9to5Toys Lunch Break: 15” Retina MacBook Pro $1,600, CyberPower UPS $85, Italian Leather Apple Watch Band $80, more

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TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

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Apple’s 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro brings power and a beautiful display to your work: $1,600 shipped (Reg. $1,999)

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Everyone needs a reliable uninterruptible power supply, score this CyberPower model for $85 shipped (Reg. $140)

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Bring Nomad’s handsome Italian Leather Apple Watch Bands to your wrist for as low as $80 shipped

PowerTime Apple Watch Charging Dock w/ 3 USB Ports: $39 shipped (Reg. $49)

Just $9 Prime shipped for a new Apple Watch band? Sounds good to me.

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Amazon Prime Day 2016 revealed: Tons of deals, increased inventory and Alexa specials for Echo owners

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Parallels Desktop 11: Run Windows/Android/Linux/anything seamlessly on your Mac: $40 (50% off) shipped or less

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App Store Free App of the Week: Mimpi Dreams puzzle-platformer goes free for the first time (Reg. $2)

Apple offering free download of sketching app Procreate via Apple Store app

One of the best sniper titles on the App Store just went 50% off: Hitman Sniper $1 (Reg. $2)

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Short Lightning cables are more useful than you’d think, here are the best MFi options

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Review: Mophie’s new Charge Force line brings carefree wireless charging to iPhone [Video]

Apple’s Thunderbolt Display is dead: These are the best 4K & 5K displays for Mac

Skip your pockets, the LD West gun-style iPhone holsters turn your whole life into an 80’s cop show

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Here’s a bunch of iPhone and Android clear cases on sale from $3 w/ free shipping over at Amazon

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Amazon Prime Day offers up deep deals on SONOS refurbished speakers: PLAY:3 $224, more

  • GOOLOO Portable 4-Outlet Surge Protector with USB Charger $20 (Reg. $25), more
  • One of VIZIO’s top 4K Smart Ultra HDTVs just received a rare discount: $899 (Reg. $1,100)
  • Daily Deals: Toshiba Canvio AeroCast 1TB Wireless Portable Hard Drive $60, more
  • Grab The Ultimate Bond Collection + Spectre Bundle on Blu-ray for $90 (Reg. $300)
  • Prime Day is coming but the deals have started: Acer Chromebook 15 on sale for $250, more
  • Crocs have evolved to be less revolting, get all shapes today at Amazon starting at $12
  • Games/Apps: Batman Arkham Knight $20, PS Plus 1yr. $40, freebies, more
  • Kevin Durant probably didn’t train on this basketball hoop, but it’s still a great deal at $500
  • $49 (58% off) snags you an excellent Black & Decker 20V Lithium Drill/Driver Project Kit

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

DF-01826cc - Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) finds himself the chief suspect behind the shocking disappearance of his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike), on their fifth anniversary.

Load up on $5 HD movies: Gone Girl, Peanuts Movie, Spy, much more

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Illuminate your garden or outdoor space w/ the OSRAM LIGHTIFY Kit $54 shipped

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Filed under: Apple

Review: Lifespan Under Desk Treadmill is a solid standing desk companion [Video]

As someone who’s been involved in IT for the last 15 years, sitting while working comes with the territory. Since transitioning from IT to full-time blogging, it’s just been more of the same.

Shooting video tends to get me out of my chair on most days, but I still find myself sitting for inordinate amounts of time. Having a good exercise routine is crucial, as many of my colleagues will attest to, but even with regular exercise, it can still be fatiguing to sit for most of the working day.

This is why I ended up researching, and ultimately acquired, a standing desk. Standing desks are great as I noted in my full review of the UpDesk Power Up, but after a month or so of regularly standing for portions of my work day, I craved something more.

Enter the Under Desk Treadmill from LifeSpan. It’s a device that helps transition a standing-while-working routine into to a moving-while-working routine. Can an under desk treadmill really allow you to maintain productivity while in motion?

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Filed under: Apple

Poll Update: The battle of the two Steves was played out again in yesterday’s opinion comments

When I posted my opinion piece yesterday, I did so knowing that fans of the old 17-inch MacBook Pro are in a tiny minority. Most people are happy enough with a 15-inch screen when mobile, and most also seem content to use a mix of on-board storage, external drives and the cloud, so I also didn’t expect to see much support for my own preference for 2TB of on-board storage.

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Filed under: Apple

Foxconn, Pegatron & other Apple suppliers reportedly under pressure as Apple squeezes margins

Digitimes report claims that Apple suppliers are facing pressure from Apple to reduce costs, with major players like Foxconn and Pegatron affected. Apple is in some cases adding suppliers into the mix to help drive down pricing. It was recently reported that Sharp was gearing up to compete with Samsung and LG for the OLED displays Apple is expected to use for future iPhones.

Currently, Largan is facing strong competition from Japan-based Kantatsu over camera module orders, while Foxconn and Pegatron are seeing Apple adding new ODM partners such as Wistron for the production of its new iPhone.

Taiwan’s printed circuit board (PCB) players are also competing aggressively over Apple’s orders by cutting prices.

A major British supplier has also just posted the largest loss in its history …

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Filed under: Apple

Apple promotes organ donation with iOS 10, sign up as a donor from the Health app

Apple will promote organ donation with its newest mobile operating system, iOS 10, when it ships in the fall. Via the Associated Press, Apple will include a new simple sign-up button inside the Health app to enable users to register to become an organ donor in a national donor registry. It appears the integrated sign up option will only be available to US iPhone customers, at least at launch.

Tim Cook told the AP that he hopes Apple’s efforts will help improve the availability of organs to those that need them, saying that the problem “hit home when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs endured an excruciating wait for a liver transplant in 2009”.

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Filed under: Apple

Apple’s Thunderbolt Display is dead: These are the best 4K & 5K displays for Mac

If you’ve been holding out for a new standalone desktop display from Apple, you’re either going to take news of the Thunderbolt Display being discontinued as a sign of good things to come, or as a cue to finally purchase a new 4K or 5K display from someone else. For most, especially considering Apple itself is recommending you purchase a third-party display, the latter option is going to be the more likely.

While Apple didn’t recommend any specific third-party alternatives during its discontinuation announcement of the Thunderbolt display last week, we’ve done the work for you and put together our top picks for the best 4K & 5K displays for Mac available to buy right now.

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Filed under: Apple

Opinion: Why I’m resigned to my next MacBook Pro being worse than my current one

Regular readers will know that I still have a 17-inch MacBook Pro as my main computer. It’s almost five years old now, which is a relatively long time in Mac terms, and an absolute age for someone who usually does poorly when it comes to resisting shiny new tech.

But when Apple stopped selling the machine, I’d initially hoped that it was just a temporary measure. The company had only just introduced new Retina displays in the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros, both of which carried a hefty price-tag, and my theory then was that a 17-inch Retina screen wasn’t practical. Yield rates were too low, I supposed, meaning that the cost of a 17-inch model would have been too expensive even for Apple to contemplate.

So I hung in there …

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Filed under: Apple