Since the iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus introduced Qi wireless charging into Apple products for the first time last year, more and more users have begun hunting for the best wireless charging pad out there. We've detailed this topic in numerous posts over the past year, and in the end, many buying recommendations for Qi mats come down to support for Apple's 7.5W fast wireless charging and overall design.
In both categories, Twelve South's all new PowerPic Frame for iPhone excels. The accessory is a wooden picture frame that fits any vertically framed 5"x7" photo, while also charging any Qi-compatible smartphone. In Apple's lineup of devices, that means it supports the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XS Max, and XR, but if you use Google or other Android smartphones that have Qi wireless charging, you can use the PowerPic as well.
Setup
PowerPic essentially comes in three pieces: the wooden picture frame, the back plate that makes up the main charging section of the device, and a small metal support arm. The support arm connects easily into the back of the PowerPic, and a little cutout allows for cable organization.
The included cable is a 1.5m USB-C to USB-A cable. PowerPic doesn't come with an AC adapter, so if you want to plug it into a wall then your outlet will need a USB socket, or you can use any traditional wall adapter brick.
To change the image in the frame, PowerPic is built like a regular picture frame. The back has small clips that hold the charging plate in place, and if you swivel these clips away, the plate will disengage from the wooden frame. Even with the added weight of the charging plate, PowerPic didn't feel particularly heavy to me, and the support arm kept the accessory nice and sturdy wherever I placed it.
This article shows you how to change the icon of any file or folder on your Mac. Apart from adding a bit of personal style to your desktop, there are good practical reasons why you might want to do so.
For example, perhaps you've dragged some folders to your Dock so that you can easily drop items into them, but you don't want to have to keep hovering your mouse over their generic blue icons to identify which is which.
To customize a file or folder icon, simply follow the steps below. You can use your own pictures as icons. Alternatively, there are a wealth of icon libraries hosted online, so you could try a web search for free icon pack downloads for Mac.
Note: If you find icons online in the .icns format, you can drag these icon types directly onto the icon in a file or folder's Info panel, thereby skipping the Preview steps described below.
Double-click the picture or icon you want to use to open it in your Mac's built-in Preview app.
Choose Edit -> Select All in Preview's menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Command-A.
Choose Edit -> Copy in Preview's menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Command-C.
Next, right-click (or Ctrl-click) the file or folder whose icon you want to change and select Get Info from the contextual menu.
Click the icon in the top left of the Info panel to select it.
Choose Edit -> Paste from the menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Command-V.
Click the red traffic light to close the Info panel, and you're done.
If you want to revert a file or folder to its default icon, open its Get Info panel again, click the icon in the panel to select it, and choose Edit -> Cut or use the keyboard shortcut Command-X. You can also select and copy (Edit -> Copy) a file or folder's icon in its Info panel for use elsewhere.
Withings today announced the Pulse HR, the first all-new addition to its health and fitness tracker range since the French company relaunched two months ago.
Reviving the classic design of Withings Pulse – the first tracker Withings ever launched in 2013 – Pulse HR matches an OLED display in stainless steel casing with a silicone wristband that comes in several optional colors.
Under the Pulse HR is a PPG heart rate sensor capable of measuring pulse at 10-minute intervals and continuous heart rate measurements during workout sessions, which include a full breakdown of HR zones synced to the Health Mate app.
By raising their wrist or using the tracker's button, users can scroll through time/date, heart rate, calories burned, activity goal progress, real-time workout information, and smartphone notifications.
Like the Withings Steel HR smartwatch, Pulse HR includes multi-sport tracking for over 30 different activities from yoga, volleyball, and rowing to boxing, skiing and ice hockey. It also offers GPS-connected automatic activity recognition for over 10 activities including walking, running and swimming, and is water resistant up to 50 meters.
The 20-day battery life enables full sleep tracking, including a Smart Wake-up feature that can wake users with vibration alarms at the most optimal times during their sleep cycle.
Pulse HR begins pre-orders today and will ship in time for the holidays on December 5, priced $129.95. Additional information is available on the Withings website, where customers can browse its full range of fitness trackers and other connected products like scales, blood pressure monitors, smart thermometers, sleep trackers, and more.
Kano today announced that its Harry Potter Coding Kit is now available for purchase via the Apple online store and in Apple retail locations across the United States, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Priced at $100, the Harry Potter Coding Kit is designed to teach beginning coders of all ages how to program. The Coding Kit includes a build-your-own Harry Potter wand that's used in conjunction with a Harry Potter-themed coding app to program the wand to complete various challenges.
We reviewed the Harry Potter Coding Kit from Kano last month and found it to be an excellent way for any Harry Potter enthusiast to learn the basics of coding.
The wand can be used to cast and create spell effects, with more than 30 Wizarding World gestures available. All of the in-app challenges and tutorials are based on the Harry Potter books and films, and coders will be able to do things like levitate a feather, summon Bertie Botts beans, banish pesky pixies, color pygmy puffs, set off colorful fireworks at a Quidditch field, and more.
At select Apple retail stores, Apple employees will be providing interactive demos of the programmable wand in the Harry Potter Coding Kit.
Along with the Coding Kit's expansion to the Apple Store, Kano today also announced the launch of a new series of videos that demonstrate how it works. The videos star James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.
OWC's latest dock, which offers a total of 14 ports and works with Thunderbolt 3-enabled Macs and PCs, is now available for purchase.
The dock, which we reviewed back in October, is one of the best Thunderbolt 3 docks available on the market thanks to its price point, wide port availability, and the fact that it supports up to 85W, which is enough juice to power the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
There are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, five 5Gb/s USB-A ports, an 8Gb/s USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port, a microSD card slot, an SD card slot, a digital audio output port, a Mini DisplayPort Port, S/PDIF output and combo 3.5 mm audio ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port.
It is OWC's most powerful dock with the highest number of available ports for attaching everything from 4K and 5K displays to your Mac to SSDs, cameras, mice, keyboards, and other accessories. It can also charge your iPhones, iPads, and other devices.
Stardew Valley for iPhone and iPad received a major update today, introducing several new, improved control options.
There are new options for a virtual joystick or invisible joystick, along with the option to add an action/attack button. A joypad adjuster tool lets you customize your onscreen controls, and there's now support for Made for iPhone Bluetooth controllers.
The auto attack feature has been improved so you're always facing the nearest foe, and it's easier to run from monsters in dangerous situations.
From the toolbar, you can now slide up and down to access everything in your inventory, and there are stability improvements when exploring in the mines.
Today's update also introduces an auto-save feature that lets you continue the game where you left off. The full release notes for the update are below:
New control system options and improvements: - Virtual joystick, invisible joystick options - Action / attack button option - Auto-Attack - targeting improved to always face the nearest foe. Easier to flea from monsters - Joypad adjuster tool - complete customization of your onscreen controls - MFi controller support - Slide toolbar up and down to access whole inventory - Stability improvements particularly in mines - Game auto-saves so you can continue where you left off even if you kill the app or the device unloads it* - Game saves optional backup each time you exit an area - Other bug fixes
*does not save during festivals/cutscenes. Only 'end of day' saves can be loaded to/from other platforms.
Introduced on October 23, Stardew Valley also lets players fight monsters to earn money, mine ores, fish, get to know townspeople, and engage in social activities in the town. The game cycles through different seasons with various crops and activities to partake in as the game progresses through the years, so there's always something new and exciting to do.
Stardew Valley offers hundreds of hours of gameplay, and there are no in-app purchases to deal with. A farming simulation might not sound appealing, but Stardew Valley sucks players in with crop and farm strategies, min/maxing profit each season, engaging combat, a never-ending list of achievements to earn, and much more.
Stardew Valley can be downloaded from the App Store for $7.99. [Direct Link]
Apple in late October unveiled a refreshed version of the Mac mini, marking the first update to the company's smallest desktop machine in four years.
We managed to get our hands on one of the new Mac mini models, and in our latest video, we unbox it and share our first impressions on the revamped machine.
The Mac mini's design hasn't changed, and it's still a 7.7-inch square box that's 1.4 inches thick, but it is available in a new Space Gray color rather than the traditional silver.
It's otherwise the same, but with the exception of a new selection of ports. The Mac mini is outfitted with four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, an Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
While the design is largely the same, the internals of the Mac mini have been entirely overhauled. There are new, more powerful components, which necessitated a bigger internal fan with twice as much airflow, expanded vents, and a revamped power supply that offers 70 percent more maximum sustained power.
The base Mac mini ships with a 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, and this is actually the first time that all Mac minis have had at least quad-core processors. A higher-end 3.2GHz 6-core Core i7 processor is also available as an upgrade option.
In our testing of the entry-level Mac mini, it earned a single-core score of 4452 and a multi-core score of 12391. That puts the base model on par with lower-end 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models from 2017 and 2018.
All 2018 Mac mini models ship with an included T2 chip, which makes sure all of the data on the SSD is encrypted using dedicated AES hardware, and offers a secure boot to ensure your software isn't tampered with and only OS software trusted by Apple loads at startup.
The Mac mini uses Intel integrated UHD Graphics 630, but with the Thunderbolt 3 ports, it's able to connect to an eGPU for workflows that require more graphics power. Thunderbolt 3 also lets the Mac mini connect to two 4K displays at 60Hz or one 5K display at 60Hz.
8GB of RAM comes standard in the Mac mini, but it can handle up to 64GB, with Apple offering an option to customize the machine with additional RAM when placing an order.
Likewise, the base machine also ships with a 128GB SSD, but it can be upgraded to 2TB of storage in total.
None of these new features in the Mac mini come cheap, and the base level model now starts at $799, up from the $499 starting price of the 2014 model.
Apple sells the Mac mini in two configurations: $799 for 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 chip, 8GB RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and a 128GB SSD, and $1,099 for a 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel core i5 chip, 8GB RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and a 256GB SSD.
Unfortunately, as with many Apple products, the Mac mini is not really user upgradeable. You can upgrade the RAM, but you need to take the entire machine apart, which is tricky. The CPU and SSD, meanwhile, are soldered in place and can't be upgraded after purchase.
What do you think of Apple's new 2018 Mac mini? Was it worth the four-year wait? Let us know in the comments.
The Harry Potter version of the Lifeprint printer is identical in function to the regular Lifeprint printer options, but it has a unique Harry Potter design and the branding is a clever way to highlight the Lifeprint's augmented reality capabilities.
In the Harry Potter universe, photographs are animated rather than still, something that Lifeprint mimics through an augmented reality app that can play videos or Live Photos in the Lifeprint app when a photo printed with a Lifeprint printer is scanned.
Design
Functionally, the Harry Potter printer is similar in design and shape to the standard Lifeprint printer. Like all Lifeprint printers, it is a ZINK printer which means it uses ZINK paper with no need to bother with printer cartridges and other hassles.
The Harry Potter printer is rectangular in shape and is thicker and wider than an iPhone, but still portable enough to easily tuck into a bag or backpack. It measures in at about 4.7 inches long, just under an inch thick, and three inches wide.
You can get the printer in either black and gold or black and white, with both options decorated with a Hogwarts crest on the front. The crest isn't as ornate as it is in the Harry Potter movies, but it features the four houses, an outline of the castle, and the Hogwarts motto, "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus" which means Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.
The printer itself is made from a gold plastic with a textured top plate where the Hogwarts branding is emblazoned. Below the Hogwarts crest, there's a circular spot where you can add a house crest. The printer ships with four circular crests for Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.
Apple today added the HomePod to its online store for refurbished products in the United States, offering the smart speaker at a discount for the first time.
The HomePod, normally priced at $349, is available in both white and space gray for $299, a $50 discount off of the regular price.
There is no HomePod listing on the main Apple refurbished site as of yet, but it should be added in the near future. For now, the HomePod can be purchased from the individual HomePod refurbished listing. Apple is still rolling out refurbished models, so the page doesn't work on occasion, but will show up with refreshing.
A refurbished HomePod bought today will be delivered between November 30 and December 14, depending on shipping method selected at the time of purchase.
Introduced in February, the HomePod is Apple's Siri-enabled smart speaker that pairs well with Apple Music. It serves as a Home hub, features AirPlay 2 support, can make phone calls, and offers up most of the capabilities of Siri on an iPhone.
Apple's refurbished stock is often limited in quantity and can sell out, which is something to be aware of. Checking the refurbished site often or using a tracking site is the best way to figure out when a particular item that you might want is in stock.
Purchasing a refurbished HomePod from Apple is a good way to get a like-new device at a lower price point. All of Apple's refurbished products are tested, certified, cleaned, and guaranteed with a one-year warranty that can be extended with AppleCare+.
B&H Photo has debuted a new sale this week, discounting the 2018 13-inch MacBook Air by $100 and marking one of the first major discounts for the notebook, which Apple just launched less than one week ago. With the sale, the entry level model of the MacBook Air is now down to $1,099 from $1,199.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Below we've listed each of the SKUs on sale in Space Gray, and you can find the Silver and Gold options on B&H Photo as well. B&H Photo lists these MacBook Air models as pre-orders, so shoppers will likely have to wait a little longer to get the notebook in, but sales tax will not be collected on orders in certain states.
For today only, B&H Photo is also offering Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from Mid 2017 (3.1 GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $2,199.00, down from $2,999.00. Additionally, the retailer is offering another model of the same notebook (3.1 GHz, 16GB RAM, 2TB SSD) for $2,799.00, down from $4,199.00.
In an exclusive sale, Speck is offering MacRumors readers a 35 percent sitewide discount through tomorrow, November 14. To get access to the sale, enter the promo code RUMORS35 during the checkout process. Discounts can not be stacked, so the code isn't valid on products already marked down on Speck's site.
Speck's website is full of accessories compatible with iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, 8, and 8 Plus, 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and many more. The company also sells laptop bags and power accessories, so be sure to check out the site before the exclusive discount code expires on Wednesday.
Lastly, those looking to round out their Harry Potter iTunes Movies collection -- or complete it in one go -- should check out the latest sale on Apple's digital movies storefront. In the sale, each individual film is marked down to $7.99 and the complete collection bundle is down to $49.99.
Originally, individual movies in the series were around $14.99, and the bundle of all eight films was priced at $79.99, so if you've been waiting to add the series into your iTunes Movies library, now is a great time. Additionally, all eight films are available in 4K Dolby Vision.
Following its acquisition by SiriusXM in September, Pandora today announced that it will begin offering specialized podcast curation under the Podcast Genome Project. Similar to its Music Genome Project, the PGP will launch in a public beta format and combine human curation with advanced machine learning to offer users specific podcast recommendations, "down to the episodic level."
Pandora says that the Podcast Genome Project will evaluate content based on more than 1,500 attributes like MPAA ratings, timely topics, production style, content type, host profile, and combine this with listener signals like thumb ratings, skips, and replays. Machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and collaborative filtering methods will also work in tandem with Pandora's in-house curation team to give each user unique podcast recommendations that evolve as their preferences change.
“It might feel like podcasts are ubiquitous, but, eighty-three percent of Americans aren’t yet listening to podcasts on a weekly basis, and a majority of them report that’s because they simply don’t know where to start,” said Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer, Pandora. “Making podcasts - both individual episodes and series - easy to discover and simple to experience is how we plan to greatly grow podcast listening while simultaneously creating new and more sustainable ways to monetize them.”
Pandora's podcast partners include PM, Gimlet, HeadGum, Libsyn, Maximum Fun, NPR, Parcast, PRX+PRI, reVolver, Slate, The New York Times, The Ramsey Network, The Ringer, WNYC Studios, and Wondery. The company says that these partners and the amount of podcasts on the platform will continue to grow over time.
Besides podcast listening, Pandora offers online radio streaming to its users, and last year launched "Pandora Premium" as a competitor to Apple Music and Spotify. At $9.99 per month, subscribers can ditch ads, search for and play any song, create playlists, download music for offline listening, and receive unlimited skips and replays.
While Apple Podcasts has been the hub for many users to listen to their favorites shows, more of the company's competitors have begun supporting podcasts as interest in the format grows. In the summer of 2017, a report by Bloomberg claimed that Spotify was planning to "come after" Apple with a strong push into podcasts, and since then it has added NPR's catalog of podcasts and the BBC's shows into the music streaming app.
Spotify for the Apple Watch is rolling out to all users over the coming week. Announced by the company today, the release follows a beta version of the app that appeared in early November, and comes well over a year since Spotify hired "Snowy" developer Andrew Chang onto its team to help build the app.
Spotify says the app provides users with useful playback controls and the ability to connect to their music speakers and other devices through Spotify Connect. Like Apple Music on Apple Watch, Spotify subscribers will now be able to hit play, pause, skip, and rewind songs by interacting with their Apple Watch.
We’re constantly on the go—whether bouncing between the gym, work, school, errands, or just chilling—and our smartwatches are the tool to help keep us up to speed. Today, Spotify is introducing a new app for the Apple Watch, giving you the ability to seamlessly access and control your favorite music and podcasts without missing a beat.
Additionally, users will be able to access their recently played songs and favorite the currently playing song by tapping the heart icon on the Apple Watch screen. Down the line, Spotify plans to make music and podcasts available to listen offline on Apple Watch, among other updates it hasn't yet announced.
To get the Spotify app for Apple Watch, the company says that users will need to make sure they have the latest version of the Spotify iOS app (8.4.79), and they should begin seeing the Apple Watch version of the app over the next week.
Waymo's commercial driverless car service is set to launch in early December, according to someone familiar with the company's plans (via Bloomberg). The service won't be branded as a "Waymo" platform, however, and will receive a new name and compete directly with car-hailing apps Uber and Lyft.
The launch will be small, with only a couple hundred authorized riders in the suburbs around Phoenix, Arizona and covering about 100 square miles. This is the same tactic that Waymo has used in previous tests, and reports about the upcoming autonomous ride-hailing service being tested in Arizona began appearing one year ago.
It's believed that the first group of customers for the service will be taken from Waymo's Early Rider Program, which is made up of 400 volunteer families who have been using Waymo since the spring of 2017. The families who signed up for that program would be released from their non-disclosure agreements under the new driverless service, and encouraged to share their experiences on social media or even take friends for rides.
The service won't be completely driverless out of the gate, it seems. According to those familiar with the plans, there will be backup drivers in some cars "to help ease customers into the service," and to take over driving if necessary. Based on Waymo's accumulated data, the modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans will still drive themselves more than 99.9 percent of the time.
Over time, Waymo wants to plant the seeds of the driverless car service in different cities across the United States, but it will take some time because the company hopes to avoid bad customer experiences and avoidable crashes that could set it back by years. As for pricing, nothing is certain yet, but Waymo is planning to offer fares that are competitive with Uber and Lyft.
Apple appears to have locked a select group of users out of their Apple ID accounts over the past 20 hours or so, with no clear indication yet as to why the incident has occurred. According to reports on Reddit and Twitter, users are being kicked out of their Apple IDs for security reasons, and forced to reset their password to gain access to their account.
Users report this happening without warning on iPhone, Apple TV, and other Apple devices, while they were using Apple Music, watching TV, etc. The original poster on Reddit confirmed that they have two factor authentication enabled and a unique iCloud password for their Apple ID not used anywhere else, and many users report similar settings.
On Twitter, @AppleSupport is guiding users to the Support Communities web page that explains what to do if your Apple ID is locked and disabled. In nearly all instances across social media, users are reporting that they must reset their Apple ID password to be able to get back into their accounts.
With no official word from Apple and no clear reason behind these forced password resets, it's unclear why some users were affected and what caused Apple to initiate the wave of resets in the first place. We've reached out to Apple for a comment, and will update this article if we hear back.
Apple today updated its Swift Playgrounds app for the iPad to version 2.2, introducing a number of improvements.
Third-party content is easier to discover and download within the Swift Playgrounds app, and Apple has made touch gestures for selecting code both more precise and easier to use.
The What's Next feature that's designed to suggest new playgrounds for users to try is now smarter than ever, and the on-screen keyboard has been revamped to show and hide more predictably.
Apple's release notes for the update also say that unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements have been included.
- Third-party content is easy to discover and download for free directly within the app - Touch gestures for selecting code are more precise and easier to use - What's Next is smarter about suggesting new playgrounds for you to try - On-screen keyboard shows and hides more predictably - Additional bug fixes and performance improvements
The Swift Playgrounds app is designed to teach children and adults how to program through a series of entertaining and educational "Learn to Code" lessons.
Swift Playgrounds was last updated in April with the What's Next feature for suggesting new content to explore within the app.
Swift Playgrounds can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is home to a number of vehicle brands, including Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and of course Chrysler and Fiat. All of these brands include FCA's Uconnect infotainment system, the most recent version of which, version 4, began making its way into vehicles for the 2017 and 2018 model years. Vehicles with Uconnect 4 support both CarPlay and Android Auto, and I recently had an opportunity to test out a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited equipped with a Uconnect 4C NAV system that includes built-in navigation.
The Pacifica Hybrid is a plug-in hybrid, and really the only such vehicle available in the minivan segment in the United States, so it has a lot going for it in that regard. With a charge that takes just a couple of hours with a 240V level 2 charger or more like 14 hours with a 120V level 1 charger, you get roughly 33 miles of battery-only operation.
Otherwise, the Pacifica acts as a traditional hybrid, supplementing the gas engine and recapturing some energy through regenerative braking to recharge itself. Overall, the Pacifica Hybrid is rated at 84 MPGe (32 MPG in gas-only mode) and offers up to 570 miles of range.
Overview of center stack infotainment system and other controls
Unsurprisingly, my test vehicle was outfitted with lots of bells and whistles, including a 20-speaker Harman Kardon audio system that sounded great and a host of safety features including standard ParkSense sensors to alert of you of obstacles at front and rear, optional parallel and perpendicular parking assist that controls the steering wheel for you, and adaptive cruise control with stop and go support.
You'll also find a lane departure warning with assist feature to help keep you in your lane, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic warnings, collision warning with automatic braking, bird's eye surround view, rain-sensing wipers, and more. KeySense technology recognizes which key is being used to operate the vehicle and lets you customize settings for each driver.
Uconnect
The 2018 Pacifica comes with an 8.4-inch flush-mounted display in the center stack, and it's a bit more square than some other infotainment system displays. As a result, FCA is able to include persistent status and menu bars at the top and bottom of the screen, with the currently active function taking up the majority of the display. The top status bar displays information like temperature settings for driver and passenger, the current radio station, clock, exterior temperature, and Wi-Fi signal if you have the available hotspot functionality activated.
The bottom menu bar is customizable and provides easy access to a variety of functions, and the buttons can update in real-time to show information relative to the specific functionality. For example, the Radio icon will also display the current station, while the Nav icon will show your current compass heading and the Phone icon will show the signal strength of a connected device.
Other buttons control systems such as heated/ventilated seats, heating and air conditioning, connected media devices, and paired phones. An Apps icon gives you access to up to two dozen such sections, and you can press and hold any of them and drag them to the menu bar.
The Pacifica Hybrid even has a Hybrid Electric app that will give you a live view of your power flow as well as your driving history that shows you how far you've driven on electric and gas power over the past two weeks. You can also set your charging schedule in case you want to take advantage of lower electricity rates at night, for example.
Overall, the 8.4-inch display is bright and clear, although its glossy finish does tend to attract fingerprints. A supplemental 7-inch driver information display can be configured to show information like audio track, turn-by-turn directions, and more.
Driver display with audio information
Built-in Navigation
I came away impressed with Uconnect's navigation capabilities. It all starts with the initial menu screen you see when you launch the navigation app, which offers immediate access to address/POI search, a direct map view, and quick-access directions to home or work, once those are configured. There's also easy access to directions to emergency services like hospitals, which can be an important lifesaver in an unfamiliar area.
From there, it's one more tap into a menu that offers a number of other options for finding your destination, including search, exact address, lists of recent and favorite destinations, POIs, and more. Of course, voice is the easiest way to input a destination, and I found the built-in voice assistant very good at recognizing my spoken destinations and interpreting them correctly.
Once a destination is found and a route plotted, Uconnect's navigation system offers an overview of the route and the ability to change certain options if you want to optimize things, and then you're off and running.
During navigation, the Uconnect system offers an information-rich display that includes all of the usual metrics such as a map with large zoom buttons, current speed limit, upcoming maneuvers, and arrival time, as well as your current street and city. Voice guidance is accurate, timely, and natural-sounding.
Complementing the built-in navigation is support for SiriusXM Travel Link, a subscription service that offers data such as weather, nearby fuel prices and movie listings, sports scores, and stock prices. A five-year subscription to Travel Link is included with the Pacifica.
SiriusXM Travel Link weather map
Climate Control
In an age of increasingly complex and multi-purpose infotainment systems, there's been considerable controversy over whether basic functions like climate controls should be incorporated into them. While infotainment systems are powerful and convenient, their touchscreen nature is more difficult to navigate by feel than hardware knobs and buttons, and many have advocated for keeping climate controls, which generally have a limited number of options and are frequently adjusted, as physical controls rather than on-screen ones.
Main climate controls
Chrysler has tried to split the difference in the Pacifica, offering both hardware and on-screen controls. The physical knob and buttons make it easy to adjust the mode, temperature set points, fan speed, and defrosters nearly by feel. Those are going to be your most frequently adjusted options on a climate control system, so it makes sense to make them easy to adjust.
Hardware climate controls below the Uconnect display
All of these functions are, however, also available through the Uconnect system, which even offers a few more options. For example, if you want to sync the driver and passenger temperature settings or control the rear climate system, you'll need to dive into the Uconnect system. But even when you do, the most commonly used functions come with large icons that are easy to tap.
Rear climate controls
CarPlay
When you plug your iPhone into the specified USB port on the dashboard, you'll go through the usual process of granting access for CarPlay, at which point the standard CarPlay home screen will pop up on the Uconnect display. You'll quickly notice that in addition to CarPlay, the Uconnect status and menu bars remain visible at the top and bottom of the display.
This is a fantastic way to integrate CarPlay into the native infotainment system, as it makes it incredibly easy to hop in and out of CarPlay as needed. The Phone icon in the menu bar even automatically changes to a CarPlay button when you plug in your phone.
CarPlay's "Now Playing" screen
On some all-touchscreen infotainment systems, CarPlay takes over the entire display, which can make it a bit difficult to get back to the vehicle's own system unless you use voice commands or there's a dedicated hardware button to take you back to the native home screen. CarPlay's built-in solution is to have an "app" on its home screen for the car manufacturer, and selecting that icon will take you back to the native system. Other infotainment systems use a widescreen display that's able to show some information from the native system alongside CarPlay.
But with Uconnect, you never really leave the Uconnect system, even when CarPlay is running. You can always access the various Uconnect functions using the menu bar at the bottom, and just as easily get back to CarPlay. There isn't even a Chrysler icon on the CarPlay home screen, because you simply don't need it.
Google Maps in CarPlay
If you prefer to operate CarPlay on the Pacifica without using the touchscreen, you can use the hardware Browse/Enter knob below the display to scroll through the interface and select items, but it's much clunkier than direct touch manipulation and the knob is on the far side of the center stack from the driver.
CarPlay can also be controlled via Siri, and as with most other car manufacturers, Chrysler has opted for a dual-duty voice button on the steering wheel. A short press activates the built-in Uconnect voice assistant, while a long press brings up Siri.
Phone/voice/Siri buttons at lower left of steering wheel
Overall, the Pacifica has quite a few steering wheel controls, which can be helpful once you learn the locations of all of them. Buttons on the front of the wheel are dedicated to cruise control, phone/voice assistant controls, and configuration controls for the driver display. Additional rocker-type switches are located on the back of the steering wheel, with the left switch used for changing radio stations and audio tracks and the right switch used for volume control and changing audio modes.
Uconnect Theater
My test Pacifica came with Uconnect Theater, which includes dual 10.1-inch HD touchscreens on the front seatbacks, as well as a connected Blu-ray player up front and HDMI input, headphones, and remotes for each of the rear screens.
With various options for accessing videos, music, and even built-in games on Uconnect Theater, the kids can stay entertained on those long road trips. Miracast wireless streaming is also available from compatible devices, although that doesn't include iOS devices.
The two screens can operate independently or together, and inputs for one screen can be displayed on the other screen. Several of the included games like checkers and tic-tac-toe also support two-player gaming.
Ports
The Pacifica Hybrid is loaded with charging ports, as you might expect with a premium trim minivan. The center stack contains two USB ports, one next to an Aux port for connecting to the main Uconnect audio system and CarPlay, and a second one just below next to the Blu-ray player that can deliver content to the Uconnect Theater system.
Center stack Blu-ray player and USB ports for main and rear
A third front USB port is located near the floor up front next to a 12V port.
USB and 12V ports adjacent to floor storage between center stack and console
There's an additional USB port (and an HDMI port) located on each front seatback as part of the Uconnect Theater system, offering convenient charging for second-row passengers. And for those relegated to the third row, this model was equipped with one more USB port along the right side. For other power needs, there's another 12V port in the far rear of the minivan for tailgating and other situations, as well as a traditional 115V outlet tucked away on the right wall behind the second-row seats and the sliding door.
Third-row USB port
Wrap-up
I came away from the Pacifica Hybrid with a quite positive impression of the Uconnect infotainment system. It ticks most of the boxes when it comes to functionality and ease of use. The built-in navigation system worked well, and Uconnect offers a host of controls. The sheer number of control options in Uconnect can feel a bit overwhelming at times, but the ability to customize the bottom menu bar with your most frequently needed functions helps to streamline things.
Integration with CarPlay is excellent, and while I've typically appreciated widescreen displays that can share native infotainment content alongside CarPlay, FCA has shown me an excellent alternative in Uconnect with the persistent menu and status bars. The setup really does make it feel like Uconnect and CarPlay are working together rather than two completely different modes.
CarPlay is available on all Chrysler Pacifica trims, both regular and hybrid. Lower-tier non-hybrid models (L, LX, Touring Plus, and Touring L) all come with a 7-inch touchscreen Uconnect 4 system, while the larger 8.4-inch display comes standard on the Touring L Plus and Limited trims and is available as a package option on the Touring L. All three hybrid trims (Touring Plus, Touring L, and Limited) have at least the larger 8.4-inch system standard, with the navigation version standard on Limited.
Uconnect Theater, which is great for long road trips for the kids, is standard on the Touring L Plus and Hybrid Limited trims, and it's an option on the regular Limited trim.
The 2018 Pacifica Hybrid starts at $39,995 for the base Touring Plus trim, and CarPlay support comes standard. Higher-end Touring L and Limited trims are also available with upgraded options, and the Pacifica Hybrid currently qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit to help bring down the cost of eco-friendly vehicles. Non-hybrid Pacifica models start at $26,995. New 2019 models at similar prices and trim levels are also now starting to hit dealerships.
Twelve South today announced new additions to its Journal line of products, including Journal options for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and a new Journal CaddySack for storing accessories.
The MacBook Journal, priced at $149.99, is designed to work with 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models and the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Air.
We had a chance to check out the Journal for MacBook ahead of its launch. It features rich, soft leather in a cognac color that will take on a unique patina as it ages, and the exterior, as the name suggests, looks like a journal complete with spine.
The leather exterior is accompanied by a soft black microsuede interior that keeps your MacBook from getting scratched and offers some light padding. When expanded, the bottom of the MacBook sits on top of the bottom of the Journal, while the top is held in place by two pieces of elastic.
Inside, at the bottom of the Journal case, there's a hidden interior pocket where you can keep documents safe. The entire Journal features a zipper closure with dual zippers so it won't come out during transport.
Twelve South is also introducing the Journal CaddySack, an alternative to the BookBook CaddySack it already offers. Priced at $90, the Journal CaddySack is designed to match the Journal for MacBook and the Journal for iPhone.
It too is made from a supple cognac leather that will develop a one-of-a-kind look over time, with an attractive gray tweed interior.
Several elastic and velcro straps inside of the CaddySack can hold a MacBook power adapter, charging cables, dongles, an Apple Pencil, and other accessories. There's also a zippered pocket at the top for other small odds and ends.
All of the straps inside of the CaddySack are adjustable, which gives you flexibility when deciding what you need to carry inside for day to day use. Like other Journal products, the CaddySack zips closed to protect everything located inside.
Apple's HomeKit platform has expanded to support a variety of device categories since its launch in 2014, now including lights, thermostats, ceiling fans, sprinklers, outlets, and humidifiers.
Although close in style to humidifiers, one specific accessory missing from HomeKit has been an essential oil diffuser, and now connected smart home brand Vocolinc has introduced the FlowerBud Smart Diffuser to rectify the situation.
Setup
Out of the box, the FlowerBud Smart Diffuser looks somewhat similar to other essential oil diffusers, and it's broken into two parts for quick-and-easy assembly. There's a 6.5-inch wide base that holds the water reservoir, and on its front there is a button for the mood light and one for the diffuser itself.
The water reservoir holds 300 ml of water, but you'll have to make two passes with the included measuring cup to fill the base to capacity, since it only holds about 150 ml. Underneath, you'll find a port to connect the AC adapter's barrel plug into, and the slightly elevated rubber feet make everything level even with the cord passing through.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
