This Mac App Will Demystify Your Tangle of Cables

Understanding cable tech can be hard at times—harder than it should be, really—and weighing the pros and cons of a new gadget is complicated enough without having to know the differences between HDMI 2.1 and HDMI 2.2, or the reason some USB-C ports are also Thunderbolt ports.

Help is at hand, though: WhatCable does a fine job of analyzing the cables attached to your Mac—not just giving you a list of specs but also explaining what those specs mean.

One way the app can be useful is in explaining why your MacBook isn't charging as quickly as it could be. This can be down to the charger and the cable you've got connected, and WhatCable will break all of this down for you without any jargon. You'll see the rate your laptop is charging at, and the reasons why.

Why your cables matter

To fully explain the modern cable landscape would take an article many times the length of this one, but it is possible to get to grips with the basics relatively quickly. Every connection has three elements that you need to consider together: The port on the device you're connecting to (like a monitor or charger), the cable in between, and the port on the device you're using (like a phone or laptop).

For the best results (the fastest charging or the smoothest display performance, for example), all those elements must be supporting the same standards. If they aren't, you might not get optimum results, or the setup might not work at all.

Unfortunately for us as consumers, simply finding a cable that fits a port isn't enough to guarantee everything will work, or work as well as you might like. Both cables and ports come with supported standards that you need to weigh, like the various flavors of USB (we're up to USB 4.0 version 2 now, for reference).

Always double-check the specs when buying a new cable. Credit: Lifehacker

The most common port you'll see on laptops and phones today is USB-C, but this is only the start of the story. USB-C ports can also support Thunderbolt and DisplayPort protocols, as well as a variety of USB speeds—you need to check the device spec for details. Even similar-sized ports on the same device may be configured differently.

When you've determined what the ports on your computer or phone are capable of, you need to find a cable that supports the same standard, to get the best possible results. Be careful when reviewing cable listings before buying, both in terms of specs and length—cables beyond one meter (a little over three feet) typically require extra tech to support the highest data speeds, and will therefore usually be more expensive.

To add to the confusion, these standards are changing pretty regularly, with manufacturers sometimes adopting the changes promptly and sometimes waiting a while to implement them. The short version is, don't rush cable buying, or think that all cables and ports are the same. Spend a few extra minutes analyzing the relevant specs in detail, and it'll pay off.

How WhatCable can help figure out your cables

You can download WhatCable for free from its website or GitHub page, which will both direct you to a zip archive. Launch the app, and WhatCable shows up on the menu bar; click its icon to see details of connected USB cables. Via the cog icon (top right) you can have WhatCable launch with macOS, and run as a regular app rather than from the menu bar. As soon as you get connect a cable, you'll see information on the charging speed and data transfer rate (where applicable), and a breakdown of what the cable can do.

If you've connected a charger, then you'll be told whether or not it's a good match for your MacBook. Look for the "charging well" message for confirmation, alongside the charging rate. If a cable isn't charging your MacBook at the maximum speed, or the MacBook is itself limiting the charging (because the battery is almost full), you'll be told about this too.

WhatCable presents its data in a simple, understandable way. Credit: Lifehacker

If you've hooked up a phone or another peripheral, then its identity will be reported inside WhatCable, and it's here that the data transfer speeds might be more relevant. If an external storage device has been connected, then you'll see the transfer speed it's negotiated with the Apple operating system.

WhatCable also looks at the e-marker inside a cable, which is essentially its digital ID, advertising its capabilities to the computer it's plugged into. If there are discrepancies between this e-marker and commonly followed technology standards, then you'll see an orange flag. It's not necessarily saying the cable is a fake, but just alerting you to something that doesn't quite seem right.

In short, any details that the cable is reporting to macOS will get shown by WhatCable, and you should see a significant difference between cheap and limited cables and the more expensive and powerful ones—which will be a reassurance if you've paid extra.

Google's Second-Gen Wired Doorbell Is Under $100 Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Google’s second-generation wired Nest Doorbell is down to $97.99 on Woot, a steep drop from its usual $179.99 price. That undercuts Amazon’s current price for a new unit by more than $80, and even beats Amazon’s refurbished listing by a couple of dollars, making this its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. Woot says the deal will last for two days or until stock runs out, and Prime members get free shipping while everyone else pays an extra $6. For anyone already using Google Home devices, this is one of the more approachable smart home upgrades in this price range, because the installation process and app setup are both fairly straightforward.

Google Nest doorbell (wired, 2nd gen)

$97.99 at Woot

$179.99 Save $82.00

$97.99 at Woot

$179.99 Save $82.00

This model needs to connect to your existing doorbell wiring, so you can’t mount it wherever you want, like the battery-powered version—but that also means you won’t have to worry about recharging it every few months like you would with the battery-powered version. Video quality is sharp at 1280x960 with HDR, and the night vision performs better than many cheaper doorbells, which turn dark footage into a blurry mess. During the day, it captures clear detail across a porch, sidewalk, and driveway area, while nighttime footage still makes people and packages easy to identify. Audio quality is also surprisingly solid. Conversations through the two-way speaker sound clear on both ends, and background noise from traffic or wind doesn’t completely overpower voices.

Google also includes some genuinely useful smart detection features without immediately forcing a subscription. The doorbell can recognize people, packages, vehicles, animals, or general motion, and the alerts are more selective than you might expect. It can usually tell the difference between someone approaching your door and someone simply walking down the sidewalk across the street. That said, the biggest downside is Google’s free cloud storage window—event recordings stay available for three hours unless you pay for a Google Home subscription, which starts at $10 per month. Also, its field of view is narrower than some competing doorbells, especially if your existing wiring places the camera too close to the wall or door frame, notes this CNET review.

---

Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now

Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $229.00 (List Price $249.00)

Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00)

Apple iPad 11" A16 128GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Silver, 2025) — $319.99 (List Price $349.00)

Shark AV2501AE AI XL Hepa- Safe Self-Emptying Base Robot Vacuum — $299.99 (List Price $649.99)

Dell 15 DC15250 (Intel Core i7 13th Gen, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM, Touch Display) — $599.99 (List Price $839.99)

Deals are selected by our commerce team

How to Remove a Tick Without Touching It

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

If you find a tick on yourself, it’s totally normal to want to climb out of your skin and burn it and live your life with your bones and muscles on display. Since I wasn't able to do that the last time I tried, I’m glad to report there is a safe, effective, hands-off way to remove the tick from your skin. More than one, in fact.

Put down the matches, though. And the soap, and the alcohol. Those can make a tick release itself, but they also make the tick vomit its stomach contents into your bloodstream. That’s gross and it increases your risk of catching tick-borne diseases like Lyme. Instead, you need specialized equipment. Get your hands on it now, before you need it. You have several options, and they’re all under $10 each.

Original Tick Key for Tick Removal 3 Pack (Multi Color)

$20.49 at Amazon

$20.49 at Amazon

I prefer the Tick Key. I have actually used this one in real life, while freaking out just a little (I respect arachnids and insects as important parts of the ecosystem but I really do not enjoy touching them) and it’s pretty easy. You put the large end of the keyhole over the tick, then just slide it over so the tick gets wedged into the small end. That’s it. Doing this removes the tick.

If you do it right, pressing down into the skin, you can remove the whole creature. If you’re a bit skittish, like me, you might end up leaving the mouthparts buried in the skin. But at that point they’re not attached to a living breathing monster, so it’s really no biggie. The mouthparts are very very tiny, and they’ll work their way out as the bite heals. Once the tick is off your skin, your job is done.

Tick Twister Tick Remover for Dogs and Humans

$7.99 at Amazon

$7.99 at Amazon

My vet prefers the Tick Twister, which is easier to use without fur getting in the way. You slide the forked part around the tick, then twist until it pops off.

There are other brands, like the Ticked Off, that work in similar ways. You can also, if you’re not too squeamish, grab the lil guy close to the skin with fine-tipped tweezers. (Either special tick tweezers or just a regular pair that’s pointy enough).

When you’ve got the tick, you can drop it into a jar of alcohol to make sure it’s good and dead. I usually put it in a baggie, so it can’t crawl away, and drop it in the trash; sandwiching it in masking tape is another reasonable approach.

Finally, try to stop this from happening ever again by checking yourself for ticks every day. A shower is pretty good at washing the little guys off before they get a chance to attach. If you’ve just finished a hike and worry that you’re crawling with the things, give yourself a few swipes with a lint roller to tide you over until shower time.

Venmo's New App Design Comes With a Great Privacy Update

For me, Venmo has always been the app to settle quick debts. Someone puts their card down at dinner, and I Venmo them my share; I covered costs on a trip, and the group Venmos me in return. But Venmo has always seemed like it wanted to be more than that. The app feels like a hybrid between a banking service, a social media platform, and a place to buy and sell crypto. None of that is changing with its new redesign; in fact, it feels like it's leaning into that multi-use experience more than ever. But it is making a big privacy change, at least for new users, that probably should have been there from launch.

How Venmo is changing in the coming weeks

Venmo is launching a redesigned app over the coming weeks, and the changes aren't subtle: The overhauled UI definitely looks like an app launching in 2026, with large rounded blocks, bolded names and text, and updated imagery throughout. Over time, the company also plans to introduce new sections to the app, which it calls "surfaces." There's "Send," which contains the usual Venmo features like fund sharing and payment scheduling; "Money," which lets you buy and sell crypto and link your account to other services; and "Rewards," which hosts Venmo's cash back program and offers.

If you're an existing Venmo user, you'll notice these changes immediately, of course. But perhaps the biggest change of all only impacts new Venmo users—in a good way, mind you. Going forward, users signing up for new Venmo accounts will have their transactions set to private by default. They can change this option, of course, but if they don't adjust their settings, all of the payments they use Venmo for will be hidden from their friends and contacts, rather than populate on the main feed.

This is a pretty radical change for Venmo. Throughout Venmo's history, new users' profiles were set to public from the get-go. If you didn't intervene, your transactions would be broadcast to anyone who follows you or the person you paid: That's a good thing if you're Venmo, which wants the extra engagement; or, perhaps, a nosey user who wants to see who's paying who for what. But most of us probably don't want or need the Venmo world knowing our financial business, even if we don't have anything to "hide." As such, this change is a good one.

Of course, Venmo doesn't force you to display your transactions publicly. You can change this setting at any time, and make all of your transactions private by default. You can also set individual payments as private, if you have some transactions you want to keep off the timeline. But many (if not most) users aren't going to go out of their way to change the default options after setting up their accounts. As such, I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of the transactions visible on Venmo aren't from people who want to share that information. That wouldn't be a problem had Venmo set their accounts to private from the start.

How to set your Venmo account to private

If you have a new Venmo account, your privacy situation is set. But if you've had your account awhile, you might be set to public if you've never changed it. Luckily, if you want to be private, it's easy: Open the app, then head to your profile. Hit the settings gear in the top right, then choose "Privacy." Here, make sure "Private" is checked off. If you're okay sharing with just friends, you can choose "Friends" as well. But for a totally off-the-grid experience, hit "Private." You can also set individual payments to Private if you don't want to hide all your payments. Once you reach the pay screen, hit "Public" in the same line as "Privacy," then choose "Private" or "Friends."

Now, your transactions will still appear in the feed, but will be visible only to you and the other party involved. You can tell from the little lock icon that appears in the payment.

The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: What Is 'Omoggle'?

This week's Out-of-Touch guide explains the online mogging competition that is Omoggle and examines who was behind a hack that brought learning to a screeching halt nationwide. We also look at a viral AI music trend, and discuss how technology we use every day might kill us all.

Mogging get organized on Omoggle

The Omoggle website is blowing up. As you can read in my glossary of Gen A and Gen Z slang, "mogging" is the act of being more attractive than someone else, usually in an intentional or aggressive way: If you're a young gentleman having a conversation with a woman, and a more handsome young man stands next to you and takes over, you have officially been mogged. Omoggle gamifies that conflict of attractiveness. It's a player-vs.-player contest where a user uploads a picture of their face and pits it against another user. An AI then analyzes the competitors' features to determine who has been mogged and who has done the mogging. It may be named after defunct chat site Omegle, but Omoggle is more like Hot or Not. Except it's more disturbing because the winner of the attractive-off isn't determined by other users' votes, but by an AI that was programmed to reinforce incel ideas.

Over the last 10 years or so, incels and manosphere types have developed and spread a massive, ad-hoc, shared delusion about what women find attractive. Despite being a self-selected group of men who don't relate well to women, incels believe they understand what women find attractive better than women themselves. All women, the theory goes, are looking for a specific set of facial features—a thick jaw, high cheekbones, etc.—and if you don't have them, you have no chance, so why try? Omoggle is really part of incels' ongoing effort to convince themselves that the reason women won't talk to them is because the geometry of their Canthal Tilt is off, not because they're creepy weirdos.

School computers went down across the country last week

A website going down temporarily is probably a minor inconvenience to us older people, but when Canvas went down this week, right in the middle of finals, it was a full-life disruption for many in Generations Z and A. Canvas is the learning management system that controls just about every college and high school in the country's schedules, homework, grades, and more, so hackers taking it out pretty much shut down academia. The hacker group responsible, called ShinyHunters, threatened to release user information if an unspecified ransom wasn't paid, but fortunately, the site seems to have beaten the hackers back, and Canvas is functioning again—but for how long?

Shinyhunters: the new generation of hackers

Shinyhunters, the group that pulled off the Canvas hack, took its name from the Pokémon franchise. Shiny Pokémon are rare, and according to security experts, Shinyhunters seem to focus on rare data. The group is thought to be part of a large affiliation of younger hackers called "The Com" who are mostly from the U.S. and the UK. While other groups within The Com collaborate with Russian ransomware groups, Shinyhunters don't. They're about data leak extortion, i.e.: "We'll release all this data if you don't pay us" instead of the usual ransomware's message of "we locked your systems and will free them when you pay us." Shinyhunters have been especially active lately, having targeted Ticketmaster, Wattpad, Pixlr, Bonobos, BigBasket, Mathway, Unacademy, MeetMindful, and more.

Viral videos of the week: text songs

Artificial intelligence's takeover of all human endeavors continues. The latest evidence: the popularity of "text songs" videos on TikTok. The concept is simple: You enter text conversations as lyrics into song generation engines like Suno or Udio, make it into a song and video, and make people laugh. While there are lots of different musical styles represented in these videos, gospel tends to work best; maybe it's the contrast of the mundanity of the text messages with the dramatic nature of the music. Here are a few examples:

Bonus: Because I sometimes have funny conversations with my teenage child, I made my own.

If you'd like to listen to a computer sing to you all day, check out the SongText hashtag where you can find almost 30,000 more examples.

Reddit discusses technological nightmares

AI sure is fun, isn't it? Unrelated: Young people spend a lot of time thinking about how the technology we've already developed will likely kill us in the near future. It's not necessarily that there's more anxiety now than when you were young, but there are more options. Realistically, you only had to worry about nukes falling, but, judging by this Reddit thread, young people are worried about hundreds of different kinds of technological nightmares that might happen in the next few years or tomorrow afternoon, including:

• Being arrested by your own car

• Undetectable deep fakes being used to scam you

• Killer drone swarms

• Direct energy/microwave weapons

• Left chirality bacteria and viruses

I could literally go on all day, but I won't. You can read the thread yourself if you lack things to worry about.

This Tiny GoPro Action Camera Is $70 Off Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

At $199 on Woot, the GoPro Lit Hero has dropped well below its original $269 launch price from October 2025, and according to price trackers, this is the lowest price the camera has hit so far. The same model is selling for $229.99 on Amazon. Shipping is free for Prime members, while everyone else pays an extra $6, though Woot only ships within the lower 48 states.

GoPro Lit Hero

Waterproof action camera with built-in light

$199.00 at Woot

$269.99 Save $70.99

$199.00 at Woot

$269.99 Save $70.99

The main reason someone would buy the Lit Hero is portability. At just 3.3 ounces, it’s genuinely tiny, small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or stay clipped to a bike helmet without becoming annoying to carry around all day. It records up to 4K at 60fps, captures 12MP photos, and is waterproof down to 16 feet without needing extra housing, which makes it practical for casual travel, cycling, beach trips, or quick vacation clips. Startup speeds are fast, autofocus works reliably most of the time, and the battery lasts around 90 minutes of continuous shooting, which is decent considering the battery is sealed and cannot be swapped out mid-day. The built-in LED light is also brighter than expected for a camera this small, although it feels more useful underwater or during emergencies than for everyday clips.

On the minus side, its 1.76-inch touchscreen is extremely small, and navigating menus can become annoying fast, especially outdoors or with wet hands. And because there are barely any physical controls, almost everything depends on tapping through menus on that tiny display. There’s also no built-in image stabilization. Instead, you have to transfer footage into the GoPro Quik app and apply stabilization afterward, which adds an extra step that is frustrating. And while the image quality is decent in bright conditions, its small 1/2.8-inch sensor struggles once lighting drops, producing softer footage with visible noise. People who like color grading or tweaking footage later won’t get much flexibility here either, since there’s no log mode or meaningful manual control to work with. Overall, the Lit Hero feels less like a smaller Hero Black and more like a compact point-and-shoot action cam for beginners who care more about convenience and size than image quality.

---

Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now

Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.99 (List Price $249.00)

Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00)

Fitbit Versa 4 Fitness Smartwatch (Black) — $149.95 (List Price $199.95)

Apple iPad 11" A16 128GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Silver, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00)

Anker 20,000mAh Portable Power Bank With Built-in USB-C Cable — $49.99 (List Price $69.99)

Deals are selected by our commerce team

Nintendo Is Raising the Price of the Nintendo Switch 2

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Nintendo may be worth over $50 billion, but that doesn't mean it's immune to global market instability. Between escalating conflicts in the Middle East driving up oil costs, and an ongoing memory crisis raising the price of technology across the board, companies like Nintendo have to make some difficult decisions to keep profits rising, too.

That brings us to today's news: On Friday, the company posted a press release titled "Notice Regarding Price Revisions for Nintendo Products and Services." While "revision" could mean a price increase or decrease, in this case, it unfortunately means the former. Nintendo outlined a number of price increases on systems and services across its global markets—including the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch Online. For those of us in the U.S., Nintendo is only raising the MSRP of the Switch 2 (lucky us): Soon, the Switch 2 will officially retail for $499.99, a $50 increase over the console's $449.99 launch price.

This increase isn't effective immediately, however. Nintendo is giving American buyers—as well as those in Canada and Europe—until Sept. 1 before these prices shoot up. As such, if you are interested in picking up a Switch 2, you might want to buy one at your earliest convenience. Come September, you'll need to pay $50 more for the same product. Nintendo didn't specify, but I imagine that bundles will also increase. If so, the Mario Kart World bundle, which typically retails for $499.99, could instead cost $549.99.

Nintendo Switch 2

$449.00 at Amazon

$449.00 at Amazon

This isn't the first time Nintendo has raised prices during this console generation. Nintendo had considered raising Switch 2 prices in the face of President Trump's tariffs, but decided against it, instead increasing the MSRP of Switch 2 accessories, as well as the original Switch. Nintendo isn't alone, either. Back in March, Sony announced price increases for the PS5 and PS5 Pro; meanwhile, Microsoft raised Xbox prices twice in 2025. While the courts have largely shut down Trump's tariffs, these companies cannot escape the rising costs of computing components: AI organizations are buying up as much RAM as they can, and memory manufacturers cannot make enough new RAM to meet demand. Add in the increased cost of shipping, and it's no wonder prices are rising for game consoles (and all other technology) across the globe.

That said, it is an odd twist on how video game pricing typically works. For most cycles, consoles are most expensive at launch. It usually makes more financial sense to wait to enter the new era until the manufacturer ends up cutting prices or releases a less expensive model—especially since consoles often launch without a huge library of new games. Today, however, it ends up being more expensive to wait to jump into a new console. If you already have a Switch or are comfortable with your gaming setup, you might want to hold on to it tight.