AppleInsider · Kasper's Automated Slave

Wall mount your iPad and keep it charged via the Smart Connector

When Kuxiu started adding Smart Connector pins to its lineup of charging stands, I knew it would be a game changer. Previously, the iPad would need to be attached, then a cable plugged in for power, but now that's no longer necessary.

I already covered the lineup of traditional stands and clamp mounts from Kuxiu and Lululook with the new wireless charging option, but one was missing. The screw-in wall mount on a swivel arm hadn't made the move to wireless charging until just recently.

I've enjoyed Kuxiu's folding stands before, but only the desk-mounted ones. I had an idea for a wall-mounted stand, but didn't want to deal with the power problem.

The X36W Pro Max solves the power problem with the Smart Connector addition, and now I've got the perfect stand for my use case. Note that in order to provide power through the Smart Connector, the stand is emulating a keyboard, so the digital keyboard won't show up without being told to while using these powered stands.

Magnetic wall-mounted iPad charging

I use my iPad in bed, normally the iPad mini, but I've taken to liking the lightweight and size of the 13-inch iPad Pro. However, lying down with such a large display isn't practical.

Snake the charging cable through to the charging stand and forget about it

So, I mounted Kuxiu's X36W Pro Max stand above my bed. Yes, I installed it upside down, but I didn't bother correcting it as it's directionally agnostic besides the logo placement. Ignore the terrible old panel walls.

I wasn't sure what to think of the new stand and its placement, but it worked out excellently. The arm folds up to tuck the tablet mount into the wall unobtrusively. It does stick out from the wall a bit, but not enough to be an issue while I'm lying in bed.

For those of you asking, no, it's not an issue with my partner nor does it create problems crowding the space. I enjoy using the mount when catching up on social media timelines, watching videos, or reading a book.

Mounting the tablet this way above the bed is the ideal gaming setup. I can grab a nearby controller and play games on the iPad or stream from my PS5 remotely, all comfortably from my bed without needing to worry about iPad placement or charging cables.

Fold up the stand when not in use

Of course, that's just my use case. This kind of mount would be great in the kitchen, above a desk, or in a workshop. The arm is wide-reaching and easy to maneuver.

Unlike the desk stand, the arm is very loose-feeling and the joints are easy to manipulate. You only need two hands when rotating the iPad or moving the arm more than 180 degrees at any joint.

The charge through the Smart Connector is slow, but enough to keep the iPad battery from draining while in use. It makes moving the iPad from room to room and keeping it charged an effortless process.

Choose the correct model for your iPad -- it is a one-to-one match for each model. There are versions for the 13-inch iPad Pro/Air, 11-inch iPad Pro/Air, 12.9-inch iPad Pro third-generation and newer, and 10.9-inch iPad Air fourth and fifth-generation.

Get the Kuxiu X36W Pro Max Magnetic iPad Wall Mount Charging Stand from the Kuxiu website for a discounted $104.49. It is normally $139.99. Coupon code APPLEINSIDER takes an additional 10% off, bringing the cost down to $94.04 at the time of publication.



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While most people think of having a more powerful computer means buying a single expensive device, there are other ways to perform large amounts of number crunching. In one concept that has been around for decades, you could use multiple computers to handle processing on a project.

The concept of cluster computing revolves around a task with lots of calculations being shared between two or more processing units. Working together to complete tasks in parallel, the result is a severe shortening of time to process.

In a video published to YouTube on Sunday, Alex Ziskind demonstrates a cluster computing setup using the M4 Mac mini. Using a collection of five Mac minis stacked in a plastic frame, he sets a task that is then distributed between them for processing.

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While typical home cluster computing setups rely on Ethernet networking for communications between the nodes, Ziskind is instead taking advantage of the speed of Thunderbolt by using Thunderbolt Bridge. This speeds up the communications between the nodes considerably, as well as allowing larger packets of data to be sent, saving on processing performance.

Ethernet can run at 1Gb/s normally, or up to 10Gb/s if you paid for the Ethernet upgrade in some Mac models. The Thunderbolt Bridge method can instead run at 40Gb/s for Thunderbolt 4 ports, or 80Gb/s on Thunderbolt 5 in M4 Pro and M4 Max models when run bi-directionally.

Better than GPU processing

Ziskind points out that there can be benefits to using Apple Silicon rather than a PC using a powerful graphics card for cluster computing.

For a start, processing using a GPU relies on having considerable amounts of video memory available. On a graphics card, this could be 8GB on the card itself, for example.

Apple's use of Unified memory on Apple Silicon means that the Mac's memory is used by the CPU and the GPU. The Apple Silicon GPU therefore has access to a lot more memory, especially when it comes to Mac configurations with 32GB or more.

Then there's power draw, which can be considerable for a graphics card. High power usage can be equated to a higher ongoing cost of operation.

By contrast, the Mac minis were found to use very little power, and a cluster of five Mac minis running at full capacity used less power than one high-performance graphics card.

MLX, not Xgrid

To get the cluster running, Ziskind use a project we've already talked about. It uses MLX, an Apple open-source project described as an "array framework designed for efficient and flexible machine learning research on Apple Silicon."

This is vaguely reminiscent of Xgrid, Apple's long-dead dead distributed computing solution, which could control multiple Macs for cluster computing. That system also allowed for a Mac OS X Server to take advantage of workgroup Macs on a network to perform processing when they aren't being used for anything else.

However, while Xgrid worked for large-scale operations that were very well funded at a corporate or federal level, as AppleInsider's Mike Wuerthele can attest to, it didn't translate well to smaller projects. Under perfect and specific situations, and specific code, it worked fantastically, but home-made clusters tended to not perform very well, and sometimes slower than a single computer doing the work.

MLX does change that quite a bit, as it's using the standard MPI distributed computing methodology to work. It is also possible to get running on a few Macs of varying performance, without necessarily shelling out for hundreds or thousands of them.

Unlike Xgrid, MLX seems to be geared a lot more towards smaller clusters, meaning the crowd that wanted to use Xgrid but kept running into trouble.

A useful cluster for the right reasons

While adding together the performance of multiple Mac minis together in a cluster seems attractive, it's not something that everyone can benefit from.

For a start, you're not going to see benefits for typical Mac uses, like running an app or playing a game. This is intended for processing massive data sets or for high intensity tasks that benefit from parallel processing.

This makes it ideal for purposes like creating LLMs for machine learning research, for example.

It's also not exactly easy to use by the typical Mac user.

Also, the performance gains aren't necessarily going to be that beneficial for the usual Mac owner. Ziskind found in tests that simply buying a M4 Pro model offers more performance than two M4 units working together when using LLMs.

Clusters can be really worth it when using multiple high-spec Macs together

Where a cluster like this comes into play is when you need more performance than you can get from a single powerful Mac. If a model is too big to work on a single Mac, such as constraints on memory, a cluster can offer more total memory for the model to use.

Ziskind offers that, at this stage, a high-end M4 Max Mac with vast amounts of memory is better than a cluster of lower-performance machines. But even so, if your requirements somehow go beyond the highest single Mac configuration, a cluster can help out here.

However, there are still some limitations to consider. While Thunderbolt is fast, Ziskind had to resort to using a Thunderbolt hub to connect the nodes to the host Mac, which reduced the available bandwidth.

Directly connecting the Macs together solved this, but then it runs into problems such as the number of available Thunderbolt ports to connect multiple Macs together. This can make scaling the cluster problematic.

He also ran into thermal oddities, where the host Mac mini was running especially hot, while nodes ran at a more reasonable level.

Ultimately, Ziskind found the Mac mini cluster tower experiment was interesting, but he doesn't intend to use it long-term. However, it's still relatively early days for the technology, and in cases where you use multiple high-end Macs for a sufficiently tough model, it can still work very well.



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The latest MacBook Pro update arrived in November, alongside multiple other Macs. We similarly got a new M4-powered iMac and a completely redesigned Mac mini.

Looking at the MacBook Pros specifically, they come in both 14- and 16-inch versions. You can get the 14-inch in M4 and M4 Pro versions and the 16-inch with the M4 Pro or M4 Max.

We're looking at the Space Black 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Max processor and its 40-core GPU. It has 1TB of storage and 64GB of unified memory.

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16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Internals and ports

Much of this machine is the same as before. The design is unchanged on the outside, other than that the base M4 model can now be obtained in the Space Black colorway that's become so popular. We still wish it was a bit darker.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The left side has MagSafe 3, Thunderbolt 5 ports, and an audio jack

As you face it, on the left of the machine is a MagSafe 3 port for charging at up to 140W, saddled by two Thunderbolt ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The right has an SDXC card reader, another Thunderbolt port, and an HDMI connector.

You get Apple's excellent built in keyboard above the still-spacious glass trackpad. Years later, Apple's trackpad is still unmatched by the competition.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The keyboard is as good as ever and a joy to type on

The display is 16.2-inches on the diagonal and measures 3456 by 2234 in resolution. It looks beautiful, has 1000 nits of typical brightness, ProMotion up to 120Hz, supports the P3 wide color gamut, and has TrueTone.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: What's new this time around?

There are a number of improvements here, even if Apple kept the body the same. For example, the display's 1000 nit max brightness is 400 nits above where it was before.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The screen looks gorgeous with the matte finish

That's particularly useful when outdoors, no matter if you opted for the glossy or the new nano-texture finish. Similarly, it can get dimmer too.

If you've ever worked into the wee hours or tried to use your computer in bed in the dark, you may have tried to turn your display brightness extremely low. Like the iPhone 16 line, it can now go as low as 1 nit.

We certainly work into the wee hours of the night, frequently. So, this, like it was on the iPhone, has been a surprisingly useful feature.

Not everyone is going to need this and it's not really that heavily promoted by Apple. For us, though, it's so helpful and more comfortable on our eyes.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The new camera is 12MP and supports desk view

Also on the display is a beefed up camera hiding in the notch. It's now 12MP and supports Desk View. Video is still capped at 1080p though.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Desk View on the upgraded camera

Even if you don't use Desk View, the higher resolution and improved M4 ISP is welcomed and we were shocked at how much better we looked. We did a side-by-side with our M3 Max MacBook Pro and it was drastic.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The old versus new camera quality

The photo was richer with more contrast and better colors. It frankly makes the camera much more usable for processional applications.

Thunderbolt 5 will be a standout feature -- eventually

After we got our first look at Thunderbolt 5 prototype devices at CES 2024, we're finally seeing the first cables and docks coming to market.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: A third party Thunderbolt 5 cable

It's capable of 120Gb/s of aggregated data which is up to three times that of Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4. There aren't many devices now, but we're going to see many over the lifespan of this machine.

When buying a Mac that you plan to use three, five, or even ten years you want it to support the latest technology. That's what this offers.

It'll make more of a difference when there are more peripherals available. At the time of writing, only a few things have been announced.

One thing we didn't get here was Wi-Fi 7 and we're sorely disappointed. This is the one upgrade we expected to get and didn't, purely based on the new wireless standard being finalized earlier this year. The iPhone 16 series also already supports it.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Apple has plenty of ports

Once more, when you want a machine that will last, you want the latest standards and it's frustrating to see that omitted here. We'd prefer it on our Macs versus our iPhones.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Nano texture display

Filed under "new changes in 2024" for the MacBook Pro is an optional nano texture finish. It's similar to what the iPad Pro, iMac, and Studio Display offer.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Trying to flash a light at the glossy (left) and matte (right) finish options

We're not going to get into it again, given that this isn't Apple's first product with it. In short, it reduces glare and the impact of bright lights on the display. This diffused light, in our experience, makes the screen even better.

There will be debate on what's better for color-specific workflows like video color grading or professional editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, but for us, it makes sense. Side by side, the color difference is minimal.

If you are worrying that much about the color representation, a dedicated reference monitor may make more sense. With a laptop, the idea is to be portable and the nano texture affords that.

The only downside is that because of the diffused light, it does appear slightly dimmer in certain environments. That's a worthwhile tradeoff though because we'd usually have to crank the brightness to battle the glare.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Testing the two displays outside

When outside and the brightness cranks up to that 1000 nit level, that difference goes away and the new model looks just as bright as the older one. It also has great viewing angles, which is a plus.

In all the environments we tested, the nano texture looked better. Even the clarity loss is minimal and we'd happily pay the $150 upgrade cost.

Funny enough, the nano texture also kept out display cleaner. It still showed some oils, but overall looked and stayed cleaner than the normal glossy one.

We've disliked the traditional anti-glare screens found on PCs and it's clear why Apple waited for a more suitable technology before introducing their own Mac-specific version of it.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Performance

Here, we're testing the M4 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro which is a 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Geekbench single-core results

That's the same breakdown as the M3 Max. It's now faster though, increasing the clockspeed from 3.68GHz to 4.5GHz.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Geekbench multi-core results

In terms of benchmarked performance, Geekbench 6 is showing us a 25% boost in the single core performance. We also saw a 30% boost in the multi-core performance.

The Metal graphics test was a little more modest, going to 189752 from 163927. That's about a 15% increase for that 40-core GPU.

Putting these numbers into perspective, the M4 Max easily outperforms the M2 Ultra CPU. That shouldn't be a huge surprise since we never got an M3 Ultra chip to compare with.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Blender GPU benchmarks

Perhaps even more impressive, the M4 Max is also comparable to the GeForce 4080 super GPU in some workloads. That's a huge, desktop graphics card that has similar performance to a laptop.

We wanted throw something different at the new machine in our testing, which was perfectly timed with Apple's new update to Final Cut Pro.

One of the new features to that is Magnetic Mask, which is one of the more computationally intensive video tasks we do, outside of 3D motion graphics. It uses AI to track a subject, masking out the background without the need for a green screen.

We applied it to a 12 minute 4K 24FPS video and it took 14 minutes and 27 seconds to complete. On the M3 Max model, it took a minute and 32 seconds longer.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Testing editing with Final Cut Pro

Overall it's about a 10% boost in that performance. That's not a ton but on a longer or higher resolution project, that could amount to a serious time savings. Of course, higher-end workflows probably aren't using Magnetic Mask, but still.

For completeness sake, we ran Cinebench R23 on both our last-gen and current gen machines. The M4 Max achieved 27108 for the multi-core sore and 2237 for the single-core, compared to 21355 and 1816 for the M3 Max respectively.

That once more is showing about a 30% increase in multi-core performance. For a yearly update, that's a solid increase, and even more impressive compared to the exceptional M1 Max machine many still use.

This may be a big enough jump to encourage holdouts to make the jump to Apple's latest and greatest portable Mac.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: M4 Pro is where it's at

While the M4 Max is an incredibly powerful chip, and also points to a mind-bending M4 Ultra release down the pike, the real story seems to be the M4 Pro.

Generationally, it's a bigger increase than its predecessor and at the rate of Apple Silicon, it's still more power than a lot of pro users will need.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Apple's M4 series chips are great

Our most demanding workflow, multi-cam 4K video, is now barely taxing even for a base M4 processor. We'd be fine with an M4 Pro these days, even if we opt for the extra headroom and better performance the M4 Max offers.

Notably, the M4 Pro is up to a 14-core, two more than before, but also increased the performance cores from six to ten. We'd have been fine had Apple gave us just more efficiency cores.

Memory bandwidth also nearly doubled from 150GB/s to 273GB/s. It all amounts to an exceptional upgrade for the mid-tier chip.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Some of our benchmarking suite

Last year, the M3 Pro felt like we got slighted with a middling update. It gave users more of a reason to jump to the "max" variant.

This year, it feels like the M4 Pro is where it's at and unless you have an ultra-demanding workflow, it will probably keep up.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Should you buy Apple's new flagship portable Mac?

Not every year of Apple Silicon needs to be a monumental increase. This year it was probably above average for the M4 Max, between 20% and 30% for the CPU and less for the GPU.

Still, it's so impressive how much power Apple is able to pack into a laptop that is so incredibly portable. And unlike many Windows-based PCs, you don't see a massive performance dip when running on battery.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Sliding the MacBook Pro into a backpack is easy, even at 16 inches

There's very little to criticize here as Apple has continued to refine and push the MacBook Pro line. There's the absence of Wi-Fi 7, but otherwise Apple knocked it out of the park.

It's powerful, fast, elegant, portable, and reliable. It's the machine we turn to most often to get work done.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: The new MacBook Pro is incredibly good

The only reason not to buy the M4 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro is if you don't need this much power. In that case, the M4 Pro model is perfectly suitable.

Next year it's rumored we'll see a redesigned MacBook Pro that's even thinner and presumably adding Wi-Fi 7 and upgraded OLED displays. That's what's on the roadmap which will hopefully make any upgrade decisions easier.

This is a workhorse of a machine and would be a solid upgrade choice before jumping to a redesigned model in a few years, when Apple has any first-gen bugs worked out.

This is peak MacBook Pro. And we're here for it.

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Pros

• Nano-texture display is incredible upgrade


• Performance of M4 Pro and M4 Max are both outstanding


• New camera is markedly better


• Peak design and performance of the portable Mac


• Thunderbolt 5 will be a game changer


• New minimum brightness is great for late night working

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max review: Cons

• No Wi-Fi 7


• Thunderbolt 5 accessories are still scarce to start

16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max rating: 5 out of 5

Where to buy Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max at a discount

The 2024 MacBook Pro 16-inch is already on sale at numerous Apple resellers, with discounted prices starting at $2,199 in our 16-inch MacBook Pro Price Guide. Amazon has M4 Max models marked down to as low as $3,199 at press time, reflecting a triple-digit discount off MSRP.

AppleInsider readers can also save up to $300 on every CTO M4 MacBook Pro configuration with promo code APINSIDER at Apple Authorized Reseller Adorama. The same code takes $30 off three years of AppleCare for the 14-inch models and $40 off three years of AppleCare for the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

You can also find the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro deals in our Price Guides:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 prices


• 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro & M4 Max prices

Bring smarts to your holiday lighting with Govee's Matter-compatible lights

Govee gave me the chance to try out a selection of smart lights just in time for holiday decorations to go up. Some are standard lights that can stay up year-round, while a couple are purpose-built for Christmas decor.

I've got a lot of Apple Home products like smart lights, cameras, and locks, but I've never taken the leap to holiday decor or more permanent lighting. Govee has a lot of options, but here are five that'll brighten your holidays.

Look, I'll be frank here, I don't live in the most beautiful home on the market. That said, these Govee lights look great even in my old build home with wood panels and a weathered exterior.

Govee Christmas String Lights 2

The Govee Christmas String Lights 2 aren't your usual string lights. If you're used to seeing classic string lights with those little bulbs, this is a big change.

Govee's Christmas String Lights 2 run bright but cool to the touch

The lights are literally built into the string and are embedded as little knot-like bumps at intervals. They're bright lights that stay cool to the touch.

Since there are no bulbs hanging off of the strand, there's no tangling or fuss. The little spool the strand is attached to is perfect for just walking the lights around a tree or banister without issue.

After setting everything up, I added the Govee Christmas String Lights to the Govee app with a button press. It was mercifully simple, and adding to Apple Home was just as easy. More on using these lights later.

Buy String Lights 2

One thing to note and something Govee could address in a future model is that there's no power outlet at the other end of the strand. So, if you wind the string lights around the tree bottom to top, there's nowhere to plug in a star.

Luckily, our silly Super Mario star had a long power cable we hid in the trees and ran to an extension cord so it wasn't an issue. However, a lot of traditional decorations are built assuming the string lights have an outlet at the end.

The Govee Christmas String Lights 2 are a really nice addition to my holiday decor. I'm considering if I might use them year-round in a different part of my home in place of fairy lights.

Get the 66ft Govee Christmas String Lights 2 from Govee for $ 129.99. They are on sale at the time of publication for $79.99 from Govee and on Amazon.

Govee Icicle Lights

The Govee Icicle Lights are yet another modern take on a classic holiday decoration. Like the string lights, it's made with LEDs embedded in the strand, so there are no bulbs or mess.

Govee Icicle Lights are pretty and animated

I didn't run into any issues with tangling out of the box, and I doubt there'll be much problem in the future since the strands are so rigid. They are different lengths to provide a staggered lighting effect.

I don't have a very large front porch, but the 32.8ft option was enough to circle the entire porch with a bit leftover. The lights are incredibly bright, so I tend to turn down the brightness after dark to keep from overwhelming the neighbors.

Buy Icicle Lights

Like with the string lights, setup and pairing with the Govee app and Apple Home were easy. The power cable with the in-line remote was plenty long enough to run it inside to an outlet.

Get the Govee Icicle Lights for $139.99. They are on sale for $89.99 from Govee and on Amazon at the time of publication.

Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2

Govee sent me the 100ft strand of Permanent Outdoor Lights 2, and let me tell you that's a lot of lights. I managed to hang half of the segments before running out of reasonably reachable house. (I may hang the rest, but I'll need a bigger ladder or to hire someone.)

The Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 can be mounted with adhesive

Each of the small cubes houses a bright LED you'll want to point down at the side of the house. These work best if you have an awning or gutter that runs along the house in a way that gets some space between the light and the wall.

Sadly, I don't have a lot to work with, but I managed. The siding on my house juts out a bit in a layered pattern too, so the effect was lessened somewhat.

Buy Outdoor Lights 2

That said, the lights are incredibly bright and still cast a strong effect around the top of my house. The Christmas-themed patterns play well for holiday decor, and I intend to leave the lights up year-round for accent lighting or other holidays.

The lights themselves blend right in with the home, so it doesn't look like a tacky set of Christmas lights you forgot to take down. I chose the adhesive mounting option since I'm renting and moving in the near future, but permanent screw mounts were also included.

The adhesive on the back of the lights is strong enough, but it needs a clean, flat surface

We've had some interesting weather in the weeks since I attached these lights, and there hasn't been any issue so far. One or two lights did unstick from an uneven gutter surface, but they were simple to reattach and reinforce.

I placed the lights around the front of the house where the Christmas Tree would also be visible. It's quite an effect.

I can highly recommend the Permanent Outdoor Lights 2. Just be sure the mounting options are adequate for the style of your home and pay installers if you're uncomfortable on a ladder.

Get the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 for $299.99. The 100ft strand is discounted to $199.99 from Govee and via Govee on Amazon at the time of publication.

Govee Curtain Lights 2

The Govee Curtain Lights are basically a pixel wall that can display images and animations. The default scenes can show a game of pong, a space game like Galaga, or a Christmas tree.

Govee's Curtain Lights 2 are a great party trick, though not the easiest effect to photograph

The curtain lights can be hung outdoors, indoors, on a wall, or wherever you need them. While Govee doesn't advertise this, I decided to hang ours in a doorway as a kind of beaded curtain.

The patterns are really cool and work even when suspended without a backdrop like mine. However, the animations are complex and distracting unless they're used in places where you're not seeing them regularly.

Buy Curtain Lights 2

With the curtain hanging inside, I tend to favor simple patterns or a rainbow color. The great thing is users can customize what is shown using the many tools in the Govee app.

Unlike the icicle lights or light strand, the curtain light isn't just a holiday decoration. The current plan is to keep the lights up year-round and use them for accent lighting.

Like with all of its lights, Govee provided multiple hanging options like adhesive, hooks, and plastic tabs. The main strand where each curtain piece attaches isn't the prettiest to look at, especially with all the hooks attached, but that section is easily hidden behind garland or other decor.

Get the Govee Curtain Lights 2 for $149.99. They are on sale for $99.99 from Govee and on Amazon at the time of publication.

Govee Neon Rope Light 2

The Govee Neon Rope Light 2 is a really cool decoration, but it is a bit intimidating. All of the images shown on Govee's website for the product show these beautifully realized line art displays that I could never hope to create.

Twist and contort the Govee Neon Rope Light 2 to create many interesting shapes

Don't let that stop you though. Even though I'm not clever enough to make a fun shape, I still managed to put up a simple design that added some color and light to my living room.

The rope light is very flexible, and the included brackets can be bent to help precisely shape the light. I weaved it around a bookshelf and a painting on the wall in a part of the room that had no lighting at all.

Buy Neon Rope Light 2

The end result is really fun. I like how it can be used as an accent light or have it play an animation.

The 16.4ft option really lets you go all out with the design. And there are white and black options for the rear material so it can blend with the wall better.

Get the Govee Neon Rope Light 2 for $99.99. It is on sale for $59.99 from Govee and via Govee on Amazon at the time of publication.

Using the Govee smart lights

I've really enjoyed all of the lights from Govee. If I were presenting them as individual reviews, they'd all score a 4 or above.

The Govee app has all of the scene controls while Apple Home has basic ones

Since setting up and using all of these lights is similar, I decided to cover it in one section to keep from repeating myself. Since the Govee lights mentioned in this roundup are all Matter certified, they can be added to Apple Home.

The Govee app is the primary interaction point. That's where you can control animations, use an AI chatbot to generate lighting options, or browse available defaults.

Apple Home is limited in what it can do for now. Each of these lights is treated as a simple light strand or bulb, so users can't choose animations or color-specific segments of the lights via HomeKit. Only the brightness, color, and power state are controlled in Apple Home.

Now, I will ding Govee on this one thing that isn't implemented, but could arrive in a future update. Govee should be able to donate the scenes to Apple Home.

The lack of scene control in Apple Home is a solvable problem by Govee

I've seen other apps like Nanoleaf do this, so I assume Govee could too. Once I've got a few scenes I know I'll use repeatedly, I don't need to do all of the tinkering available in the Govee app all of the time.

Let's hope Govee updates its app in the future to allow scene donation to Apple Home. For now, I go to the Govee app to set the light animation, and I use Apple Home for automating when the lights turn off and on.

I was only able to cover these five products, but explore Govee's website for more Matter-compatible products. After setting up and using these lights, I can say they're a new favorite for my smart home.



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iCloud device backups, unless they update to iOS 9 or later.

iCloud backup options in iOS

As a way to keep hold of your data, iCloud backups are extremely convenient to users, but it won't be usable by everyone. Apple has started to warn users of devices running on iOS 8 or earlier that it will stop working in one month's time.

In a support document titled "How to keep your devices and data backed up in iOS 8 or earlier," first published on Monday and found by 9to5Mac, Apple advises that support will be curtailed for older iOS installations. From December 18, 2024, "device backups will require iOS 9 or later," the post states.

According to Apple, the reason for the change is to "align more closely with our published minimum software requirements."

The function will still work as usual until December 18. However, backup data stored on Apple's servers will eventually be deleted unless the devices are updated to iOS 9 or later.

After December 18, devices running iOS 5 to iOS 8 won't be able to create new backups, and existing backups for those devices won't be accessible either. However, the devices themselves will continue to function normally and retain any on-device data, as they won't be directly affected.

Users have a few choices on how to proceed. The main one, if users want to keep using iCloud device backups for their older hardware, is to update to iOS 9 or later.

Updates can be performed via the Settings menu, under General then Software Update, on most Apple mobile devices. It can also be updated via the Finder in macOS, or iTunes on a Windows PC.

The second main option is to back up the affected iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch manually. This again is available via the Finder on macOS, or iTunes in Windows and older versions of macOS.

AppleInsider recommends trying to update the operating system if possible, of the two options Apple presents. The manual backup method is better suited for devices running older apps that don't support newer iOS versions, or for people who want to preserve the older operating systems for archival purposes.



Read on AppleInsider