Macworld The iPad is a capable device for both art and productivity, but it becomes a stronger proposition in both areas if you have a good stylus to hand. Whether you’re sketching a new building design, taking notes during a work meeting or designing graphics, a stylus is a gamechanger. But with so many to choose from in just about every shape and size, which is the best for your needs? Everyone has heard of the Apple Pencil, but there are plenty of great alternatives that cost a fraction of the price.  Here are the best iPad styluses available right now. Updated June 29 to add Adonit Log Stylus Apple Pencil (2nd generation) – Best overall Best Prices Today: $17.99…

Reddit has forced third-party clients like Apollo to shut down due to exorbitant fees, and please refuse the subscription refund to help keep your favorite developers afloat.Decline your Apollo refundLike with what happened to third-party Twitter clients, Reddit clients are being forced to shut down with almost zero notice. However, that leaves developers like Christian Selig holding the bill. Read more...

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge It was inevitable that despite their hefty $549 price, Apple’s AirPods Max headphones would eventually start to miss out on the company’s latest software enhancements. Headphones are basically computers now and have evolved into their own platform, so just like with any iPhone or Mac, Apple’s ecosystem tricks and new features increasingly require more powerful silicon and revamped components. We started to see the swan song for the two-and-a-half-years-old AirPods Max earlier this month at WWDC when Apple announced several new features coming this fall that, in nearly all cases, will exclusively apply to the second-generation AirPods Pro — and no other models. The headlining feature is called “Adaptive Audio,” a new sound…

Macworld While Apple has always made great products, it has never struck the Macalope as a necessarily great place to work. Let’s take a look at how it’s going with Apple’s employees lately. Retail? Well, have to say… could be better. “Apple to Appeal Judge’s Ruling That It Violated Workers’ Rights” Yes, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Apple had violated workers’ rights by “coercively interrogating employees” regarding their union sympathies and restricting the circulation of union flyers. This comes at the same time an unnamed Apple TV+ executive said the company favors a hardline stance against the entertainment writers’ guild in its strike because a win for writers would “encourages industries in some countries to unionize in order…

Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsWide range of functionsFamiliar operationCheaper than PhotoshopConsNot quite as comprehensive as PhotoshopNo AI-supported functionsOur VerdictFor beginners, hobby graphic artists and photographers Affinity Photo is an incredibly attractive alternative to Adobe Photoshop, which hardly differs from the class leader in terms of essential functions.Affinity Photo is now so similar to Adobe‘s software that a move to the former should be smooth, although beginners will need to spend some time getting to know the interface before they can fully exploit all the possibilities of Affinity Photo.With all that Affinity Photo offers, the software is a real bargain at $69.99/£67.99. Adobe Photoshop is for image editing like Microsoft Office for the office: absolutely dominant and in a professional…

Macworld If you’ve been holding out on buying an Apple Watch Ultra to see what the second generation brings, you might not have to wait much longer. In a tiny reference in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman predicts that the second generation of the Apple Watch Ultra will arrive later in 2023. “In addition to the iPhone 15 lineup this fall,” Gurman writes, “there will be two Apple Watch Series 9 models and an updated version of the Ultra (the watches are codenamed N207, N208 and N210).” Previous rumors had suggested that the Apple Watch Ultra would be on a similar update schedule to the Apple Watch SE, which launched in 2020 and…