MacWorld may only less than a month away now, but for Apple-aholics, that’s a long time to wait. Better kit them out with the latest Mac accessories for Christmas to keep them tided over in the meantime, and we’ve got the best of the bunch right here.
We’ve ploughed through peripherals and analysed add-ons galore to come up with the most desirable and affordable gadgets right here – see what they are after the jump.
Apple’s product are shamelessly expensive, but your present doesn’t have to be. Try these pound-saving peripherals.
Apple Remote
Your friend might have been the first in line to buy one of the new MacBooks, but what they might not have realised is that the new range don’t come with Apple Remotes included. Which can make trying to use Front Row on one fiddly to say the least. Supplement their Mac with a remote for £15, so they can sit back on the sofa and enjoy their iTunes collection from afar.
OS X Dock cushions
If they find it hard to prize themselves away from the OS X dock, why not let them cuddle up to it when their Mac’s switched off too? These hand-made cushions from Throwboy are modeled after the much-loved icons for Apple’s Finder, Dashboard, iTunes, iPhoto, iChat and Photobooth. You can buy them as a set, or individually from $29, or £19 each.
Tool up that special somebody’s Mac with the latest kit, from masterful mice to music and video instruments to keep them quiet while they sit showing off in Starbucks.
Logitech V479 Bluetooth laser mouse
Give your Apple friend the greatest gift of all – a mouse that works. We loathe the temperamental nature of Apple’s official pointer almost as much as that Irish infant on X Factor, and we suspect both break quite easily with a good, well deserved thump. Give them this solid, wireless laser mouse instead from Logitech – £34.20 is a small price to pay to give piece of mind.
Sony Bluetooth headphones
Check what software your Mac manic is running first, but if they’ve got OS X Leopard, leave them some comfy Bluetooth headphones under the tree. The OS supports A2DP accessories, so Sony’s DRBT21GB headphones will let them stream stereo sound right into their brains, with no cords required. Under £36 from the BT shop.
If the giftee needs Bluetooth headphones, chances are they’ve also got a massive music library, and if their Mac is rapidly filling up, buy them a high quality external hard drive at a knock down price to keep them going. Seagate’s 500GB FreeAgent USBer offers immense capacity for a ludicrous £49.99. It’ll also kick into action as a Time Machine backup drive as soon as they plug it in.
Wacom Bamboo tablet
If the person you’re buying for owns a Mac, the chances are they fancy themselves as a “creative type”. You might shudder at those words, but you can still make them shiver with excitement for a modest amount with this budget-price drawing tablet. Now selling for under £35, this A6 virtual slate will let them realise all of their “creative” dreams and doodle on their desktop.
Joyful jog wheel
Speaking of “creative types”, if they’re the sort to sit at their Mac editing video, consider Shuttle’s Xpress jog wheel, which comes preloaded with controls for most popular editing software. Scrolling through footage frame by frame has never been easier – or cheaper, at just £36.24 from Amazon. Even if they’re not chopping up footage, it’ll work with music apps, or simply as a hardware volume control too.
If you’ve got this much cash going spare you should really go and buy a MacBook yourself, but if you’re as nice as you are rich, give your Mac-toting friend one of these this Christmas instead.
Elgato EyeTV DTT Deluxe
This is quite possibly the best USB dongle ever. It’s designed to be small enough for even the ultra-portable MacBook Air, but tucked away inside its tiny shell is a Freeview tuner to turn that special someone’s Mac into a telly. And for just £60.57 -much better value than the Licence Fee, we reckon, though they’ll still have to pay that too.
AirPort Express
If your Apple eater uses their machine to store all their music, consider opening their iTunes catalogue to the entire household with Apple’s official networking box. It’ll sling tunes to every room with none of this cabling lark, all they need to do is plug in a pair of speakers – it’ll work with PCs too. At just £60, this is a seriously high quality router they’ll actually want to unwrap on the 25th.
Achingly chic sound
Ferguson Hill’s mini speaker system does cost a bomb, but those glass cones aren’t just gimmicks. The sound quality from the two horn speakers and dual bass boxes is almost as space age as the look, and they’ll perch happily by your Mac without looking out of place. Show someone you care by spending £387 on them. That’s what love is all about, see? Material goods.
