Best of 2025-2026: Must-have products for Mac, iPhone & iPad tested by Macworld

While the CalDigit TS5 Plus is undoubtedly the ultimate Mac docking station of 2025, it probably hosts more ports than you need and is priced accordingly. The less-armed but notably more affordable CalDigit TS5 model still boasts 15 high-end ports, including four Thunderbolt 5 and 2.5Gb Ethernet. It looks great in the now-iconic CalDigit case and is the premium Thunderbolt dock within most budgets.

Connect with our reviews for more of the best Thunderbolt docks for Mac.

Apple’s Magic Mouse is a fine pointing device, but it is rather limited with just two buttons and a few tricky gestures. Logitech’s smoothly curved MX Master 4 mouse has eight buttons and boasts new haptic feedback technology, an Action Ring, and longer battery life. A SmartShift feature automatically switches the vertical scroll wheel from line-by-line scrolling to super-fast scrolling when it senses you want to scroll much faster. –Cliff Joseph

Scroll through more reviews to find the best mouse for Mac.

The one thing that’s immediately noticeable with our recommended 4K monitor, the BenQ MA270UP, is its impressive image quality that makes it an affordable alternative to Apple’s 5K Studio Display. Colors are full of life, and the detail is excellent. One standout aspect of the image quality is how sharp the text appears. This is great for production and design work, but it can even make it more enjoyable to read and write. You might be able to find a 27-inch 4K display that’s a little cheaper, but it won’t look this good. It’s available with either a matte (MA270U) or glossy screen (MA270UP). –Roman Loyola

Read our big-screen reviews for more of the best monitors for Mac.

This big, beautiful beast from Keychron is one of the most comfortable mechanical keyboards around. The Keychron Q6 Max is endlessly customizable (both in terms of hot-swapping keys and switches, and using Keychron’s web-based Launcher app), but it’s also incredibly comfortable to type on for long periods. It has a full number pad, and customizable macro keys above it, as well as a full function row and that oh-so-satisfying volume knob. –Lloyd Coombes

Tap to read more about the best keyboards for Mac.

We haven’t seen a charger this powerful yet this minuscule before. You really have to see it to believe it. The Rolling Square Supertiny can keep even a MacBook Pro fully charged and can fast-charge a MacBook Air, although not at the same time, as it has just one port. It’s so small you could lose it in your pocket!

For higher power scan our reviews of the best MacBook chargers.

This slim 5K battery pack has everything an iPhone power bank should possess: speedy 15W wireless charging, a built-in 30W USB-C cable, a clear battery percentage display, and a pull-out kickstand. You can find magnetic power banks with more battery power and even faster wireless charging, but none in a slim form factor as appealing as the EcoFlow RAPID.

For more portable battery pack options see our roundup of the best magnetic power banks for iPhone.

Previously only possible with the latest version of Apple’s own MagSafe Charger, 25W fills a dead iPhone to 50 percent in just 30 minutes for iPhone 16 or 17 owners. The first Qi2 25W charger in the Macworld Labs was the Belkin UltraCharge Pro 3-in-1 Magnetic Charging Dock. Not only is this the fastest 3-in-1 charger out there, but it’s also a striking low-profile design with an adjustable charging pad angling off a chrome-finished metal frame.

Ditch the cables and find more of the best wireless chargers for iPhone.

Tiny wall chargers are great for portability, but you must remember to carry a cable around with you. The compact and super-convenient Ugreen Nexode 65W Charger has a retractable USB-C cable built in, so you shouldn’t ever be caught without one. The 65W model has two ports alongside the 65W USB-C cable output, while the 100W model has three. Yes, 65W is more than enough for an iPhone, but this charger doubles up as your MacBook charger, too. Indeed, you can charge both at the same time using it.

Power on through the reviews of the best iPhone chargers.

To run more than two external displays off a single-cable docking station requires third-party DisplayLink software. This wonder can handle the most displays of any DisplayLink dock: even the notoriously limited M1 MacBook can connect five 4K/60Hz monitors. Five! The Plugable UD-7400PD is ready for speedy 2.5GbE networks and has powerful 15W USB-C ports, making it more than just a multi-display dock.

Multi-monitor our reviews of the best DisplayLink docks.

You don’t have to buy Apple’s pricey Magic Keyboard when this pro-level detachable Bluetooth keyboard and case offers so much: 20 degrees–75 degrees landscape, 70 degrees portrait, and 20 degrees drawing modes; a 65 percent larger multi-touch clickable trackpad; dual Apple Pencil holders; and up to 195 days of battery life. The ESR Shift Keyboard Case stays paired even when removed from the case, so you can type from anywhere (within 33 feet).

Find more of the best iPad Keyboards.

The INIU Cougar 20K (65W) Power Bank stands out a mile with its colorful looks, smooth finish, and dare-to-be-different compact shape. Not just fun to look at and easy to hold, it performed excellently in our tests and features a removable USB-C cable that creates a handy carrying loop. There are more powerful laptop power banks, but the combination of good looks and handy portability made it one of our favorites of the year.

Less fun but higher capacity options can be perused in our reviews of the best MacBook power banks.

A vertically stacked dual-screen monitor can be more ergonomic than side-by-side options, reducing frequent rotation of the neck. The super-adjustable UPerfect Delta Mega offers two 23.8-inch HD screens that can be folded up and simply stored out of sight in minutes, making it perfect for home-working environments. You can even bend it right back to offer front and back mirrored screens to share meeting content with people facing you.

Cast your eyes on more options in our roundup of the best portable monitors for Mac.

The lovely Twelve South Butterfly has been our favorite Apple Watch travel charger for a long time, but now the more snail-shaped Anker MagGo Folding 3-in-1 goes one further—charging not just the Watch but iPhone and AirPods (or another iPhone) at the same time—all in a pocketable, lightweight form.

Keep powered up with these best Apple Watch chargers.

With a magnetic phone mount that includes a wireless charging pad, drivers can power up their iPhone and angle it for simultaneous navigation or notification functionality. Boasting the latest Qi2 25W wireless charging tech, the Anker Prime Car Charger is almost as fast at charging as with a cable—essential if you need as much juice in the phone as your short journey will allow you.

Check out the best wireless car chargers for iPhone.

We tend to think of USB hubs for port-deficient MacBooks, and you’d imagine that the Mac mini and Mac Studio have an army of ports in comparison to Apple’s laptops. However, the Satechi Stand & Hub for the M4 Mac mini fits neatly under the mini and adds three USB-A ports—two at 10Gbps and one at 480Mbps—at the front, plus an SD card reader. Even better, inside the Hub is an enclosure that enables you to add an NVMe SSD, which will be cheaper than paying Apple’s upgrade prices at purchase. —Peter Müller

There is an astonishing range of USB-C hubs, which you can discover in our reviews of the best USB-C hubs and adapters for Mac.

Apple builds its MacBooks to a high spec and premium design, so if you are carrying yours around in a backpack, maybe that should also be top-notch, too. The Troubadour Matrix offers chic styling and a generous selection of storage pockets, including one for your iPhone hidden in one of the straps, which means you can access it—or other valuable items such as your wallet, without having to remove the bag from your shoulders.

See more in our reviews of the best backpacks and bags

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 are even more expensive than Apple’s AirPods Max, but the sound quality is the best we’ve heard from any wireless headphones we’ve tested. The design and build quality are luxurious and are backed up by impressive battery life, too. –Cliff Joseph

Read more on the best over-ear headphones.

You’ve spent a bundle on your Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro, so do you risk its safety by keeping it bare or cover all that beauty in the name of protection? UAG has a range of orange cases that not only protect the new iPhone but might even make it look even better. The UAG Civilian Case is available in a bright orange, or for further defensive measures, you can choose the UAG Monarch Pro or Pathfinder cases.

Discover more of the best cases for iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.

Few Mac cleanup apps are as comprehensive as this updated champ. CleanMyMac simplifies things by displaying the results of its scans as a series of tiles that give you a quick summary of each scan. A new 2025 Purgeable Space option scans your entire hard drive for old files, cache files, or temporary files and downloads that you can delete to save space. A revamped Space Lens provides a visual guide to the use of storage on your Mac, displaying all the folders on your Mac as a series of ‘bubbles’ of different sizes, indicating the amount of storage space taken up by each folder. Tidy! –Cliff Joseph

Stay streamlined with the best Mac cleaning tools for Mac

Some rivals offer more features, but only Intego Mac Internet Security X9 offers such an easy-to-use set of security utilities that help keep your Mac safe and running smoothly. It’s simple to download, install, and configure. It then checks for the latest viral definitions, downloads them, and gets to work setting up real-time scanning features as well as intuitive network monitoring that allows you to see and work with both incoming and outgoing Internet connections on your Mac. –Chris Barylick

Keep reading for more advice on the best antivirus software for Mac.

When you’re stressing over a data emergency, iBoysoft Data Recovery’s familiar interface and features will help you stay calm. Drive searches are speedy, the Disk Image and Unbootable Mac modules are novel and interesting, and the program does well to bring back most files with their original names as opposed to having to sift through thousands of generically named files in your data recovery folder. –Chris Barylick

Find more of the best Mac disk-recovery tools.

We called it “possibly the biggest ever gaming launch for the Mac,” and there was nothing better than Cyberpunk 2077 in 2025. The Mac version fixes all the technical problems from the PC game, and CD Projekt Red has done an impressive job adapting it for the latest Apple silicon Macs. The first-person viewpoint initially suggests that Cyberpunk is a relatively straightforward FPS shoot ‘em up, but it’s actually a deep and challenging role-playing game, and it’s nice to see an RPG that is bold enough to step into the future rather than just relying on the tired old fantasy clichés of dungeons and dragons. Better late than never. –Cliff Joseph

The best Mac games you can buy.

Nord’s power features, like the online LAN option for gamers, are great, but it’s the ease of use that makes it such a clear recommendation. This fully featured, reliable, and fast VPN offers plenty of servers to connect to in a wide variety of countries, and with a minimum of fuss. NordVPN is our top choice right now because it stands out in so many areas, from speed and privacy to unblocking and ease of use. –Lloyd Coombes

There’s a lot to learn about the best VPNs for Mac.

Parallels isn’t the only option available for running Windows on a Mac, but its constant cycle of regular updates has ensured that it keeps up with the latest developments on Apple’s silicon Macs to ensure that it remains one of the best options currently available for running Windows on a Mac. With Parallels Desktop, you can create a VM that runs Linux, or even a VM that runs a different version of macOS itself. –Cliff Joseph

See our other recommendations for best Mac virtual machines.