Tag Apple

Apple’s macOS Sonoma has brought a bunch of interesting new features for Mac users, and desktop widgets are among the most useful. As the name implies, you can now drag and drop widgets right onto your desktop, giving you quick access to to-do lists, local weather forecasts, smart home controls, and much more. Here, we’ll show you how to use them.

The best part of macOS Sonoma widgets is their interactivity. Now, there’s no need to open a widget in order to use its associated app. Instead, you can just tick off your reminders or play music right from your desktop, just by interacting with your widgets. It’s a great time-saver and works with a range of widgets, including those made by Apple and by third-party developers.

Widgets are now housed in the new widget gallery, which you can access by right-clicking your desktop and choosing Edit Widgets. You also don’t need to have the widget installed on your Mac for it to run, as it will be available if it’s on your iPhone (provided it’s running iOS 17 or later). Just make sure that both devices are using the same Apple ID and Wi-Fi network, and that the iPhone is near your Mac.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to place widgets on your desktop, how to interact with them, and how to change their settings in just a few clicks. Once you’ve mastered this feature, you’ll have a great new way to use macOS Sonoma to get things done.

Add widgets to the desktop

Step 1: To add a widget to your desktop, you first need to open the widget gallery by right-clicking your desktop and selecting Edit Widgets. Or open the Notification Center and choose Edit Widgets at the bottom of the window.

Step 2: This hides your open windows and brings up the widget gallery, which houses all your available widgets.

Step 3: To add a widget, pick an app name in the left-hand sidebar and drag a widget onto your desktop.

Step 4: You can place your first widget wherever you like. For subsequent widgets, you’ll see an alignment box appear as you move the second widget close to the first one. This helps you snap your widgets neatly together.

Step 5: If there are any files or folders on a spot that you want to drag a widget onto, they will wrap around your widget as you place it on your desktop.

Step 6: In addition to the desktop, you can also move widgets from the widget gallery into the Notification Center.

Step 7: Once you’ve finished dragging widgets onto your desktop, choose the Done button in the widget gallery, or simply click your desktop or Dock.

Interact with your widgets

Step 1: Some widgets can be interacted with on your desktop without having to open the app they belong to.

Step 2: For example, place a widget from the Podcasts app onto your desktop. You’ll note that you can play and pause podcasts right from the widget, without having to open the Podcasts app to access these controls. Or try adding a Reminders widget — and it’ll let you tick off your tasks from your desktop.

Step 3: If you hit an area of the widget that is not interactive — such as its background, for example — the app itself will launch.

Step 4: If you select a noninteractive area of a widget whose app is installed on your iPhone but not on your Mac, you will see the message “Open [app name] on your iPhone to continue.”

Edit widget settings

Step 1: Once a widget is in place on your desktop, there are various ways you can tweak it to your needs.

Step 2: To resize a widget, right click it and choose a size from the context menu that appears.

Step 3: Similarly, to remove a widget, you just need to right-click it and select Remove Widget in the menu. Alternatively, you can open the widget gallery and click the – button in the widget’s top-left corner.

Step 4: Some widgets have settings that can be edited (although you can’t do this for every widget). For widgets that can be tweaked, right-click the widget, then select “Edit [app name].” This will bring up a settings window. For example, in the Weather app’s widget, you can change the location used for weather results.

Step 5: If you open the System Settings app and pick Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, you’ll see some more options under the Widgets heading. For example, you can change whether widgets fade out when you are using another app. Or you cab set widgets to disappear until you hide other windows and show your desktop. You can also disable iPhone widgets when you’re using your Mac.

Interactive widgets are a handy addition to macOS Sonoma and should save you plenty of time and clicks in the long run. Place a couple of your favorite widgets on your desktop and you’ll find it much easier to get things done than it has been in the past.

Editors’ Recommendations

Black Friday deals have brought with them some awesome laptop deals so you can save big on everything from a budget-priced Chromebook to a high-end gaming laptop. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade your current rig, this is your chance. There are so many options out there that we’ve picked out some of our favorites so you can easily find the right laptop for your needs and your budget. Here’s a look at all the highlights.

Top 3 Black Friday laptop deals

HP 17-inch laptop — $250, was $500

Currently heavily discounted, the HP 17-inch laptop is ideal for anyone on a slim budget. It looks more expensive than it is thanks to having a 17-inch HD+ screen with 1600 x 900 and 250 nits of brightness. That extra room also means the keyboard is roomier with a numeric pad to the right of it that’s ideal for entering a lot of data. The laptop has an AMD Athlon Gold 7220U processor along with 8GB of memory and 128GB of SSD storage. It also has a lift-hinge to ensure you can type at a more natural position.

HP Victus 15.6-inch gaming laptop — $450, was $800

Perfect for starting out with PC gaming, the HP Victus 15.6-inch gaming laptop has an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor, 8GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. For the graphics card, there’s an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 teamed up with a 144Hz full HD screen. You’ll need to adjust detail levels in many cases but it’s still a good starting point for gaming, especially if you play less demanding titles like Fortnite.

Dell XPS 13 — $599, was $799

The Dell XPS 13 is consistently one of the best laptops around with this model offering a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. It also has a great looking 13.4-inch full HD+ screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and anti-glare properties. Dell’s thinnest and lightest 13-inch XPS, it offers a battery life of up to 12 hours while still being very sleek. It’s ideal for general use.

Best Black Friday Chromebook deals

Samsung Chromebook 4 — $129, was $159

The Samsung Chromebook 4 looks just how you’d expect a Samsung device to look with clean lines aplenty. It has an Intel Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB of memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. An 11.6-inch HD screen is pretty small but it’s the right size for easy portability and ensuring the 12 hours of battery life is easily achieved. It also meets many military-grade levels of protection. If you simply need a basic Chromebook for occasional use, this one is a reasonable choice.

HP Stream 14-inch laptop — $198

The HP Stream 14-inch laptop is a simple yet cute device that feels like it’s perfect for your child’s first laptop. It has an Intel Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB of memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. It also runs Windows 11 in S mode although we’d recommend you rely more on cloud-based apps given the performance involved. A 14-inch HD touchscreen looks reasonable for the price so it’s a good starter PC.

HP Chromebook x360 2-in-1 — $199, was $329

Keen to compete with the other best Chromebooks around this price, the HP Chromebook x360 2-in-1 is a pretty stylish system. It has an Intel Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB of memory and 64GB of eMMC storage but the real highlight is its 14-inch HD touchscreen that can be rotated via its hinge to work in tablet or presentation mode. A long battery life of over 13 hours means you’re good to go all day long too.

Best Black Friday 2-in-1 laptop deals

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 laptop — $550, was $730

Dell is one of the best laptop brands around and that means it also knows how to make good 2-in-1 laptops. The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 laptop is one such example with a 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. The highlight is its 14-inch full HD+ screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution, 250 nits of brightness, and — of course — it’s a touchscreen. Through the 360-degree hinge, you can use the laptop as a tablet or in presentation mode when watching something. With loud and clear up-firing speakers and Dolby Atmos spatial audio, it’s perfect for entertainment as well as work.

Lenovo Yoga 7i — $550, was $850

Lenovo makes some of the best 2-in-1 laptops with the Lenovo Yoga 7i offering great hardware. It has an 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. It also has a huge and gorgeous looking 16-inch WUXGA touchscreen with 1920 x 1200 resolution, 45% NTSC and 300 nits of brightness. There’s also a 1080p full HD IR/RGB Hybrid webcam with privacy shutter along with a fingerprint reader for added security. Thin and lightweight, it looks great wherever you take it, all while still managing to offer military-grade levels of robustness.

HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 laptop — $900, was $1,400

The HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 laptop is a super stylish 2-in-1 laptop. It has an Intel Core i5 processor along with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage, however, it’s the screen that shines most. A 13.5-inch WUXGA+ touchscreen with 1920 x 1280 resolution, it has low blue light protection along with 400 nits of brightness. Its 360-degree hinge means you can effortlessly move the screen to work as a tablet or in presentation mode. The HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 laptop comes with a stylus too as well as its backlit keyboard, while the HP True Vision 5MP IR camera has a camera shutter, temporal noise reduction, and integrated dual array digital microphones.

Best Black Friday 17-inch laptop deals

Acer Chromebook 317 laptop — $299, was $499

If you want a large display but you also want ChromeOS, the Acer Chromebook 317 laptop is a good option. It has an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 processor, 8GB of memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. More appealing though is its large 17.3-inch full HD IPS touch display. That means battery life is a little lower than other Chromebooks coming in at 10 hours but it’s more than good enough for most people. It’s ideal if you need more screen space while you work.

LG Gram 17-inch Ultra Lightweight laptop — $1,000, was $1,800

One of the most stylish laptops around, the LG Gram is a seriously nice looking laptop. It has an 12th-generation Intel Evo Platform Core i7 processor along with 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s all pretty powerful stuff but it’s even more appealing when you factor in the 17-inch WQXGA IPS display with DCI-P3 99% color support. The laptop also has a full HD IR webcam with AI noise cancellation along with a Thunderbolt 4 port for hooking up displays.

Dell XPS 17 — $1,799, was $2,399

The Dell XPS 17 is one of the best laptops around, especially for content creators. The laptop has a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor paired up with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. Besides being able to handle all your work tasks, it can also cope with some gaming thanks to its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card while the 17-inch full HD+ screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution and 500 nits of brightness looks great. While it sounds like it would be bulky, the Dell XPS 17 fits into a 15-inch size form factor so it’s much more portable than you’d expect. A 93.7% screen-to-body ratio looks great too. It all comes together to make a suitably premium laptop that’s built to last.

Best Black Friday gaming laptop deals

Asus TUF 15.6-inch gaming laptop — $1,000, was $1,400

The Asus TUF 15.6-inch gaming laptop offers a lot for the price. It has an Intel Core i7 processor along with 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage space. It also has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card with 8GB of dedicated VRAM. The graphics card looks great on the 15.6-inch full HD screen with 144Hz refresh rate. For a gaming laptop, it’s fairly portable too thanks to weighing 4.85 pounds while you also benefit from a Thunderbolt 4 port along with Wi-Fi 6 support.

Razer Blade 17 — $1,800, was $2,800

The Razer Blade range features a lot in our look at the best gaming laptops and for good reason thanks to their great components and build quality. The Razer Blade 17 has an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. Alongside that is a GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card and 17.3-inch QHD screen with 240Hz refresh rate and up to 100% DCI-P3. All the components are speedy and calibrated to work well together while even the smaller details like the per key RGB rollover keyboard and THX spatial audio are great additions. It all comes together to make a very attractive gaming laptop.

Alienware m16 gaming laptop — $2,800, was $3,500

The Alienware m16 gaming laptop is truly a force to be reckoned with if you want the ultimate gaming laptop at the moment. It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i9 processor along with a massive 32GB of memory. There’s plenty of room for all your games too thanks to 2TB of SSD storage. The graphics card is a powerhouse as well with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 with 16GB of dedicated VRAM. Whatever you want to play is going to look great on here. That’s further helped by its 16-inch QHD+ screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. Supremely powerful, the Alienware m16 gaming laptop is aided by an Alienware Cryo-tech cooling system so it stays stable and doesn’t overheat. Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support rounds things off perfectly making the Alienware m16 gaming laptop a compelling system for those who are able to make a long term investment in their gaming.

Who has the Best Black Friday Laptop Deals?

It’s too early to say where you’ll find the largest discounts, but there will surely be no shortage of Black Friday laptop deals from all the popular retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, and from the manufacturers themselves, including Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft. They haven’t previewed their offers for the shopping holiday yet, but we’re not expecting significant differences between the sellers’ prices. You should instead focus your shopping of Black Friday deals on the websites and platforms that you’re most familiar with, so that you won’t find it difficult to search for the offers that match your needs and budget.

Should You Buy a Laptop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

If you don’t find the machine that you want in the upcoming Black Friday laptop deals, or you miss out because you decided to buy some other stuff first, don’t worry. You’ll get another chance at buying the laptop that you want with a discount on Cyber Monday, which will be on November 27. It’s similar to Black Friday in the sense that retailers will be slashing the prices of a wide range of products, but true to its name, it will focus on electronic gadgets and devices.

Some shoppers suggest to skip Black Friday altogether and just do your shopping on Cyber Monday, which offers a chance at lower prices. This isn’t a good idea, as while the laptop that you want may get cheaper, there’s no assurance that will happen. You’ll also be taking on the risk that your preferred retailer’s stocks of the laptop run out after Black Friday. If you see a deal that you like in the Black Friday laptop sales, bag it while you can.

Editors’ Recommendations

Apple just upset everyone, claiming that the 8GB of Unified Memory available in the base MacBook Pro M3 is “probably analogous to 16GB on other systems.”

The MacBook Pro M3 has already come under fire for only including 8GB of Unified Memory in its base configuration, which runs $1,600. MacWorld recently ran a story criticizing the 8GB of memory in the MacBook Pro M3, saying, “If 8GB will be a bottleneck for many today, imagine the performance of that non-upgradeable laptop in a few years’ time.”

Apple’s response is that 8GB on a MacBook Pro M3 is probably closer to 16GB on a Windows laptop. In an interview with Lin YilYi, Apple’s Bob Borchers addressed the 8GB of memory in the MacBook Pro M3:

“Comparing our memory to other systems’ memory actually isn’t equivalent, because of the fact that we have such an efficient use of memory, and we use memory compression, and we have a unified memory architecture. Actually, 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other systems. We just happen to be able to use it much more efficiently … I think this is a place where people need to see beyond the specs and actually look at the capabilities.”

Borchers has a point. Due to the fact that the MacBook Pro M3 uses a system-on-a-chip (SoC), it’s able to access memory much more efficiently than a standard Windows laptop. Capacity and speed are two sides of the same coin; if you have faster speeds, you don’t need as much capacity, and vice versa.

In addition, Apple includes a 512GB SSD with the base MacBook Pro M3, which uses two NAND chips. The previous version showed much slower SSD speeds with only a single NAND chip, and due to swap memory being critical in memory-limited situations, the 256GB SSD combined with the 8GB of memory vastly reduced performance. MaxTech’s early testing on the MacBook Pro M2 showed how big of a problem the 8GB of memory combined with the 256GB, single NAND SSD really was.

In real use, that shouldn’t be as big of a problem on the MacBook Pro M3. Unified Memory allows Apple to get away with lower capacity compared to Windows laptops, and the dual-NAND configuration of the SSD keeps things from being too slow when swap memory comes into play. The problem isn’t 8GB of memory, or even that it comes on a $1,600 laptop in 2023. It’s that adding more memory costs so damn much.

You’ll spend an extra $200 for 16GB of memory and an extra $400 for 24GB. Even ignoring the cost of those memory modules — I’ll let you know it’s far less than what Apple’s charging — you can see how big the upcharge really is just from configuration options. In Apple’s mind, each 8GB module of Unified Memory is worth $200. That’s insane.

If you look at a laptop like the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which comes with 16GB of memory for $1,500, you can upgrade it to 32GB for an extra $150. There’s no issue with Apple selling the MacBook Pro M3 with 8GB of memory, even for $1,600. But it shouldn’t cost an extra $200 just to get to 16GB for users who truly do need that extra capacity.

This really isn’t anything new for MacBooks, though, and it doesn’t just apply to memory. If you look at storage options, you’ll need to spend an extra $200 to upgrade the 512GB SSD to a 1TB SSD, and an extra $600 to upgrade the 512GB SSD to a 2TB SSD. Once again, each 512GB chunk of storage is worth $200 in Apple’s mind, despite the fact that the cost for these components isn’t anywhere remotely near that price.

It could go either way — Apple should have the base MacBook Pro M3 with 8GB of Unified Memory sell for a lower price, or it should make the cost of upgrading to 16GB of RAM much cheaper. It doesn’t really matter if you need that memory or not, either. The upgraded model is the one most people should buy, even if they only occasionally go over capacity.

At the very least, that pricing scenario would be a minor annoyance, with Apple nickel and diming people to get the RAM they need (definitely not uncharacteristic of Apple). As it stands now, with the high base price and huge cost of upgrades, it is hard to say the MacBook Pro M3 truly starts at $1,600 when a critical upgrade is locked behind a $200 paywall.

Editors’ Recommendations