Twelve South’s travel-friendly ButterFly is a sleek, ultra-compact gizmo that starts off about the size of an AirPods Pro case (2¼” x 1″), then unfolds to reveal…

1. A 15W MagSafe charger for recent iPhone models and AirPods.
2. A 5W magnetic fast charger for your Apple Watch and 2nd-gen AirPods Pro.

Both sides of the charger can be used at once, in case you’re wondering.

Its compact folded size makes it so easy to slip into a pocket or bag, and it’s constructed with a beautiful and durable anodized aluminum shell that’s been paired with a soft vegan leather interior and strap for that luxurious-feeling experience Apple users are accustomed to.

The ButterFly isn’t just about charging on the go. It’s got a few tricks up its sleeve that make it a versatile companion for your desk or nightstand too. Fold it one way and you’ve got a handy stand for your iPhone, perfect for video calls or using the new StandBy mode in iOS 17:

Meanwhile, tilt the Watch charger and you’re all set for Nightstand mode:

This little powerhouse might just become your new travel and/or nightstand buddy, and it can be yours for $130 on Amazon.

Note: They’ve also just announced an upcoming ButterFly SE model that shares the same compact design as the original, but has a soft-touch finish and comes in three colors (with matching charge cables) rather than just aluminum, and it won’t include the 30W power adapter or 5 international outlet adapters that come with the standard ButterFly.

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Today we have a more unorthodox form of watch style than a mere reversal of crown placement. I’m talking about the ErgonBand for Apple Watch, which moves the smartwatch from its traditional place on your wrist to a more natural viewing angle near the base of your thumb.

This placement shift seems a bit strange at first, but once you try it you’ll quickly discover how much it minimizes wrist rotation, which is obviously a boon for anyone with wrist problems but also useful for runners and cyclists, people doing weight training, and drivers who don’t want to take their hand off the wheel nor shift their attention down to a clock display.

The band is handmade from a combination of high-quality real leathers that can come in a variety of colors:

As I write this on February 26th, 2024 you can use code PRESENT4U to get $55 off the usual $219–$229 price.

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Are you the type of Apple Watch owner with a penchant for collecting lots of strap styles? Need a better way to organize and find them all?

Then have a look at Twelve South’s new TimePorter organizer display, which mounts onto almost any wall using 3M Command Strips and gives your Apple Watch band collection a pleasing and organized home.

Each TimePorter can fit around 5–7 bands depending on size, and you can connect any number of them together to create a custom organization system.

One of the side benefits of this wall-hanging setup is that your sport bands have a good place to hang-dry after a workout! Just a cool idea all around.

Get a single length of TimePorter organizer for $30 on Amazon.

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If you own an iPhone, an Apple Watch, and a pair of AirPods, Anker’s 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe is one of the niftier charging solutions we’ve seen.

This portable wireless charger starts out looking like a simple cube, but then you flip up the top surface and pull out the “puck” tray on the side, and suddenly you’ve got enough charging surfaces to accomodate all three of those devices at once.

The charger delivers up to 15W of fast charging speed, and that top MagSafe iPhone charger is adjustable up to 60° for the best viewing angle. You can also set your iPhone on it in portrait or landscape mode — your preference. Included with the Cube is a 30W USB-C wall charger and a five-foot USB-C to USB-C cable, which is pretty nice.

Get this sweet little charging module set for $150 on Amazon.

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Charging an Apple Watch on the go can be a bit of a pain sometimes. At home you might have access to a nifty charging dock, or maybe you have one of those docks that can be powered by an iPad’s USB-C port. But what if you’re out and about with neither of those things nearby?

That’s where Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro BPD005 portable charger comes in handy. It’s a 10,000mAh power bank that has an Apple Watch charging puck built into one end. Just click your watch onto it and it’ll charge from 0–80% in about 45 minutes — no clunky cable or tablet port required.

While your Apple Watch wirelessly charges at 7.5W, you can plug your iPhone into the USB-C port to simultaneously fast-charge it at up to 20W. The charging puck also supports pass-through charging so your watch (or AirPods Pro case) can be charging while the power bank itself refills.

This is a superbly handy gadget to keep in your day bag, and you can get it for $100 on Amazon.

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This is going to sound stupid, but ever since I was a kid (about my son’s age right now, come to think of it) and the Gold Ranger first appeared on Power Rangers Zeo, I’ve loved the color combination of black and gold. I can’t explain why really, I just thought it was cool as heck at the time and that feeling never went away.

Which is all to say that I’m super into this matte black and rose gold Apple Watch band from Bestig. It’s got that classy, understated style that’s absolutely suitable for fancy occasions or dressing up your everyday ‘fit a little, without the high price tag you might expect.

As shown by this Amazon reviewer and others, the band pairs especially well with a gold Apple Watch case, but it’s certainly not a requirement.

You can get this elegant yet affordable Apple Watch band in one of two sizes for $19 on Amazon. Comes with a link removal tool to ensure the best fit either way you go.

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Look, Spigen’s new Rugged Armor Apple Watch Stand isn’t about to ~blow your mind~ with absolutely sick features you’ve never seen before. But hey, if you haven’t bought a stand like this yet for some reason (such as their previous S350 model), it’s a pretty cool-looking and stable option.

It’s made from TPU to give your Apple Watch a soft, scratch-free place to rest, features carbon fiber accents for the sake of style, and has a bottom lip to cradle the watch in Nightstand Mode so it can’t wobble around. The base of the stand is lined with the company’s trademark “Nanotac Technology,” which strongly adheres to any flat surface without leaving a sticky residue behind.

You can get this stand for $15 on Amazon. Like other stands of this ilk, you’ll need to supply your own charger cable/puck.

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The Apple Watch strap market has always been a rather overwhelming one, with hundreds (if not thousands) of interesting-looking options all demanding your attention as you shop around. It’s up to websites like ours to sift through the metaphorical noise and dig up the truly good stuff.

We think the Fidlock strap from DSPTCH falls into that category. Made from a soft herringbone nylon webbing, this strap has a kind of rugged “mil-spec”-esque look while being quite comfortable for everyday wear.

However, the most interesting bit is the Fidlock Hook 20 Flat clasp it gets its name from, which features integrated magnets and a hook to easily yet securely snap together, and just as easily disengages later when you want to take the watch off. No having to fiddle with buckles or strap holes or anything like that. Just click it together and be on your way.

The strap comes in 40mm and 44mm variants, both of which are compatible with the Apple Watch Series 8, while the latter can also be used with the Apple Watch Ultra.

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A few weeks ago, Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost, the brilliant guys behind Studio Neat, announced that their “Material Dock” line of walnut docks for your Apple stuff will soon have two new additions designed for MagSafe iPhones.

1. The Material Dock “Trio” ($85) offers 3-in-1 for charging your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
2. Meanwhile, the Material Dock “Upright Duo” ($54) is for charging your iPhone and AirPods together (or two iPhones, as pictured below).

As with previous editions of the Material Dock, these will be milled from solid walnut wood and given a matte finish, with a molded cork backing piece for the Apple Watch to wrap around while charging.

Underneath the dock will be a microsuction pad to keep it securely in place wherever it lives, so you don’t have to worry about the thing flopping or tossing around when you put devices on it or take them off.

(Also like before, you’ll have to bring your own MagSafe connector. The dock won’t include one for you.)

The video they tweeted below shows what the full Material Dock MagSafe lineup will look like after the two new ones are ready to ship:

Watch this short video featuring all four of our MagSafe docks to get a complete picture of our lineup. Something for everyone! The new docks are currently in production and should start shipping in about 8 weeks. https://t.co/Z8Td5PcSCP pic.twitter.com/pkr1ui2s4R

— Studio Neat (@studioneat) September 13, 2022

As of right now they plan to have these new models ready to go around mid-November 2022, but you can go ahead and pre-order them now if you’d like.

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The team at Twelve South have released the latest in their popular “HiRise” family of products: the HiRise 3, a three-in-one MagSafe charging stand that works with compatible iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch models. As diehard Apple device users who like to keep all these things juiced up as often as possible, we are all for this latest iteration of an already great (not to mention aesthetically pleasing) solution.

The design is pretty straightforward — you’ve got a slanted magnetic pad that holds your iPhone for easy viewing, behind which is an indented resting place for your Apple Watch. Meanwhile, the base of the unit is where you can simply set down your AirPods case (or a second iPhone, if desired). It all runs off a single cable and power outlet, keeping your desk or nightstand clean and minimal.

The HiRise 3 is $100 on Amazon and comes in your choice of matte white or matte black. You’ll have to provide your own wall adapter though (minimum 20W).

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Whether you’re an artist, a designer, a visual note taker, a student, or even a musician…if you work with an iPad on any kind of regular basis, you might appreciate adding a more tactile and paper-like feel to the experience. There are screen protectors for this sort of thing, and I heartily recommend them, but another way you can achieve the effect is with something like PenTips.

These soft matte silicone tips slide onto the end of your Apple Pencil, adding just the right amount of resistance to make it feel less like a digital canvas and more like a paper one. You get less slip, more control and accuracy, and as a nice bonus, no more click-clacking noises! (Your fellow office- and/or classmates will thank you for that one.)

What’s cool is, you can use PenTips in conjunction with one of those screen protectors mentioned above for the most natural-feeling, paper-esque resistance of all. Your brain almost won’t know the difference.

They also come in nearly a dozen different colors, my favorite being the orange:

A pack of five is $20 USD at the Pen.Tips site. If you have a hard time picking just one color, they also offer custom-mixed packs for $33.

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If you are looking for a radar that gives you the data straight, this is it. There are no smoothing algorithms for the radar so you can see what meteorologists see and make your own judgments. Even if all you know is green is good and red is bad this radar is the best out there.

—Anonymous App Store reviewer

As someone who grew up in Tornado Alley, I understand the value of a reliable weather radar. All the news stations in my home town made huge deals about their storm detection systems any chance they could, and the school of meteorology at my old college is considered one of the best in the world. Heck, there was a tornado movie filmed in my neck of the woods. I was surrounded by this stuff.

These days my travels keep me away from Oklahoma City a lot of the year, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still rely on top-notch storm radar, and in lieu of having a trusty News 9 anchor with me at all times — and man, do those guys live for tornado warning nights, you can always tell they’re AMPED UP to an almost sadistic degree — I get to have fancy-pants radar technology right in my pocket thanks to the ten-buck RadarScope app.

Sure, you can find lots of free radar apps out there that are ~okay~ in a pinch, but none of them holds a candle to the golden standard that is RadarScope. It’s super fast, accurate, detailed, informative, and highly polished. This is the app recommended and loved by meteorologists, storm chasers, and advanced weather geeks on the go.

As far as what it can do, I’ll let the app description speak for itself:

RadarScope […] allows you view NEXRAD Level 3 and super-resolution radar data along with tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood, special marine and snow squall warnings, and predicted storm tracks issued by the U.S. National Weather Service. It can display the latest reflectivity, velocity, dual-polarization, and other products from [various radars around the world.] These aren’t smoothed images, this is native radar data rendered in its original radial format for a high level of detail.

Whether you are scanning reflectivity for a mesocyclone’s tell-tale hook echo, trying to pinpoint the landfall of a hurricane’s eye wall, or looking for small features like velocity couplets in the storm relative radial velocity product, RadarScope gives you the power to view true radial weather radar data.

I couldn’t possibly do more than scratch the surface in this simple blog post, so head over to the App Store or do some reading around on their official website to learn more about the app. RadarScope is $10 on iOS and Android (with optional upgrade tiers for more advanced users), or you can buy the Mac or Windows desktop version separately for $30. When you find yourself in a severe weather event (like I did just last night in South Carolina), you’ll know it was worth every penny.

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The Apple Watch is already a stylish object on its own — we wouldn’t expect anything less of an Apple product — but with the right bands in your collection, you’ll be able to match it with any outfit and every occasion.

Here are our “lucky seven” bands at the moment.

La Matera Apple Watch Bands »

($145; five colorways available)

La Matera, makers of the handsome Diplomático Wallet, also offer a range of Apple Watch bands with the same rugged yet sophisticated flair. Each is made from supple, vegetable-tanned cognac leather, atop which is a layer of imported Argentine woven fabric with various color pairings and patterns to choose from.

Bagoplus Elastic Braided Solo Loop Band »

($13; lots of colorways to choose from)

In the same way that we’re fans of wearing an elastic belt that always fits just right, we also love a good elastic Apple Watch band. This stretchy braided solo loop model is easy to slip on and off, and it has a soft cushiony feel, so it’s comfy to wear all day — even while working out.

BARTON Watch Bands “Elite” Silicone Strap »

($32; lots of colorways to choose from)

The Elite Silicone strap from Austin-based BARTON Watch Bands is a very well made quick-release sport band that’s sure to add character and comfort to your Apple Watch, whatever year you bought it in. The textured top looks and feels great, and you have a choice between stainless steel or black PVD hardware to suit your taste.

The Flatwater Blue edition in particular (pictured above) not only looks sweet, all net proceeds from it benefit the Flatwater Foundation, which offers cancer patients and their loved ones access to mental health counseling. Now that’s a purchase you can feel good about.

Bellroy Premium Leather + Flexible Polymer Strap »

($69; five colorways available)

There’s no denying we love Bellroy’s stuff around here, most of which falls into the territory of wallet, bag, or pouch. Now they’ve added an Apple Watch strap to their lineup, and it’s every bit as awesome as you’d expect.

In an interesting move, they’ve paired a premium eco-tanned leather exterior with a durable and flexible polymer base layer, so you’ve got all the style and class of a city watch with the comfort and utility of a sport band.

Muranne Rainbow-Accented Silicone Sport Strap »

($6–$8; several colorway options)

This stylish silicone sport band adds a splash of color to your Apple Watch without being overly ostentatious about it. The strap itself is a solid color that’s lined with a rainbow-hued series of ventilation holes, creating a neat and subtle chromatic effect around your wrist while also making it more comfortable to wear during workouts.

Urban Armor Gear Active Strap »

($50 or $70, depending on color choice)

When it comes to Apple Watch bands, it doesn’t get more rugged or summer-friendly than the Active Strap by UAG (Urban Armor Gear). Built from a high-strength nylon weave with custom stainless steel hardware and a maximum-hold velcro fastener, this strap provides the ultimate outdoor protection, no matter how rigorous the activity.

Take it on a hike, do some HIIT training, lift weights, go for some long-distance runs, have a good surf…whatever you throw at this strap, it can take it. And not only is it sturdy enough to handle all that activity, it’s comfy to wear and pretty good-looking to boot.

Juuk Crimson II “Vitero” Band »

($149)

As we mentioned in our Tony Stark EDC guide, Juuk’s “Vitero” band in the Crimson II colorway will make you feel like a certain armored superhero when you wear it.

Inspired by vintage race cars and made from hard anodized 6000-series aluminum — commonly used for aerospace, automotive, and nautical applications — this distinctive Apple Watch band sports a matte red (dare we say “hot rod red”?) color with a gold stripe down the center.

Of course, they do have several other colorways available as well.

This stylish silicone sport band adds a splash of color to your Apple Watch without being overly ostentatious about it. The strap itself is a solid color that’s lined with a rainbow-hued series of ventilation holes, creating a neat and subtle chromatic effect around your wrist while also making it more comfortable to wear during workouts.

The strap color can be your choice of black, white, blue gray, bright blue, or pink, each of which is $7–$9 depending on size.

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There’s no denying we love Bellroy’s stuff around here, most of which falls into the territory of wallet, bag, or pouch. Now they’ve added an Apple Watch strap to their lineup, and it’s every bit as awesome as you’d expect.

In an interesting move, they’ve paired a premium eco-tanned leather exterior with a durable and flexible polymer base layer, so you’ve got all the style and class of a city watch with the comfort and utility of a sport band.

Both the 38–40mm and 42mm–44mm sizes are $69 at Bellroy and come in a handful of color choices:

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