Marianne Schultz

Marianne has been writing about technology professionally since 2008. She owns more gadgets and Apple products than just about anyone else she knows and is drafted to do tech support for nearly everyone she meets. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.



How to Add an Accessory to Your HomeKit Setup

Tuesday February 26, 2019 2:27 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
Adding an accessory to your smart home setup is fairly straightforward, though there are a few areas where it's not entirely intuitive. Before you get started, it's helpful to locate the HomeKit Setup Code for the accessory you're adding. This is usually in 2 places: printed on an included user guide or the package, and on a sticker somewhere on the device itself. It will have a HomeKit icon next to a series of numbers framed in a box or a QR code. Also, you'll need to plug in the device and power it on. Then you can move on to adding it. Here are the steps on an iPhone: Open the Home app and tap on the '+' in the top right corner. Choose "Add Accessory" in the resulting pop-up menu Scan the HomeKit Setup Code with the camera as prompted on the next screen. Tap on the square with the accessory's name to confirm that you want to add it to HomeKit. For accessories where the code won't scan with the camera due to poor lighting or another reason, the HomeKit code can also be entered manually. When using the iPhone 7 or later to add a device, some HomeKit accessories will allow you to add them without needing to scan the code using the camera. In this situation, you can just hold your iPhone near the accessory and then follow the steps Apple provides. Once an accessory has been added to HomeKit, you'll see the details about it in the Home app and will have the option to choose what room it's in. Assigning a HomeKit accessory a room allows you to more easily control it along with other devices in the same room. The device we set up for this guide shown in the
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How to Create a HomeKit Scene

Tuesday February 26, 2019 2:23 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
Controlling individual devices with the Home app is easy enough manually or with Siri, but sometimes you need to change the state of several devices at once. Instead of making these changes one by one, the easiest way is to create a Scene. For example, creating a bedtime Scene could turn off all the lights in your home at once and set your thermostat to a more economical temperature.Here's how to create a custom Scene in the Home app on an iPhone or iPad: Open the Home app and click on the '+' sign in the top right corner. Tap on Add Scene. Tap on Custom. Name the scene. Be sure to name it something easy to remember since you'll use this to give voice commands to Siri. Once you've named the Scene, tap on Add Accessories to select which devices you want to include when the Scene is activated, then tap Done in the top right corner. Press and hold the squares of the added accessories to set what they should do when the Scene is activated. In this example, we're creating a movie time scene that turns off the brighter lights in the living room and turns on a light strip behind the couch. If you want this Scene to be a Favorite and thus appear on the main view of the Home app, ensure that Include in Favorites is on. When you've finished setting the desired actions for each accessory, tap on Done in the top right corner.Now your Scene is ready to be used. You can manually enable and disable it in the Home app or ask Siri to enable it. For our example Scene, we say, "Hey Siri, it's movie time" to activate it, which turns off all the bright lights in the living room
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How to Set Up HomePod as a Home Hub for HomeKit Devices

Tuesday February 26, 2019 1:59 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
More and more smart home products include compatibility with Apple's HomeKit framework, allowing easy and automated control through an iOS device or Mac. Yet there are some actions that require the presence of a home hub, a device that remains powered on and connected at your home that can relay the commands you give via Siri while you're away. Apple's HomePod can act as such a hub, offering several benefits for your smart home setup. Benefits of a Home Hub The key feature a home hub offers is the use of Siri to trigger actions when you're away from home. For example, if you're driving home from work, you can ask Siri to raise the temperature at home to 70º to direct a connected thermostat to adjust the temperature. Without a home hub, using Siri would only generate an error and you'd need to adjust the temperature manually using the thermostat's app or the Home app. While it's not a hardship to make these kinds of changes manually, having a home hub can make it easier (especially when you want to keep both hands on the steering wheel while driving). If you've created scenes--which are sets of actions to trigger multiple changes at once, like turning off all the lights at bedtime--a home hub also allows you to set these via Siri when you're away from home. Another advantage of a home hub is the ability to automate some actions based on your location using geofencing. For example, the Ecobee thermostat can automatically switch to Away mode to set the temperature to a more economical level when you leave home. You set the geofence area within the Ecobee app and
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How to Share Access to Your HomeKit Devices with Others

Monday February 25, 2019 5:03 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
If you share your home with family or roommates, it often makes sense to share access to HomeKit devices with them so they can control your connected lights, blinds, thermostats, etc. As long as they use an iPhone or iPad running iOS 10 or later or a Mac running macOS Mojave or later, Apple makes it easy for you to grant them access via their iCloud account. On an iPhone or iPad, open the Home app and tap on the small home icon in the top left corner. In the People section, tap on Invite. Enter the iCloud email address of the person you want to invite, or tap on the "+" sign to find someone in your contact list. Tap Send Invite. This process is nearly identical on a Mac, though you access the People list via the Edit/Edit Home menu. The recipient will be notified of the invitation and will be invited to accept. Here's what it looks like to them: Once they've accepted, they'll appear in your People list. Tapping on their name will reveal an additional screen where you can toggle Remote Access on or off. Remote Access lets them control your HomeKit devices when they're away and not on your home Wi-Fi network. If you have a home hub, they can even control accessories by voice with Siri. If you don't have a home hub, they'll need to make any changes manually within the Home app. Toggling Allow Editing would provide them with more control over your HomeKit setup, allowing them to add and remove accessories or even invite other people to control devices. If you need to delete someone from your People list, you just need to tap on Remove Person at the
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How to Delete a Device from HomeKit with the Home App

Wednesday February 20, 2019 4:06 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
If you want to get rid of a HomeKit device or remove it from your HomeKit setup, Apple has made doing so very easy. In the Home app on your iPhone or iPad: Press and hold the icon of the accessory you want to remove. Tap on Settings. Scroll to the bottom and tap on Remove Accessory. Removing a HomeKit device on Mac: Open the Home app and double click (or right-click) on the accessory you want to remove Click on Settings. Scroll down to the bottom and click Remove Accessory. Note that many smart devices can only be associated with one user account at a time. If you sell or give away a device, its new owner may need to take extra steps to set it up unless you deregister it from any associated manufacturer account and delete it from your Home app before it can be used in their own home. For example, the iHome iSP6 smart plug's instructions direct you to create an iHome account and use the iHome app to set it up. If you do this, your smart plug is associated with your iHome account and it can't be associated with another iHome account unless you remove it from yours. Its new owner can reset it to factory settings to work around this, though, so not all is lost.
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How to Change the Wallpaper in the Home App

Wednesday February 20, 2019 4:06 pm PST by Marianne Schultz
Like the home screen on your iPhone and iPad and the desktop on your Mac, you can customize the background of the Home app. The default image of a fence draped in red leafy vines is nice, but you may want an image with some personal meaning or a different aesthetic. Making a change is easy. In the Home app on an iPhone or iPad: Click on the home icon in the top left corner. Scroll down to the Home Wallpaper section. Select Take Photo if you want to capture an image with the device's camera to use as the background. Or tap on Choose from Existing to select a photo from your photo library. On a Mac: Open the Home app then click the Edit menu. Click Edit Home. Scroll down to Home Wallpaper. Choose one of the available wallpapers shown. To use an image you already have on your Mac, just drag and drop the image into the open Home app and it will replace the existing wallpaper. Note that the Home app wallpaper does not sync across your devices so you can set them individually by
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Get Cash for Your Old iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch Through MacRumors and MyPhones Unlimited

Wednesday September 26, 2018 10:20 am PDT by Marianne Schultz
With new iPhone and Apple Watch models now on the shelves, you may be thinking of paving the way for an upgrade by selling your current device. We've partnered with MyPhones Unlimited, an Arkansas-based company that buys used iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and much more at competitive prices, to offer our readers a way to get cash in hand to make an upgrade happen. Entering the details for my iPhone to get a quote, MyPhones Unlimited is offering $490 at the time of writing this post (as with all buyback programs, a device's age and condition have a large impact on how much you can get for it) for my unlocked 256GB iPhone X. It's fully functional with no screen damage (thank you, screen protector and Apple leather case). If you like the quote you get, the process to get paid is simple. You provide your contact and address information and MyPhones Unlimited will send you a box with a pre-paid shipping label so you can send your device to them. You'll receive a check in return within 10 business days of mailing your device. MyPhones Unlimited then refurbishes your device, if needed, and resells it. If it's unfit for reselling, it gets recycled. You can find more information in this FAQ. With Apple's new GiveBack program, I get a quote of $525 for my iPhone X. Apple offers this in the form of an Apple Gift Card or a refund on a purchase, which is great if you plan to buy your next device from Apple. But if you plan to purchase it from your cellular service provider or another retailer, you'll have to find a way to convert that Apple gift card into cash so you can
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Rain Design mBar pro or mBar pro+ Portable Laptop Stand

Friday September 21, 2018 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
With several of our recent giveaways focusing on Apple's new iPhone models that are launching today in the US and several other countries, today's giveaway goes back to the Mac. Rain Design is kindly offering its portable aluminum stands for the MacBook and MacBook Pro to ten lucky winners. Rain Design is offering 5 of each of its mBar pro and mBar pro+ folding aluminum laptop stands. The mBar pro (see our review) raises a laptop by 3 inches and the mBar pro+ elevates one by 5.5 inches. Both are made of anodized aluminum and come in silver and space gray to match Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro models. Both also come with a carrying sleeve. The mBar pro retails for $54.90 and the mBar pro+ retails for $64.90. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Email addresses provided will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and ship the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected. a Rafflecopter giveaway This contest will run from today (September 21)
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Review: Rain Design's mBar Pro is a Portable Aluminum Stand for Your MacBook

Thursday September 20, 2018 12:16 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
Rain Design, a maker of accessories for Apple products, released three laptop stands made of anodized aluminum to match Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro models earlier this year: the mBar, mBar Pro, and mBar Pro+. The mBar is a minimalist MacBook stand with fixed arms that's not meant to be portable, and the mBar Pro and Pro+ have folding arms for easy portability. A laptop stand can be a critical accessory for a home or office workstation to elevate your laptop to a more comfortable and ergonomic position for extended use. But a portable laptop stand is more of an option than a necessity, and size and weight are crucial factors in determining if it's worthy of adding to your bag. I received the mBar Pro to review and tested it with a 15-inch MacBook Pro. I've personally owned several Rain Design stands, including the iLap, mStand, and iLevel (which is a permanent fixture at my treadmill desk at home). Design and Materials All three mBar models are made of anodized aluminum and come in silver or space gray. All have rubber strips on all contact points to protect your laptop, as well as rubber feet for stability. The mBar Pro folds up into a rectangle with two nubs that stick out on one side. It measures 9.6 inches (243 mm) wide, 3.6 inches (91mm) tall, and 1/2 inch (12.4 mm) thick when folded. The nubs are on the extendable legs and prevent your laptop from sliding off. It folds up tightly though it takes a little trial and error to figure out which leg flips out which way to set it up. When the legs are extended, it measures 9.6 inches from front
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a $600 Accessory Package from Pad & Quill

Friday April 7, 2017 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For this week's giveaway, Pad & Quill is generously offering a package of accessories with a total retail value of over $600 for one lucky winner. This prize package includes the company's Large Briefcase that can accommodate up to a 15-inch laptop and features full-grain American cowhide leather, parachute-grade nylon stitching, and a 25-year warranty. The Large Briefcase retails for $365 and is available in several color combinations. Also included is Pad & Quill's book-style Cartella Slim Case for the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro. Made with traditional book-binding techniques, it uses a re-attachable and residue-free 3M adhesive while leaving all ports and vents accessible. It's available in 3 colors and retails for $99.95. Pad & Quill is also including a Lowry Leather Band band for the Apple Watch (both series 1 and 2). Available in three colors, it's made of full-grain vegetable-tanned leather with hand-finished stitching. It comes in two sizes to fit the 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch models and it retails for $109.95. Last but not least, Pad & Quill is making sure you have something in which to carry your cash in style by including a Slim Front Pocket Wallet. Made of full-grain leather, it can hold up to six card plus cash. It has a pull-tab to make it easy to get cards out of the interior pocket, and a leather money clip strap to secure cash. Available in three leather colors, it retails for $59.95. One winner will be chosen. The winner can select the desired leather and hardware (where available) color options for each item. To enter to win, use the
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pad & Quill 'Everyday Developer Carry Kit' Package

Friday June 17, 2016 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
In celebration of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories, is generously offering an 'Everyday Developer Carry Kit' package where one winner can choose a briefcase bag, iPad case, iPhone case, and an Apple Watch band from the company's entire product line-up. Pad & Quill offers several briefcase bag styles. The Briefcase and Large Briefcase can both accommodate laptops up to 15 inches, with the latter offering 25% more room than the former. Both are made of full-grain American cowhide and waxed canvas, featuring solid nickel hardware, internal dividers and pockets, leather handles, and a 25-year warranty. The Briefcase retails for $295 while the Large Briefcase retails for $365. For iPads, Pad & Quill offers something for every model. For the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, there's the $139.95 Oxford Leather Folio case (see our review) that's made from a single piece of American full-grain bridle leather with a built-in stand and room for the Apple Pencil. For the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, there's the $89.95 Contega Thin Case with an archival-quality linen cover, built-in stand, and elastic band closure. For iPhones, Pad & Quill's most popular options are the Luxury Pocket Book for the iPhone 6/6S that features a Baltic birch cradle and saddle leather cover, and the Woodline Case for the iPhone 6/6S Plus that's made of hardwood around an Aramid polymer core. For the Apple Watch, there's the Lowry Cuff band (our review) for 42mm models, and the Classic Leather Band for both 42mm and 38mm
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone Case or Roll Top Leather Backpack

Friday March 25, 2016 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For this week's giveaway, Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories, is graciously offering its Woodline iPhone cases and Roll Top Leather Backpack as prizes to the lucky winners. The Woodline iPhone cases are made of real hardwood, which is polished and scratch-resistant, with a polymer core. The cases are thin, coming in at just .9 millimeter thick, and allow access to all ports and buttons. Four wood choices are available: American Cherry, Rosewood, Premium American Walnut, and Zebra Wood, with retail prices ranging from $49.95 to $59.95. The Woodline cases are available for the iPhone 6/6S and iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus. The Roll Top Leather Backpack is made of full-grain tumbled American bridle leather with hand-pounded copper rivets. The roll-top closure weatherproofs the backpack and it can accommodate laptops up to 15 inches. The backpack has a 25-year warranty and each bag is hand signed by the artisan who crafted it. Available in chocolate, black, or whiskey colors, the Roll Top Leather Backpack retails for $319. Six winners will be chosen. The first four winners can choose one Woodline Case in the color of their choice for the iPhone 6/6S or iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus. The last two winners can choose one Roll Top Leather Backpack in the color of their choice. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and provide prize shipping information. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Automatic Adapter or Get a 20% Discount

Friday January 15, 2016 11:00 am PST by Marianne Schultz
Automatic has partnered with us for our next giveaway, graciously offering one Automatic Adapter that provides information about your car's status and performance and your driving habits via a companion app. The Automatic adapter was first announced in early 2013 with recent updates last year bringing a second-generation adapter with additional functionality and the release of an SDK and App Gallery to allow other apps to use data gathered by the adapter. The Automatic Adapter retails for $99.95 The Automatic Adapter connects to a car via its ODB-II diagnostic port, which is found on most newer cars sold in the US since 1996 (Automatic offers a car compatibility checker on its site). The Adapter gathers information on mileage, gas consumption, and driving performance by analyzing braking and acceleration. It can also check engine warning codes and provide information on what's wrong. If a collision is detected through the Adapter's accelerometer, a Crash Alert is triggered and emergency services can be contacted automatically via the paired smartphone (this feature is available in the US only). In addition to its own free companion iPhone app [Direct Link] (an Android app is also available), the Automatic Adapter can share its information with other apps in its App Gallery, which includes apps that track mileage for business expense purposes to smart home and fitness applications. For example, a Nest smart thermostat can be triggered to adjust the temperature at home based on your car's location so it automatically warms or cools as you leave or arrive. To enter
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MacRumors Gift Guide by Marianne: Elevation Dock, Fluxmob Bolt, and More

Saturday December 12, 2015 10:31 am PST by Marianne Schultz
To provide gift ideas for our readers this holiday season, we here at MacRumors have written gift guides based on our own experiences with products we like and recommend to others. If you want to catch up, here are links to the guides published so far: Juli Clover, Joe Rossignol, and Mitchel Broussard. Here's my selection of gift suggestions based on products I own, use often, and recommend to anyone looking for gift ideas for friends or family: Elevation Dock for iPhone by Elevation Lab ($89) I first heard about Elevation Lab's iPhone dock through the company's Kickstarter in 2011 and I backed the project there in order to receive one before they were commercially available. The dock, which is made out of a block of solid aluminum, was intended to be heavy enough to easily remove an iPhone with just one hand, and its design complemented Apple's existing products beautifully. I have two Elevation Docks – one at my desk in front of my iMac and another on my nightstand – that I use every single day with my iPhone 6s. Elevation Lab currently offers the Elevation Dock 3 for the iPhone 6/6s and 6 Plus/6s Plus models. It's pricey at $89 but I recommend it if you've got someone who appreciates the Apple design aesthetic and needs a solid, well-made iPhone dock. Fluxmob Bolt battery backup and wall charger ($50) I use my iPhone almost constantly most days and I'm oddly paranoid that the battery will die when I actually need it to make an emergency call or something else important. To allay this fear, I like to carry the means to charge my iPhone anywhere. However, I
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pad & Quill Apple Watch Band or iPhone Case

Friday November 20, 2015 11:00 am PST by Marianne Schultz
For this week's giveaway, we've partnered again with Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories. Pad & Quill is kindly offering prizes from its lines of leather watch bands and iPhone cases to the lucky winners. Pad & Quill's Lowry line of leather watch bands come in a cuff style and a standard band style. The Lowry Cuff is sized specifically for 42mm Apple Watch models while the Lowry Band is available for both 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch models. They're all made of full-grain vegetable tanned leather and feature nickel-finished hardware and 25-year leather warranties. The Cuff retails for $129.95 and the Band is $109.95. The company's Classic Band, which Contributing Editor Mitchel Broussard found to be durable and professional-looking, is available for both 38mm and 42mm watch models in several colors with the choice between stainless steel and polished black for the metal hardware. The Classic Band retails for $99.95. Pad & Quill makes several iPhone cases in various styles, including the wood-framed leather portfolio style Luxury Book for iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus, which costs $109.95, and the leather Bella Vida wallet case, which costs $74.95. Four winners will be chosen. The first two winners can choose one Lowry Cuff or Band or Classic Band in the size and color of their choice. The second two winners can choose any one iPhone case from Pad & Quill's entire case line-up. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Incase Apple Watch Travel Folio, Icon Backpack, or Portable Power 5400

Friday September 11, 2015 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For our next giveaway, we've partnered with Incase, the maker of sleek, modern accessories for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more. Incase is generously offering three items from its product line-up: the new Incase x Parabellum Apple Watch Travel Folio, an Icon backpack, and Portable Power 5400 battery pack. The Apple Watch Travel Folio is Incase's newest product that's made in partnership with Parabellum, a maker of premium leather goods. Its exterior is full-grain North American bison leather and its interior is genuine suede. It has a snap closure and features cut-outs and a magnetic flap to hold the Watch in place and charge it while it's inside the folio. The Folio is available in black and pumpkin and retails for $250. The Icon Backpack has a padded compartment for laptops up to 15 inches, adjustable padded shoulder straps, and a dedicated side-access iPad pocket. Made of sturdy 840D nylon, it's available in black, moss green, gray, and red and retails for $199.95. The Incase Portable Power 5400 is a battery park for charging USB devices on the go and works with the iPhone, iPad, and more. It features a 5400 mAh battery and a built-in USB cord to make it easy to charge, and offers 2.1 Amp charging via its USB port to charge your iPhone or other device quickly. The Portable Power 5400 retails for $79.95. Three winners will be chosen for this giveaway. The first winner selected will receive the Portable Power 5400 battery pack. The second winner selected will receive an Icon backpack. The third winner selected will receive a black Apple Watch Travel
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pad & Quill Leather Backpack or Briefcase

Friday August 7, 2015 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For our next giveaway, we've partnered again with Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories. Pad & Quill is graciously offering three bags from the company's new line-up of briefcases and backpacks, including the Leather Backpack (also available in a larger size), the Briefcase (also available in a larger size), and the Luxury Briefcase. The Leather Backpack models are made of heavy waxed canvas and full-grain American steer leather. Each has a padded laptop sleeve, with the smaller model accommodating laptops up to 13 inches and the larger one accepting laptops up to 15 inches. The Leather Backpack will retail for $295 and the Large Leather Backpack will retail for $365. Both are available for pre-order now and will begin shipping later this month. The Briefcase models are also made of heavy waxed canvas and full-grain leather. Both models will fit laptops up to 15 inches, with the Large Briefcase offering 25% more room compared to the Briefcase. Also scheduled to begin shipping later this month, the Briefcase will retail for $295 and the Large Briefcase will retail for $365. The Luxury Briefcase is made entirely of leather, with a full-grain leather exterior and pigskin leather interior. It will fit laptops up to 15 inches and will begin shipping in early September with a retail price of $495. All of these Pad & Quill bags feature leather hand-crafted by a leather artisan and have a 25-year warranty. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Ztylus Limited Edition Camera Kit for iPhone 6/6 Plus

Friday May 29, 2015 12:00 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For our next giveaway, we've partnered with Ztylus, a maker of smartphone cases with interchangeable accessory attachments. Ztylus is graciously offering one limited edition Rose Gold Camera Kit for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus that retails for $149.95. The Ztylus Rose Gold Camera Kit consists of a full-coverage case and a 4-in-1 lens attachment. The case itself has a textured leather finish that features an integrated kickstand and a unique disc mount system for the lens attachment. The lens attachment contains a circular polarizer lens and fish eye, macro, and wide angle lenses that flip out into position over the iPhone's camera lens. Ztylus makes its attachments compatible with all of its other cases so that when you switch to a new phone, you only need a new case and can keep using the same attachments. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any third party and will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. a Rafflecopter giveaway This contest will run from today (May 29) at 12:00 pm Pacific time through 12:00 pm Pacific time on June 5. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 5 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond
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MacRumors Giveaway: Pad & Quill Valet Luxury Sleeve and Apple Watch Accessory

Friday April 24, 2015 11:07 am PDT by Marianne Schultz
For our next giveaway here at MacRumors, we've again partnered with Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories. Pad & Quill is graciously offering a package of two prizes for this giveaway – the winner will be able to choose one leather Valet Luxury Sleeve (for the 11-inch Macbook Air, 12-inch MacBook, or 13-inch MacBook Pro, or the 15-inch MacBook Pro) plus any one of the company's Apple Watch Accessories. The Valet Luxury Sleeves are made of full-grain leather and have hand-pounded copper rivet closures, and also feature extra pockets to carry an iPad and other accessories. The version for the 15-inch MacBook Pro retails for $149.99 while the version for the smaller MacBook models retails for $119.99. Pad & Quill has a number of accessories for the Apple Watch, including the Timber Catchall that was announced earlier this week, and the Luxury Pocket Stand that was revealed last month. All of Pad & Quill's Apple Watch accessories can be seen on this page and they range in value from $49.99 to $119.99. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any third party and will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube Channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win an 'Automatic Link' Connected Car Adapter

Friday March 20, 2015 12:01 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz
For our next giveaway, we've partnered with Automatic, maker of the Automatic Link car adapter and companion apps to monitor your car's performance and usage. The Automatic Link adapter and apps debuted in 2013 and the adapter currently retails for $99 while the companion iPhone app is free. [Direct Link] The Automatic Link plugs into a car's OBD-II diagnostic port and works with most gasoline car models sold in the US since 1996 (car compatibility can be checked here). Data is transmitted to a paired iPhone (or Android smartphone) via Bluetooth and requires an iPhone 5 or newer. The Automatic system can decode engine fault codes and track gas mileage and offer feedback to improve it. A Crash Alert feature can also reach out to emergency services or designated contacts through a paired smartphone in the case of an accident. The Automatic system can also keep track of where you parked your car. To enter to win the Automatic Link adapter, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any third party and will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner. You can also earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, following MacRumors on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the intricacies of international laws regarding giveaways, you must be age 18 or older and located in the United States to enter. a Rafflecopter giveaway This contest will run from today (March 20) at 12:00 pm Pacific time through 12:00 pm Pacific time on March 27. The winner will be
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