The everything gift guide for Mac users

Here’s a modern-looking MacBook sleeve with some very modern extras: not only will this padded vegan leather sleeve keep a MacBook safe from bumps and scrapes, it also includes two wireless chargers (one MagSafe compatible at 7.5W for your iPhone, and another 5W Qi charger for your AirPods) and can work as both a deskpad and mousepad to free your workspace of clutter.

Available in Black, Navy, Air Force Blue and Obsidian Green, this 25L MacBook backpack oozes chic luxury and premium design. There’s a generous selection of storage pockets, including one for your iPhone hidden in one of the straps, and there’s even a special pocket for an Apple AirTag. The laptop section is at the back and easy to access, with easily enough space for a 16-inch MacBook Pro. For more details read a full Troubadour Apex 3.0 review at Tech Advisor.

Troubadour sells a wide selection of premium MacBook cases and bags that might better suit your gifting choices.

Available in Black, Slate, Navy, Bronze and a leather-free Saltbush., the Bellroy Laptop Sleeve is a quality protector for your precious laptop. Outside, the woven, water-resistant material is made from 100% recycled PET bottles. Inside, the quilted microfiber lining features a soft ridge that holds your laptop in place. The sleeve snaps shut with a magnetic bumper.

Compact enough to fit into a travel bag and powerful enough to top up even a high-end MacBook, Anker Prime laptop power banks make a great gift for MacBook users. Each has a smart screen that shows the remaining battery capacity, and some also display the charging usage of each port.

Even the entry-level Anker Prime 9600mAh Battery Pack packs a lot of portable juice, and can charge a MacBook at 65W Output. It even features its own built-in AC plug (U.S. only) so you can connect it straight to a wall power socket without the need for a USB-C charger. It is priced at $89.99 with a Black Friday price of $54.

The 12000mAh Anker Prime Power Bank features two ports with 65W laptop charging and a total 130W output. It’s also priced at $89.99 ($50 Black Friday).

With a maximum 200W output, three ports, and 100W laptop power delivery the 20000mAh Anker Prime Power Bank is maybe the sweet spot for most MacBook users. With an MSRP of $129.99 it’s reduced to just $78 around Black Friday.

At the top end, the 27650mAh Anker Prime Power Bank is powerful enough to totally recharge a 14-inch MacBook Pro and has a 140W USB-C output to fast-charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Even the mighty 27650mAh battery pack is within the limits of most airlines for carry-on, so one of these could keep your laptop going right through a long-haul flight.

Boasting a meaty 25000mAh battery, this air-travel-friendly laptop power bank in a slab shape can recharge a fading MacBook Pro back to full power and still have enough power over to fast-charge your iPhone—indeed you can charge both at the same time, along with your AirPods or Apple Watch as this MacBook power bank has three USB ports. A handy LED battery-capacity percentage indicator shows you how much power is left before you leave home.

Ugreen

Ugreen also sells a range of Nexode Power Banks (pictured above) in the same pillar shape as the Anker Prime battery packs, with capacities of 12000mAh, 20000mAh and 25000mAh— available at the Ugreen store and Amazon and Amazon UK.

It’s certainly an expensive gift but the Sonnet Echo 20 is our favorite Thunderbolt 4 dock, boasting a ton of fast ports plus an SSD enclosure so you can add up to 8TB of inexpensive flash storage to your MacBook’s desktop setup. With two downstream TB4 ports and a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port you can add up to two 4K displays at 60Hz or a single 6K screen at 60Hz—Macs packing a M2/M3 Pro/Max/Ultra chip support up to 8K for the single display option.

The Wavlink Thunderbolt Triple Display Docking Station is so named for its display capabilities with Windows laptops, and Macs can manage only two external 4K displays at a healthy 60Hz refresh rate, which is down to Apple limitations rather than the manufacturer. However, it is a great value two-display Thunderbolt 4 dock with fast USB ports, super-speedy Ethernet and top-end card readers.

It’s not Thunderbolt but this USB-C dock offers support for up to three 5K displays if you install DisplayLink software—even with for MacBooks with plain (non-Pro or Max) M1/M2/M3/M4 chips. It also packs a bunch of non-display ports, such as three USB-A and a spare downstream USB-C port, plus fast SD and MicroSD card readers and Gigabit Ethernet.

You don’t need a full docking station if you add some adapters to the eight ports on this compact, powered Thunderbolt 4 hub. As well as three downstream TB4 ports, there are four fast USB-A ports. You can add Ethernet adapter and a card reader to create your own customizable and updateable dock.

Read our full Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Element Hub review.

It might be only USB-C rather than Thunderbolt but this hub offers a lot in a very portable form: 85W passthrough charging via USB-C, 4K HDMI Port, three USB-A ports (including one that can charge at 7.5W), Gigabit Ethernet port, and both SD and MicroSD card readers. It comes with a 1m USB-C cable plus another 5-inch travel cable that sits within the hub case. There’s a cut-down version, the StayGo Mini, that has HDMI, one USB-A port and a headphone jack that’s built for the iPad but works just as well with a MacBook.

You might not need 15 or more extra ports for your MacBook, and this USB-C hub has seven that should cover most needs, including 100W passthrough power and an HDMI port that supports a 4K display at 60Hz, as well as card reader ports for inexpensive extra storage. If you need Gigabit Ethernet the Baseus 9-in-1 goes that step further.

Chargers might ordinarily be quite dull, functional products but three cheers for Ugreen is at least trying to add some humor and personality into the market with the RobotGaN series-available in black or friendly robot purple. This micro-sized wall charger offers 65W power—enough to charge even a 14-inch MacBook Pro—and three ports: two USB-C and one old-school USB-A port. The LED screen shows a different expression based on the charging status and even the robot’s little boots are magnetic. If any charger makes a user smile, it’s this little but powerful cutie.

Suitable for all the MacBooks apart from the mighty 16-inch MacBook Pro, this dinky little charger is selected as a great gift because it is so tiny that it will delight anyone used to lugging around a giant charger.

If your Mac user friend is a keen traveler, then this triple-function charger will save them from foreign-socket frustration. Not only does it boast four USB ports—two at 100W, enough for any MacBook plus a couple of other devices—it includes a passthrough power socket that will fit just about any nationality plug type and works as an adapter into US, European, Australian/NZ/Chinese and British wall sockets. There is also a slightly cheaper OneWorld100 available in Black if you don’t need all that simultaneous charging output.

Suitable for all MacBooks, the four-port Ugreen 100W wall charger, with a foldable U.S. plug, is an excellent choice of versatile power adapter. It may not be as pocketable as some mini chargers, but it is still highly portable. It has multiple charging options, such as 65W for laptop and 30W PD for light-laptop powering plus lower outputs for phones and other devices. Using three ports you could charge at 45W, 30W and 22.5W. Using all four, it can support laptop power delivery at 45W and 30W plus two devices each at 10.5W. And it can fast-charge a 14in MacBook Pro using one of the 100W PD ports.

Here’s a compact desktop charger that offers two 100W USB-C ports and one 22.5W USB-A port at the front and a fully certified 15W MagSafe tiltable charging pad for iPhones 12/13/14/15. Using all four charging options you could power at 15W (iPhone), 45W MacBook via one of the USB-C ports, 25W with the other, and the remaining 10W via USB-A. It comes with a 2m power lead to connect to your wall socket.

Unlike Apple’s 27-inch Studio Display, Samsung’s M8 provides a larger 32-inch display with 4K resolution and also allows you to adjust the height of the screen without paying an extra £400/$400. It doesn’t support color standards for graphic design or professional-level video-editing, but it does support the sRGB standard and HDR10 to produces a bright, colorful image that will work well for general office work and web browsing, as well as streaming video and simple graphics and photo-editing work.

Apple doesn’t offer any screens with a touchscreen display outside of its iPhones and iPads. The Alogic Clarity Pro Touch offers Mac users a large, premium touchscreen on a monitor that boasts one of the best height-adjustable, tilt and pivot stands that we’ve tested. It’s a precision, 10-point multitouch, One Glass Solution (OGS) touchscreen that combines the monitor’s protective layer with its input layer via a conductive medium keeps the Clarity Pro Touch’s screen as thin as the other Clarity monitors, while maintaining the monitor’s bright picture.

Logitech’s MX Master 3S mouse has a smoothly curved surface that fits the palm very well, along with a thumb rest for extra comfort. It has the usual left/right buttons and a scroll wheel, but the scroll wheel works in two different modes, with a high-speed mode for zooming through long documents and web pages, as well as a slower mode that provides greater precision and tactile feedback. There’s also a second wheel on the side, which allows you to scroll horizontally, and two more buttons that can be programmed using the Options app. Battery life is good too, at around two months–twice that of Apple’s Magic Mouse or Trackpad.

Having a spare mouse is useful if your Apple Magic Mouse runs out of juice and you have to charge it with the cable port unhelpfully situated on its base, leaving it unusable while charging. And MacBook owners will appreciate a mouse to free them from continual finger action on the MacBook’s trackpad.

The Logitech Pop Icon keyboard and mouse combo is available in four fun colors—Rose & Off White, Lilac & Off White, Graphite & GreenOff, and White & Orange—but isn’t just desk decoration. Both keyboard and mouse are great quality input devices. The fact that they liven up your office or home space is a real bonus.

This inexpensive USB-C hub adds much-needed ports to the front of a Mac mini setup. These ports include SD and microSD card readers, which are lacking from the mini itself. You can buy a slightly cheaper version without the SSD enclosure but we advise spending the extra as it gives you the chance to add extra internal storage later. If your Mac mini has a 512GB internal SSD, then a 1TB or greater SSD within the hub offers excellent and speedy Time Machine backup or just extra space for your files.

The latest version accepts faster and cheaper NVMe SSDs.

If you or your loved one has the new 2024 Mac mini M4, you’ll have to wait till spring 2025 for the Satechi mini hub for that model.

It’s USB-C rather than Thunderbolt and is pretty hopeless at data transfer (limited to USB 2.0’s 480MBps compared to Thunderbolt’s 40Gbps) but this is a neat travel cable or spare charging cable that won’t tangle in a pocket, bag, or drawer.

Let’s face it, cables are just too black or white, so this colorful and robustly braided USB-C to USB-C charging cable should brighten anyone’s day.

Thunderbolt 4 is backwards compatible and future-proof so is worth spending extra on when considering a new or spare cable for your Apple device. Yes, it’s more expensive than USB-C but this tough cable supports 240W PD 3.1 laptop charging, 40Gbps data transfer, and full 8K video support.

Laptop storage is super expensive, but adding more storage in a tiny portable form is now possible at ridiculously low prices with MicroSD cards. With the included adapter this will slot into the current MacBook Pro range or connect with any Mac via a docking station or hub. Storage capacities go all the way up to 512GB— that’s half a terabyte!

We’ve all got a drawer full of flash memory sticks with the old-school USB-A connector, but few of us have a USB-A port on our Macs anymore—now we have USB-C and Thunderbolt ports. Now you can delete those drives and throw them away or use them as locked-away backup drives, and replace them with USB-C flash drives that will fit your newer Mac and also will fit in whichever way up or down you place it in the port! There are quite a few USB-C flash drives available now but we’ll pick out the PNY Elite-X Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive, available in capacities from 64GB to 256GB and Read/Write speeds as high as 200/100MBps.

Despite the increasing ubiquity of USB-C as the cable connector for all devices, you are sure to have a Lightning device among your Apple goodies—say your AirPods case or Magic Mouse—or something that requires the older rectangular USB-A. The keyring-sized inCharge XS includes swappable connectors that will solve all your charging challenges. It can handle USB-C to USB-C, USB-A to USB-C, plus USB-C to Lightning and USB-A to Lightning options.

It supports charging up to 240W so can be used for your MacBook, and will also handle data transfers. It also includes a clever proprietary chip that allows for charging laptops, tablets, and Bluetooth speakers using a USB-C device as a power source when you are away from a power socket, so you could take power from one device to another. A tied protective cap keeps the cables protected when not is use.

If your device stops charging via its cable, it’s understandable to think it’s old and broken. What is more likely the reason that your wired charging isn’t working is a dirty charging port or duff cable. Ports full of fluff is more likely with an iPhone that goes in and out of your pocket but if you travel often with your MacBook or leave your desktop Mac in one place uncleaned for months then you run the risk of messy ports. It’s good practice to occasionally clear out the ports (very gently!). This cleaning kit is designed for phones but will also work on Macs with Thunderbolt ports, cleaning ports, and cables. It will, of course, also come in handy with your iPhone. If your iPhone is older than the 15 family, you’ll need the version for Lightning ports.

Available in a range of colors, the Tripped Tech Traveller is a premium, medium-sized tech bag that’s as happy sitting on your desk or in your tent as it is in your suitcase or backpack. It boasts multiple compartments and is tough enough for travel—made from tough 900D Polyester with weatherproof YKK zippers, soft protective padding, and a leather handle and zipper pulls. There are two internal pockets (one mesh so you can see what’s inside) for extra security for your most valuable kit, such as SD cards or a mini SSD. One external side pocket is big enough for your phone or whatever else you need fast access to. In the center, there are nine different-sized, divided, tight pockets for cables and small devices.

We also love this tech case that is very well organized and will open flat so you can easily see all your cables and gadgets at a glance. If you know a friend who carries a lot of gear with their iPhone, there’s no better gift.