There are still two weeks to go until Black Friday, but 9to5Toys Specials is already offering some amazing deals. Today, we’re highlighting the Black Friday Mac Bundle 2.0, featuring nine apps worth nearly $380 altogether. For a limited time pick up these nine utility Mac apps for just $20:

1. PDF Expert 2.0 for Mac (Orig. $59.99) — Edit text, add links, sign and annotate documents with this App Store award winner.
2. Call Recorder for FaceTime (Orig. $29.95) — Record interviews and podcasts in crystal-clear HD.
3. MainMenu Pro 3 (Orig. $19.99) — Keep your Mac running smoothly with scheduled maintenance scripts, and access extra settings.
4. TripMode (Orig. $7.99) — Control and track data usage during mobile tethering.
5. AfterShot 3 (Orig. $39.99) — Harness powerful RAW editing features and view images at speed.
6. ParticleShop (Orig. $49.99) — Add extra style to your photos with 11 creative brushes.
7. Total Video Converter Pro for Mac (Orig. $29.99) — Convert and burn videos at original quality in 250 formats.
8. RapidWeaver 7 (Orig. $99) — Create beautiful, custom, SEO-optimized websites without any code.
9. CrossOver 15 for Mac (Orig. $39.95) — Run Windows apps on your Mac at native speed, no Bootcamp necessary.

Want a bigger selection of different apps?  Bundlehunt lets you choose any 10 apps out of a 50 Mac app selection offered for the same $20 purchase price.

Frankly you can’t go wrong with either, or both – some of these apps retail for much more than the $20 bundle price. Even better, 9to5Rewards is giving away one of these bundles each to someone anywhere in the world sharing this post on Twitter and Facebook… more…

Filed under: Apple

At some point today, Apple quietly introduced a new app on the tvOS App Store that brings iBooks to the platform, but in a form appropriate for children. Dubbed iBooks StoryTime, the app is designed to aid children in improving their reading skills through feature like interactive audio, a feature called Read-Aloud, and more.

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Filed under: Apple

While Apple is bringing a handful of new emoji to its users with the upcoming release of iOS 10.2, the Unicode Consortium today approved 56 new emoji as part of the Unicode 10 release. The new emoji are based on requests from third-parties to the consortium over the past year and include emoji representing breastfeeding and a hijab emoji, as well as many others (via Emojipedia).

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Filed under: Apple

Reviews for Apple’s new MacBook Pro have yet to officially go live, despite a couple false starts earlier this week. Those should arrive any day now ahead of a retail release for the machine, but one pro video editor today published his early hands-on review after using the new 15-inch model in a real-world setting. The review also aims to address some of the early criticisms of the new MacBook Pro from pros, showing how the machine held up in a real-world, professional environment. 

The author Thomas Grove Carter works at Trim Editing, a studio in London where he edits “high end commercials, music videos and films” using Final Cut Pro.

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Filed under: Apple

Apple appears to be preparing to ship the first MacBook Pro orders as early as this Friday, November 11, as some preorder customers report improved and updated shipping and delivery estimates. Today Apple started changing the status of several preorders from “processing” to “preparing for shipment” (as pictured below), which typically happens in the days before it ships and delivers orders to customers. 

Today some 9to5Mac readers also report having their order status changed to an earlier estimated delivery timeframe.

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Filed under: Apple

The MacBook Pro lacks many traditional external connection options, such as an SD Card reader or an HDMI port. In the place of all of those legacy ports resides two or more USB-C ports. USB-C is an uber-versatile form factor that will ultimately offer tons of flexibility in the future when it comes to external connections, but at this early stage in the game, the pickings are somewhat slim.

One of the major outcries that we’ve heard with regard to the new MacBook Pro centers around the lack of a built-in SD Card reader. It’s a valid complaint, as SD Cards are central to the workflows of many creatives who use Macs.

Aukey, who has produced several USB-C-oriented adapters already, offers a helping hand with its new USB 3.0 compatible Type-C Card Reader. This tiny, inexpensive, $9.99 adapter not only offers quick SD Card connectivity via USB-C, but features a slot for microSD Cards as well.

Should you consider it? Have a look at our hands-on video walkthrough for more details. more…

Filed under: Apple

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TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Best Buy’s Black Friday Early Access Sale: 13″ MacBook 256GB $1,000, Bose SoundSport Earbuds $40, VIZIO 70″ 4K UHDTV $1,000, more

Snag Apple’s latest entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air for $800 shipped (Reg. $999)

Latest Generation Apple TV drops 25% in Early Black Friday Sales: 32GB from $107, 64GB from $142 shipped (Reg. up to $199)

Beats Wireless Headphone Deals: Powerbeats2 Active Collection Earbuds $90 (Reg. $130) or Solo2 On-Ear $120 (Reg. $180)

Black Friday 2016:

Best Buy Black Friday 2016: Apple Watch Series 1 $219, iPad Air 2 $275, iTunes GC, 49-inch 4K UHDTV w/ Chromecast $200, more

Walmart’s Black Friday 2016 Ad: iPhone 7 + $250 GC, iPad Mini 2 32GB $199, 55-inch 4K UHDTV $298, much more

Target Black Friday 2016: iPad Pro $150 off, iPhone 7 + $250 GC, Xbox One + $40 GC, iTunes, Beats headphones, much more

Amazon launches its Black Friday Store with new deals every five minutes + gift guides to make shopping easier

Staples just posted its Black Friday 2016 Ad: Amazon Echo Dot $40, Chromecast $25, much more

Sears Black Friday 2016 Ad: Amazon Echo $140, Samsung 65-inch Curved 4K UHDTV $1,600, Kindle Paperwhite $100, more

Costco’s leaked Black Friday 2016 Ad: VIZIO 50-inch 4K Ultra HDTV $390, PS4 w/ 2 controllers $50 off, gift cards, more

Overstock’s Black Friday 2016 Ad: Apple deals, Battlefield 1 $40, more

Sam’s Club details its Black Friday plans plus a look at an upcoming one-day sale that nets $175 off iPad Pro

Here’s a look at Dell’s Black Friday 2016 Ad: Nest 3rd Gen. Thermostat $199, Xbox One S w/ 2 games + controller $250, more

Call of Duty iOS sale: Strike Team, Zombies & Black Ops Zombies down to $2 each

Take control of a giant Death Worm on your iPhone or iPad for just $1 (Reg. $3)

Final Fantasy III for iOS now matching its all-time low: iPhone $7, iPad $8 (Reg. up to $17)

App Store Free App of the Week: Lost in Harmony goes free for the first time (Reg. $4)

Review: TiVo Bolt+ would be a TV-enthusiast’s dream DVR if the cable companies would just get out of the way

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Smartphone Accessories: Aukey 12000mAh Power Bank $50 shipped (Reg. $70), OtterBox iPhone 7 Case $25 (Reg. $50), more

MORE DEALS STILL LIVE:

Access free HD content and local channels by adding the Mohu Leaf 30 Antenna to your home: $30 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)

Up to 50% off Spigen Accessories on Amazon from $5: travel chargers, USB hubs, Bluetooth headphones/speakers, more

 Amazon certified refurb E-readers and Streaming Media Players are on sale: Fire TV Stick $25, Kindle Paperwhite $80, more

Amazon Echo Dot Bundles: Logitech Harmony Elite Remote $288 ($350 value), WeMo Switch $73 ($85 value)

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Filed under: Apple

After launching its new Snapchat-inspired ‘Stories’ feature earlier this year, which allows users to share a time-limited collection of videos and photos in a slideshow-like format, Instagram is today rolling out an update that adds new functionality to Stories. 

New in the update is a built-in “Boomerang” mode that lets you tap into some of the functionality from Instagram’s standalone app of the same name. That is, the ability to stitch together a burst of photos into a GIF-like video…

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Filed under: Apple

This week Benjamin and Zac discuss Apple’s surprise USB-C sale, the current state of MacBook Pro shipments and how Apple apps use Touch Bar, changing Apple TV services, and whether an iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface Studio makes more sense. 9to5Mac’s Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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Filed under: Apple

Apple has released its holiday gift guide for 2016, including a variety of accessories for its core products: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. The list of recommendations is more focused than the vast 2015 guide, presenting four collections: music, photography, games, and a general Apple products category.

The primary category only features Apple’s first-party products, like Apple Watch bands, iPhone cases, Beats headphones and Apple Pencil for iPad Pro. The music, photography and toy collections recommend a selection of third-party accessories …

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Filed under: Apple