Each company also offers more choices with different sets of ports.

• OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock (OWC, Amazon)
• Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock (Sonnet, Amazon)
• CalDigit TS4 (CalDigit, Amazon)
• OWC Thunderbolt mini Dock (OWC, Amazon)

Non-Apple Pointing Devices

Not everyone loves Apple’s trackpads or the flat Magic Mouse. Thankfully, many great third-party mice and pointing devices work with the Mac. Although most Bluetooth mice will work with the Mac, additional software may be necessary to control tracking speed, extra buttons, or scroll wheels. Unusual pointing devices like the Kensington trackball and Contour RollerMouse may be appreciated by those suffering from hand or wrist pain from mousing.

• Logitech MX Anywhere 3S for Mac (Logitech, Amazon)
• Logitech MX Master 4 for Mac (Logitech, Amazon)
• Kensington Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball (Kensington, Amazon)
• Contour RollerMouse Pro3 (Contour, Amazon)

Non-Apple Mac Keyboards

All Macs other than the Mac mini come with a keyboard, but if you prefer a different key feel or layout, there’s a world of keyboards beyond Apple’s options (but only Apple’s support Touch ID). You’ll need to decide if you want a full-size keyboard with a numeric keypad or a compact keyboard that takes up less space on your desk—there are also in-between sizes. Also, different keyboards use different types of switches under their keycaps, so you may need to experiment to find what you like best. It’s worth buying a keyboard designed for the Mac to ensure it has or can be configured with the correct keys. The recommendations below should get you started; also check out other products from these manufacturers.

• Logitech MX Keys Mini for Mac (Logitech, Amazon)
• Logitech MX Keys S for Mac (Logitech, Amazon)
• Keychron V6 Max (Keychron, Amazon)
• Das Keyboard 4 Professional for Mac (Das Keyboard, Amazon)

iPad Keyboards

Apple makes some of the best iPad keyboards, but they don’t work with all older models. The company makes the Magic Keyboard for the M4 and M5 iPad Pro models, the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and earlier iPad Pro models, and the Magic Keyboard Folio for the 10th-generation iPad. If you want to spend less, leave out the trackpad, or have a different case design, look into the alternatives.

• Apple Magic Keyboard (Apple, Amazon: Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, Magic Keyboard Folio)
• Logitech Slim Folio (base iPad) (Logitech, Amazon)
• Logitech Combo Touch (base iPad) (Logitech, Amazon)
• ESR Rebound Magnetic Keyboard Case 360 (ESR, Amazon)

Small-Device External Batteries

Although Apple continuously improves battery life for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, there will always be situations—travel, camping, non-stop use—where an external battery is a lifesaver. That’s especially true for older devices whose batteries don’t last as long as they used to. Apple has even gotten into the game with a MagSafe battery, but it works only with the company’s newest iPhone model.

• Belkin BoostCharge Plus 10K (Belkin, Amazon)
• TravelCard Plus (TravelCard)
• Anker 622 Magnetic Battery (Anker, Amazon)
• Apple iPhone Air MagSafe Battery (Apple, Amazon)

MagSafe Chargers for the iPhone

While wired charging remains faster and more efficient than wireless options, MagSafe charging offers undeniable convenience for iPhone users. MagSafe chargers also work with wireless charging cases for the AirPods Pro, and chargers like the KUXIU X55 even include an Apple Watch charging puck.

• Apple MagSafe Charger (Apple, Amazon)
• Belkin BoostCharge Pro Portable Wireless Charger (Belkin, Amazon)
• KUXIU X55 3-in-1 Wireless Charger (KUXIU, Amazon)

One final piece of advice. For many of these product categories, you’ll find a dizzying array of products at bargain basement prices from alphabet-soup Chinese manufacturers. Although some may make quality products, we recommend sticking with reputable companies that have been serving Apple users for years. Even if their products are somewhat more expensive, they’re less likely to cut corners on manufacturing quality and safety (especially important with batteries and cables) and more likely to provide support in the event of problems.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Andrey Mitrofanov)