Why Buying a MacBook Air From Apple Isn't a Great Idea Right Now

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For years, the MacBook Air has been the best Apple laptop for most people. And even as Apple's budget MacBook Neo is gunning for that crown, the sentiment is, in many ways, still true today. The Air comes with perks the Neo doesn't, like an M-series chip, additional RAM, and a larger, higher-quality display. But to cut costs, it also skips some MacBook Pro features that most users won't miss, like additional ports, a high-refresh-rate mini-LED display, and pro-grade hardware. For people who need more "oomph" than the Neo offers, but don't want to pay a "Pro" tax, the Air is the sweet spot.

As such, you might be thinking of picking up a MacBook Air as your next laptop. Unfortunately, fate may have other plans. According to Bloomberg, the MacBook Air seems to be the latest Mac affected by "RAMageddon," the global memory shortage affecting companies big and small. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has sources that tell him that Apple simply doesn't have enough MacBook Airs on hand to ship to customers in a timely manner. If you try to order one today, your shipping estimate likely pushes your order towards the end of August. You might even see a disclaimer that reads "MacBook Air subject to availability." In short, it might be difficult to buy a MacBook Air from Apple right now.

While Apple will happily take your money, it seems the company also wants to steer customers away from the Air for the time being. Gurman says that Apple's stores and website both encourage users to consider the base model MacBook Pro, which, sure, is probably the best MacBook Pro for most people—but it also starts $700 more than the base model MacBook Air. The expression "adding insult to injury" comes to mind, since Apple recently increased the MacBook Air's MSRP by $200. Apple seems to be offering you two choices: buy the now more expensive MacBook Air and wait a while for it, or pick up a $2,000 MacBook Pro today.

You have other choices for MacBooks

You don't have to play Apple's game to pick up a MacBook Air right now. In fact, it might be best not to shop through Apple for the time being. Other outlets, such as Amazon and Best Buy, currently have the latest MacBook Air models available to purchase. If you need an M5 Air at its MSRP, these are the stores to shop from.

M5 MacBook Air (512GB)

$1,243.00 at Amazon

$1,243.00 at Amazon

But that might not be the case forever, especially if Amazon and Best Buy start to sell out—since Apple won't likely provide them with many new units for a while. As such, your best bet might be to shop the refurbished market. You could get a slightly older MacBook Air model at a decent discount, spending under $1,000 to get all the perks you were looking for in the $1,300 machine to begin with. This refurbished M4 MacBook Air is $900 on Amazon right now, for example. You step back one M-series generation, but since Apple's latest chips are so capable, you probably wouldn't notice the difference—all while saving quite a bit along the way.

You can also take advantage of the refurbished market to spec up your laptop, especially with things like RAM and storage. This M1 Pro MacBook Pro, while five years old, is still more than capable in 2026, and comes with a 1TB hard drive, for just over $900. If you're interested in the perks of a MacBook Pro but balked at the price, this type of machine could be a good opportunity.

Where does Apple go from here?

Apple won't discontinue making new computers, even as the memory crisis rages on. As such, I expect the "M6" era sometime early next year—though the company's plans could change given market conditions. Whenever Apple does release the M6 Air, the M5 will become the "value" model to get—especially if the company raises prices again.

I'd love to say you could simply ride out RAMageddon and pick up a new laptop after the crisis ends, but there's no telling when that will be. Memory manufacturers are open about their struggles to get production up to meet demand, which means things might not stabilize until sometime next year, if not later. As such, Apple's prices might remain high, while its supply could continue to be low. If you don't need a new MacBook, I'd recommend holding onto your computer for as long as you can; if you do need one, shop around. Sometimes the newest machine simply isn't the best value.

Five Hacks Every Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro User Should Know

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When I raced Hyrox earlier this summer, I opted for my Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro—and I was quite pleased with the results. While Amazfit's Cheetah line isn't exactly my favorite, the Cheetah 2 Pro is a solid choice for any runner who wants a watch that looks and feels top-of-the-line (albeit with some mid-tier tradeoffs). And while the Cheetah 2 Pro has a no-nonsense marathon-watch exterior, there's a surprising amount of software most owners never touch. Here are five features that go beyond the manual.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro

$449.99 at Amazon

$449.99 at Amazon

Unlock a secret developer mode in your Amazfit watch

Buried inside the Zepp app is a hidden menu most people will never find by accident. Go to Profile, then Settings, then About, and tap the Zepp logo seven times in a row. This unlocks developer mode, which lets you dig into device information and debugging options that aren't normally visible in the consumer-facing app. True, it won't turn your watch into a hacking tool, but it's a fun rabbit hole if you like poking around under the hood, and it can occasionally be useful for troubleshooting sync issues or checking firmware details that the standard interface hides from you. 

Developer mode also lets you install custom watch faces, rather than relying on the existing native watch face library and upload a custom face on your computer, scan a generated QR code, and install it directly onto your watch.

Overcome jet lag with guidance from your Cheetah 2 Pro

If you travel for races, this one is a true hidden gem: Your Cheetah 2 Pro includes a “jet lag manager.” This feature may not be something you'd think to look for on a running watch, but if you've ever shown up groggy to a marathon expo, you know you'll try anything to help you adjust your sleep and training schedule ahead of race day. 

To use this feature, the watch will have you input your travel details to receive an Amazfit "Adaptedness" score (although I’m not quite sure what goes into this score, so please take it with a hefty grain of salt). While that number itself might not be worth paying too much attention to, your watch will then generate suggestions for when to sleep, be active, and get light exposure. When you have so many other travel logistics on your mind, it could be nice to get real-time alerts on your watch designed to help you adapt faster and make the most of your trip.

On your phone, open your Zepp App > Device Page > Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra > Jet Lag Manager to input travel details and view potential schedules. Then you can open the Jet Lag Manager app directly from your watch's app list—after scrolling down a good bit to find it—and view your personalized schedule and adaptation readiness starting 72 hours before departure.

Protect your eyes with your watch's red light option

Most users know their Cheetah 2 Pro has a built-in flashlight, activated with a long press of the function button. What’s extra-nifty is that it isn't just a single white beam. It uses two white LEDs, plus an additional red LED, and the red option gives you a glare-free alternative for the dark so you're not blinding yourself or wrecking your night vision. There's also a strobe function built in, which is worth knowing about if you ever need to be visible to traffic on a pre-dawn or post-sunset run, rather than just seeing what's in front of you. 

After you press and hold the top-left button to turn on the flashlight, use the UP or DOWN buttons to cycle through the white brightness settings until you reach the red light mode. You can also swipe down from the watch face to open the Control Center and tap the flashlight icon.

Get the notifications you still want, and none of the ones you don't

The Cheetah 2 Pro lets you personalize your notifications beyond all-or-nothing enabling/disabling. This way, any critical alarms or low-battery warnings still function even when everything else is muted. For example, if you go to Settings > Notifications > Calendar on your watch, and turn off "Allow notifications," then calendar-related reminders will no longer pop up. Easy!

What I do is disable all notifications, and then go in and enable only the handful of apps I actually care about (like text messages), while keeping the rest quiet during a long run.

In a similar vein of "less is more," the Cheetah 2 Pro defaults to more data collection than most runners need on a daily basis. These are the three features I dial back in order to save battery:

• When you're not actively exercising, reduce heart rate measurement frequency from every one minute down to every five or 10 minutes.

• Turn off "Automatic Stress Monitoring" and "Auto Blood Oxygen" tracking unless you specifically rely on that data.

• Disable continuous location tracking and heart rate logging when you're not working out. Just remember to re-enable both when you start a workout.

These quick settings changes will help stop your watch from unnecessarily draining battery in the background, and you really aren't sacrificing much in terms of data.

Fix your Cheetah 2 Pro's accidental workout pauses

If you're using your Cheetah 2 Pro during strength training, this is a life-saver. One thing I've noticed across Amazfit watches is that the crown (aka the top right button) is either bigger or more sensitive, meaning the watch thinks I'm constantly pausing mid-workout whenever I accidentally bump against it. I pretty much couldn't swing a kettlebell without bumping the button in some way.

Here's my fix: Head into Workout Settings and switch the pause mechanism from a "simple press" to "Long Press." The long press did take me some getting used to when I do want to pause, but I'm grateful that I don't have to worry about any more accidental pauses caused by natural wrist movement.

Bonus hack: Clear water out of your watch quickly and easily

I'd like to leave you with a bonus hack, since I'm about to head out for a run in the pouring rain: Amazfit has a built-in water ejection feature. Water can linger in your watch's microphone and speaker ports, muffling sound or triggering false touches. Here's what to do: Swipe down from the main screen to open the Control Center, tap the Droplet icon, and hold your watch with the speaker facing downward. The watch will vibrate at specific frequencies designed to physically push moisture out of the ports. Like all the hacks above, this is one of those features it's good to know about now, so you're ready for the moment you really need it.

This Clip-On JBL Speaker Is 38% Off Right Now

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The JBL Clip 5 is down to $49.95 at Woot, compared with its usual $79.95 price, and Amazon’s current listing of $69.95. That saves you $30, or about 38%—Prime members also get free shipping, while everyone else pays $6. This deal is live for the next four days, though it may end earlier if stock runs out.

JBL Clip 5

$49.95 at Woot

$79.95 Save $30.00

$49.95 at Woot

$79.95 Save $30.00

An IP67 rating keeps the Clip 5 sealed against dust and helps it survive temporary water submersion, so rain, sand, and a drop near the pool should not end its day. Sound-wise, it works well for music or podcasts when it stays close to you, but don’t expect its 7-watt driver to replace a larger party speaker. Still, voices come through clearly, and the speaker spreads sound evenly enough that you do not need to sit directly in front of it.

JBL also gave this model several upgrades over the Clip 4. It can now stay connected to two devices at once, and if you own other compatible JBL speakers, its Auracast support lets you create a stereo pair or distribute the same audio across multiple speakers. You also get some control over the sound through its companion app, which includes presets and an adjustable equalizer. As for its battery life, it is rated at up to 12 hours, with Playtime Boost adding as many as three more, but that estimate drops considerably at higher volumes and can land closer to six hours.

At this price, the Clip 5 makes the most sense for someone who wants a small speaker they can take outside and keep close by. It is not built to fill a large room, but at about 0.63 pounds and 5.3 inches tall, it can hang from a backpack without adding much bulk, and its wider built-in carabiner also fits more easily around a belt loop, bag strap, or shower caddy than the hook on the Clip 4.

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If You Loved 'Gilmore Girls,' There's One Movie You Need to Watch Next

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Gilmore Girls is pure comfort viewing. We all wish our lives were filled with more sparkling, quick-witted dialogue spiced with deep pop culture references, and that we lived in a warm, quirky place like Stars Hollow—and that’s why it’s one of those shows that folks binge over and over again. It’s like getting together with some old friends—it never gets old. But true fans know that to keep up with the Gilmores, you have to absorb a lot of pop culture. If you’ve already watched the shows that fans of Gilmore Girls will love, it’s time to hop over to the movies that Rory and Lorelai would approve for movie night.

Why fans of Gilmore Girls should watch Mermaids

Mermaids is set in the 1960s, but the similarities with Gilmore Girls are strong. Winona Ryder plays Charlotte, a 15-year-old whose mother, Rachel (Cher), has a habit of moving to a new town every time she breaks up with a boyfriend. Adding to Charlotte’s growing sense of disruption is the fact that Rachel, who had Charlotte when she was just 16 herself, acts like her friend instead of her mother. When Rachel moves with Charlotte and her younger sister, Kate (Christina Ricci), to the small town of Eastport, Massachusetts, things begin to change.

If you loved the dynamic between Rory and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls, you’ll love Charlotte and Rachel. The show is pitched a little higher on the drama scale, but the funny, sharp dialogue between the women and the deep love between them is very Gilmore-esque. Like Rory, Charlotte is precocious and smart, though she’s a bit more prone to fantasy; despite being Jewish, she becomes obsessed with Catholicism, which causes her a lot of distress when she crushes on the local convent’s caretaker, Joe. And like Lorelai, Rachel is a strong woman who finds love in a small town without sacrificing her sense of self and independence. Their comic timing is flawless in this film.

That small-town, East Coast vibe in Eastport will also appeal to fans of the show. Eastport is depicted as a vibrant, tight-knit place where the locals are kind and weird in the best ways. When Rachel meets Lou (Bob Hoskins), the local shoe salesman, she resists falling in love for fear of losing her independence, but their blooming relationship is sweet and satisfying, and the town is populated by memorable characters just like Stars Hollow.

If you’re looking for banter, romance, and a town you wish you lived in just like Gilmore Girls, go watch Mermaids.

Stream Mermaids on Fubo or rent it on Prime Video.

Mermaids (1990)

$3.99 at Prime Video

$3.99 at Prime Video

More movies for fans of Gilmore Girls

Mermaids is terrific, but it’s not quite two hours long—so you’re going to need to add more movies to your list. Here are a few more that Gilmore Girls fans will love.

His Girl Friday (1940)

One of the many films directly name-checked in Gilmore Girls, His Girl Friday is way ahead of its time and the perfect match. The story, about a newspaper editor (Cary Grant) using a variety of shady (and, from a modern POV, kind of sketchy) tricks to win back the woman who is both his best reporter and his ex-wife (Rosalind Russell), is surprisingly gender-blind for a film released in 1940. And the dialogue—racking up an astounding 240 words per minute, on average—is so fast, so sharp, and so overlapping you’ll have to watch it three times to catch every joke and reference. If you come back to Gilmore Girls for the banter, you will love this movie.

Stream His Girl Friday on Fubo or Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video.

His Girl Friday (1940)

$3.99 at Prime Video

$3.99 at Prime Video

Juno (2007)

Another movie known for its sharp, rapid-delivery dialogue, Juno is also the perfect choice for Gilmore fans because of its main character, Juno MacGuff (Elliot Page). Sixteen years old and finding herself surprisingly pregnant, Juno navigates the emotional and social fallout with a sharp tongue and a bright mind that’s very much how you might imagine Rory dealing with a teen pregnancy. Juno agrees to let a childless couple (played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) adopt her baby, but as she grows closer to the husband, the film digs into complex relationship dynamics that fans of the show will appreciate.

Rent Juno on Prime Video.

Juno (2007)

$3.99 at Prime Video

$3.99 at Prime Video

Booksmart (2019)

One of the great things about Gilmore Girls is that it’s a show that celebrates intelligence and knowing things. The Gilmores and the people they surround themselves with are smart, and they enjoy being smart. So do Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) in Booksmart: They’ve skipped so many parties and hangouts in order to excel at school and get into Ivy League schools, and their quick, hilarious dialogue reflects how smart they are. When they learn that their hard-partying, much lazier classmates also got into great schools, they suffer what can only be termed a mild existential crisis, with hilarious results.

Rent Booksmart on Apple TV.

Booksmart (2019)

$3.99 at Apple TV

$3.99 at Apple TV

Before Sunset (2004)

The Gilmores often display an enviable dynamic: relaxed, affectionate, and challenging. Rory and Lorelai like to debate, to converse, to dig into their assumptions and have real conversations—the kind we all wish we were having on the regular. If you ever wished some of those conversations in Gilmore Girls would go on for, oh, a few hours, check out Before Sunset—it’s almost all conversation. It’s the sequel to Before Sunrise (the trilogy—itself basically one enormous conversation—ends with Before Midnight), but the second film is a closer match to the deep relationship between Rory and Loralei that makes the show special. The story sees author Jesse (Ethan Hawke) reunited with Céline (Julie Delpy), once again spending a day together in Paris nine years after a 24-hour conversation changed their lives, chatting in a way few people ever get to.

Stream Before Sunset on The Roku Channel or rent it on Prime Video.

Before Sunset (2004)

$5.99 at Prime Video

$5.99 at Prime Video

Waitress (2007)

Quirky small town vibes, a loving found family, and an unplanned pregnancy—Waitress is what Rory or Lorelai’s life might have been like with some different choices or simple bad luck. Jenna Hunterson (Keri Russell) is a small-town waitress trapped in a miserable marriage; her plans to save up money and flee are complicated when she finds herself unexpectedly knocked up. She begins an affair with her new obstetrician (Nathan Fillion, so: understandable) and learns that she has more friends—and better friends—than she imagined.

Rent Waitress on Prime Video.

Waitress (2007)

$3.99 at Prime Video

$3.99 at Prime Video

This 2026 Samsung OLED TV Is $700 Off Right Now

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Samsung’s 65-inch S90H OLED TV is down to $1,997.99 from $2,697.99, saving you $700, or about 26%. The sale price is easier to justify when you consider that this is a new 2026 model—plus, Amazon is also including room-of-choice delivery, which usually costs $19.99. (Note that while the delivery team will carry the box into the room you choose, it will not unpack or install the TV, remove the packaging, or take away your old set.) If the 65-inch model does not suit your space, Samsung also sells the S90H in 42-, 48-, 55-, 77-, and 83-inch versions, and the other sizes are discounted as well.

Samsung’s 65-inch S90H OLED

$1,997.99 at Amazon

$2,697.99 Save $700.00

$1,997.99 at Amazon

$2,697.99 Save $700.00

Samsung’s 83-inch S90H OLED

$4,520.48 at Amazon

$5,297.99 Save $777.51

$4,520.48 at Amazon

$5,297.99 Save $777.51

Samsung’s 55-inch S90H OLED

$1,497.99 at Amazon

$1,997.99 Save $500.00

$1,497.99 at Amazon

$1,997.99 Save $500.00

Samsung’s 77-inch S90H OLED

$2,797.99 at Amazon

$3,697.99 Save $900.00

$2,797.99 at Amazon

$3,697.99 Save $900.00

The S90H is easiest to recommend for a living room where sunlight, lamps, or overhead lighting often reflect across the TV—its matte screen softens those reflections, so dark movies and daytime sports remain easier to see without closing the curtains. You still get the deep blacks, vibrant colors, and clean contrast expected from an OLED screen, with no obvious glow around subtitles or bright objects. The picture also holds up well from the side, which helps when your seating is spread across the room. The tradeoff is that the matte coating can make the image look slightly softer than it would on a glossy OLED.

Gaming gives the S90H another reason to consider it. All four HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K at up to 165Hz, variable refresh rate, and low input lag, so you can connect a gaming PC, multiple consoles, and a soundbar without constantly moving cables around. Its fast response also keeps quick camera movements and sports looking clear, while the wide viewing angle works well for local multiplayer games. The S90H is therefore best suited to someone who needs one TV for daytime viewing, movies, sports, and gaming. Buyers who care more about Dolby Vision and home-theater performance may prefer LG’s competing C6.

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