Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks - Small Device. Many Uses

I have two main pet peeves when it comes to tech. If you've read a few of my reviews you've probably picked up on what they are; firstly - little lights. I hate little lights, blinking, red, green, yellow, blue or otherwise. I don't need a light to tell me if something is on or off. I know if it's on or off because it works or it doesn't. If you insist on having little lights, at least give me the option to turn them off if I don't want them.

Second peeve - and this is a biggie - laptop cameras. Laptops cost a lot of money. In fact, most laptops cost a lot more than your average smartphone. So why are their cameras usually so much worse than those on your average smartphone? It's 2022. We don't leave the house anymore. We need to put our best face forward to the world. Give us a decent camera.

As it turns out, there's an easy alternative - especially for Apple users.

You may not be aware the latest version of MacOS gives you the ability to choose your iPhone as your default camera - you don't even have to set anything up, thanks to a feature called Continuity Camera it'll just appear in your list of cameras when recording a QuckTime movie, FaceTiming or joining an online video call. You can even use your iPhone's microphone if you like. (This works both wirelessly and if the phone is plugged in, by the way)

The trouble is, your iPhone is in your pocket. Or sitting on the desk. To use it as a webcam, you need it front and centre, at the top of your screen. That's where the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks comes in.

It might be the most innocuous-looking accessory I've ever tried, yet it might also end up being one of the most useful.

When you first remove it from the box, it appears to be a simple, rubberised disc. On closer inspection, once you turn it over, you'll discover two fold-out attachments; First, a fairly standard ring grip - much like many people already use to help keep hold of their handsets with one hand or to prop their phone up for watching video or gaming. 

The second attachment is much smaller - a very narrow ledge. 

The whole thing is MagSafe compatible, so it easily attaches and detaches from any iPhone, gen-12 or later. That pop-out ledge then allows you to attach your phone to the top of your MacBook screen in exactly the position required for all your video needs. This means you're no longer restricted to the built-in camera and you don't need a separate, external webcam either.

Outstanding.

The inclusion of the ring grip is a real bonus. I've never been a fan of this kind of attachment before as it required either a dedicated ring grip case, sticking a ring grip attachment to your existing case or even worse; directly onto your phone. Thanks to MagSafe, this convenient holder/kickstand isn't a bulky, permanent addition - it's just something you can slip on and off as required.

And that could very well be the end of my review. A durable, well-designed, MagSafe accessory that performs its main task effectively, with an absolute minimum of fuss. Fantastic.

But wait, there's more.

The problem with the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks is it's only for Mac Notebooks. Right? Well...

While it's true the little fold-out ledge is only wide enough to fit on the top of a MacBook display, Continuity Camera works on iMacs too. What I've discovered is the fold-out ring grip is also stable enough to hold your iPhone in place at the top of the much thicker iMac display.

Bonus.

But wait...

Not only does the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks fit nice and securely on Mac Notebooks but it'll also hold your iPhone pretty snugly in place on most other laptop screens too. What's the point of that? Windows PCs don't have the Continuity Camera feature. They often have really crappy cameras though, so it'd sure be great to use that awesome iPhone camera instead.

And you can.

There are many apps out there to enable this functionality - some of them giving you the option to fine-tune your image, even swapping between different lenses. I've tested this out with an app called Camo - you just need to open it on both your laptop and your phone and you're good to go.

See how versatile this little Belkin mount can be?

Oh, but wait...

What if you don't have an iPhone? Although you might have a phone with an equally brilliant camera (or perhaps even better) no MagSafe means no go. Right?

Actually, I love MagSafe so much I decided I wanted it on any phone I use - and over the course of a year of tech reviews I might end up using ten different handsets or more. Most of them won't be iPhones. Luckily, I've discovered you can buy separate magnetic rings you can stick on the back of any phone (or preferably its case), essentially converting into an unofficial MagSafe device.

So yes, I've attached an Android phone to a Windows laptop using the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks. Worked brilliantly.

Do I need to get a life? Maybe. Is the Belkin iPhone Mount brilliant? Definitely.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 for Business - Probably the Best There Is

This year I've spent a lot of time comparing devices to their previous generations and wondering how much they've really improved.

As a result, (and I've written about this a bit recently) I've concluded that tech journalists spend too much time doing the comparison thing. I'm confident in saying only a very small percentage of the population rushes out and buys every new gadget the moment it's released - especially for big-ticket items like computers and TVs. Yes, I'm aware some people do do that - even with cars - but not most people.

But this fact is all too easy to forget when you get to play with each and every model, each and every year.

The really weird thing about this is too often reviewers mark devices down when they haven't been upgraded enough from their previous model - even when that previous model was amazing.

It's something I was all too aware of when I unboxed the latest Microsoft Surface Laptop.

I must start by pointing out I've been sent the very tippy-top of the Surface Laptop pile for this review; the 15-inch Laptop 5 for Business - that means an OS upgrade to Windows 11 Pro, an insane 32GB of RAM and a very generous 1TB of internal storage. A device this specced-up doesn't come cheap - this version of the Surface Laptop 5 will set you back NZ$4,609.00. If that made you do a double-take, remember there are a lot of other possible configurations that'll probably still get the job done for you - that's because whichever Laptop 5 you choose, it'll be powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processor.

Not only do these chips assure you of a significant increase in power, speed and performance, the much-improved graphics capability of the integrated Intel Iris Xe platform is pretty impressive too. In fact, I've been riding race after race in Moto GP 3 and absolutely loving it. Well... I've been loving the way the game runs, looks and sounds anyway. It's a very challenging game. Who knew riding high-performance motorbikes at over 200km/h was so damn tricky?

Yes, as usual, the 15-inch PixelSense touch display is a joy to behold - colourful, bright and detailed. Also as usual, the tall 3:2 aspect ratio means a lot of space for a lot of different windows. The rather unstoppable processing might of the 12th-gen Intel Core i7 in tandem with all that RAM means running many apps or processes simultaneously never causes even the slightest hiccup. Edit video, play games, stream something - do it all at the same time. The Laptop 5 for Business won't miss a beat.

The Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos sound extremely clear and accurate - this is a wonderful device to watch your favourite show on and I've also been surprised by the quality of the 720p HD front-facing camera - it does a very good job of keeping you well-lit and in-focus for all your online meetings.

My only frustration with this device is the same frustration I've always had with any Microsoft Surface; a lack of physical connectivity options; just one USB-A 3.1 port and one USB-C slot - albeit the very latest USB 4.0/Thunderbolt 4 version - that means very fast data transfer rates and USB-C charging if that's what you prefer over the weird and proprietary Surface Connect charger included in the box. At lease some Surfaces in the past came with card readers. I'm sorry, but if I'm shelling out four-and-a-half grand for a computer, it should have at least two of both sizes of USB ports and an HDMI slot for easy connection to an external monitor. Minimum.

That gripe aside, almost all other aspects of the Laptop 5 are simply sublime; surely one of the best-performing keyboards of any laptop - just faultless travel and response. Thanks to the height of the opposing display, the palm rests and trackpad are enormous. Unfortunately, the 15-inch Laptop 5 only comes in Platinum or Matte Black aluminium - for some reason only the smaller version is also available in Sandstone, Sage or Platinum with a soft Alcantara palm rest.

Battery life is impressive. The last year or so has seen Windows laptops make incredible strides in this department, thanks mostly to advances in chip efficiency. The Microsoft website boasts up to 17 hours of "typical usage" on a full charge, which doesn't mean anything of course because nobody knows what "typical usage" actually is. What I do know is this is without doubt one of the longest-lasting laptops I've ever used - typically or otherwise.

Not that there's anything typical about this device - other than yet again, Microsoft has crafted a truly premium laptop that does absolutely everything I've asked of it - all without breaking a sweat.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 for Business.

Apple iPad Pro (2022) - The Uber Tablet

I’ve used a lot of iPads over the years, in fact, so many I’m not even sure how many.

And that’s not counting the ones you use by accident. For example, when I checked in at a hotel the other day, that was on an iPad. Often when you’re signing your consent for a medical procedure, that’s on an iPad. Actually, the more I think of it, these days if there’s a form to be filled out, it’s usually on an iPad.

The sheer penetration of iPad into almost every walk of life, from schools, to mechanics, to building sites, to farms, to retail - even rest homes - proves Apple probably won the tablet wars before they even begun. Especially given this year’s 10th-generation “entry-level” iPad I reviewed last week not only looks fantastic but is powerful enough to edit video, play demanding games on and be used as a multi-media streaming device.

But the one iPad I’ve only ever admired from afar is the iPad Pro.

I’ve got as close as my daughter’s iPad Pro - a couple of generations old now - an indispensable tool for her professional music career. She loads her scores into it, makes any necessary annotations using Apple Pencil, then plays from the sheet music as displayed on her iPad Pro, using a bluetooth-connected foot pedal to turn the “pages”. Of course, that’s not all she uses it for but it’s a pretty clear illustration of exactly how useful a device like this can be.

The 6th-generation 2022 model is a genuine computing powerhouse. Not only does the 12.9-inch version I’m reviewing sport a truly sumptuous Liquid Retina XDR display, capable of unparalleled brightness, contrast and even a new Reference Mode for true-colour editing, the iPad Pro now runs on Apple’s M2 chip; the very latest and greatest in Apple silicon, which makes it very great indeed.

Without listing off facts and stats about “cores” the main benefit of the M2 chip is speed and power - the CPU is up to 15% faster than the previous iPad Pro, graphics performance makes a whopping 35% jump and thanks to an unbelievable 50% increase in memory bandwidth, this year’s iPad Pro can literally do everything at once. Forwards and backwards and round and round.

Another breathtaking stat is storage capacity - if you have the budget, you can choose the 2TB iPad Pro - that’s space enough for all your holiday snaps… along with those of every other person you know.

In real life terms, what does all this mean?

Well, once again, as often happens when I’m using a high-powered Apple device like this, the line between the operating system and the hardware blurs. For example, something both MacOS and iPadOS have in common these days is Stage Manager - a shortcut quickly accessible from the Control Panel. When activated, Stage Manager makes swapping from app to app more fluid by stacking other open windows on the left side of the screen for easy access. This is ostensibly a software feature, yet without the iPad Pro’s daunting processsing power and its spectacular display, this instant app-swapping experience wouldn’t be half as fun or effective.

Only the iPad Pro let’s you resize and move multiple windows around the screen just as you would on a desktop or laptop device - in some ways this action is even more intuitive on the touch-screen of a tablet.

Gaming is another area that has leapt forward immensely, thanks to the upgrade in processing and graphics. Many critics take potshots at the relatively limited Apple Arcade games library but it’s expanding exponentially all the time and I’ve had no trouble finding something to keep me amused and challenged. After pairing a bluetooth controller I’ve wasted quite a bit of time embarking on various Modern Combat 5 missions - the app loads quickly and gameplay is fluid and immersive, thanks in no small part to the enormous 12.9-inch display and the surprisingly effective quad-speaker audio array.

In fact, whether you’re gaming, streaming or editing, the audio-visual experience on offer is unrivalled by any other tablet I’ve tried.

This is my main problem with the iPad Pro, it’s so good, it’s addictive. I just want to keep using it. For everything.

This is made even more pleasurable with the addition of some of the best accessories I’ve ever come across. Although the all-new, two-piece Magic Keyboard Folio I featured in last week’s iPad (10th-gen) review is not yet available for iPad Pro, there’s a fine selection of other cases, including the basic Smart Folio, the more useful Smart Keyboard Folio and my ultimate favourite accessory of all-time; the Magic Keyboard.

I first encountered this absolutely genius bit of kit while reviewing the iPad Air - by simply magnetising the iPad Pro onto the Magic Keyboard, the transformation from tablet into unstoppable laptop is complete. A trackpad, a floating display, USB-C pass-through charging and a full-sized keyboard (almost identical to the one on my iMac) instantly at your disposal.

Bleeding-edge tech like this doesn’t come cheap, unfortunately. The matching Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is an eye-watering NZ$709.00. Worth it though, as it completely eliminates the need for owning a laptop as well as the tablet.

The other almost-essential add-on is the Apple Pencil (2nd-generation). I’ve used this a bit before but pairing it with the iPad Pro adds a whole other dimension - literally. Using 3D modelling apps like SketchUp becomes so much more precise when controlled with Apple Pencil. More and more apps are introducing more and more Apple Pencil-optimised features to the table - to be honest, the options on offer in Adobe Fresco are so comprehensive and diverse, it’s a bit daunting. You can even import your favourite brushes from other painting apps.

What I’m learning fast is iPad Pro is a gateway to infinite creativity - certainly I was able to film, import and edit media for the video at the end of this review effortlessly and quickly.

Because the iPad Pro feels so limitless in its powers, any small frustration seems magnified - even more annoying than it would be on a lesser machine. Case in point; the position of the front-facing camera. As I’ve made clear, my preference with a tablet has always been to use it in landscape mode. Now even more so, thanks to the incredible addition of accessories like the Magic Keyboard. So it seems truly bizarre Apple has elected to leave the selfie-cam on the short side, instead of moving it to the top edge (in landscape mode) like it has with the recently launched iPad (10th-generation).

I have two major issues with the camera being left where it is; firstly, you simply never look into it when you’re on a video call or you’re recording a selfie-movie. This problem is exacerbated even further on the larger, 12.9-inch model I’m reviewing - with a display that big it’s a hell of a long way from the middle of the screen over to the left-hand side. Even utilising the clever AI effects of Centre Stage to keep my face in the middle of the shot, everyone I’m meeting with must think I’ve got something far more interesting to look at over their shoulders. 

The second issue I could never have predicted; because that wrongly-placed selfie-cam can do Face ID, you’re saved the inconvenience of typing in your password every time you install an app from the App Store… except… to confirm your app download or purchase you must double-click the power button which, in landscape mode, is on the top left-hand side - meaning your hand covers the camera to click it - meaning the camera is obscured - meaning Face ID won’t work. Either the button or the camera is in the wrong place. Let’s be real here; it’s the camera.

Other than that, the technical camera performance is pretty standout - especially for a tablet. There’s a full phone-like camera array on the back, featuring a 12MP wide-angle primary shooter, a 10MP ultra-wide lens and even a True Tone flash to enhance low-light performance. This hardware, combined with the awesome power of the M2 chip means ProRes imagery is now at your fingertips. Now you can snap off very high-quality footage and edit on the fly - zooming, cutting and clipping post-shooting without losing the amazing colour and sharpness on offer. There are five (yes, five) built-in mics available too - giving you the ability to record in genuine theatre-like surround sound.

I think you get the idea. The iPad Pro is one of those power tools that gives you the freedom to say, “Right, this is what I want to make,” without having to worry if it’s technically possible. Thanks to the iPad Pro’s unique combination of industry-leading chip technology, truly innovative accessories, increasingly user-friendly OS experience and just exquisitely engineered hardware, I’ve yet to find a task it can’t perform. Sort that camera position out and it’d be a perfect 10.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the iPad Pro (2022).