The M4 MacBook Pro Is $300 Off for Labor Day

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Labor Day sales are rolling in, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before they’re over. You can also subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

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It's Labor Day weekend, and tech sales are going strong, with deals on TVs, iPads, tablets, and headphones. If you're looking for a deal on a new MacBook, this is your best chance so far this year: Apple's powerful M4 MacBook Air already dropped to $799, its lowest price ever, and now, the base 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro is following suit: It's down to $1299 on Amazon, a $300 discount from the usual $1599. It's the cheapest price yet for this model MacBook Pro. (The pricier M4 Pro model with the M4 Pro chip and 25GB RAM has already received a $300 cut, from $1999 to $1699.)

The 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro is a step above the M4 MacBook Air. They share the same chip, but the MacBook Pro gets a 10-core GPU instead of an eight-core. You also get 16GB Unified Memory, and 512GB Storage as standard (instead of 256GB for the Air).

Apple M4 MacBook Pro

$1,548.00 at Amazon

$1,878.00 Save $330.00

$1,548.00 at Amazon

$1,878.00 Save $330.00

Apple M4 Pro MacBook Pro

$1,799.00 at Amazon

$1,999.00 Save $200.00

$1,799.00 at Amazon

$1,999.00 Save $200.00

The MacBook Pro body and design are also completely different. Unlike the Air, the Pro's body is fan-cooled, so it can sustain processor intensive workloads for video editing and coding for much longer. The Pro also offers a much better screen, with a 3024x1964 native resolution at 254 pixels per inch, 16,00 nits HDR brightness, up to 1,000 nits of regular outdoor brightness, and a 120Hz refresh rate. The M4 MacBook Pro's battery backup is also substantial, with up to 24 hours of video streaming and 16 hours of wireless web browsing.

As a Pro model, it comes with three Thunderbolt USB-C ports, an HDMI cable, and a SD card slot. All this tech does make the Pro heavier: It's 1.55 kg, or 3.4 pounds, versus the Air's 1.24 kg, or 2.7 pounds. But if you're the kind of person that wants a really fast MacBook with 120Hz display, long battery, great build, and don't mind the weight, the M4 MacBook Pro can be a great choice.

If you just want a thin and light laptop for work and school, you can't go wrong with the M4 MacBook Air, which, again, is discounted to $799 for Labor Day. If you're looking for a budget option, the still reliable M1 MacBook Ai can be yours for $599.

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The Best Labor Day Tool Deals Under $25

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Labor Day sales are rolling in, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before they’re over. You can also subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

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There’s nothing worse than getting partway through a DIY project and discovering you don’t have the right tool to finish it—and Labor Day sales provide a good way to keep that from happening, providing discounts that make it easier to upgrade your toolkit while keeping to a budget. Even if your budget is relatively miniscule. To that end, here are the best Labor Day tool deals I’ve found under $25.

Wrenches and ratchets

A good tool kit should include a set of wrenches and a ratchet, which will allow you to drive nuts for multiple sizes of bolts for assembling and disassembling furniture, changing filters on large appliances, or auto maintenance. Here are some great under-$25 deals on wrenches and ratchets.

• This Crescent 20-piece ratchet set is on sale on Amazon for $24.98, 41% off its usual price. This set comes with a ⅜-inch ratchet handle, an extension bit, and 8 each of metric and SAE sockets. This is a good beginner kit because it covers most sizes of nuts you’ll encounter, and it’s small and easily portable.

• This Ryobi 26-piece 1/4 -inch drive ratchet set is on sale for $19.97 at Home Depot, 33% off its normal price. This set comes with a ¼-inch drive ratchet handle, 24 sockets in both metric and SAE sizes, and a carrying case. This is a good set for smaller home maintenance tasks and because it’s so compact, it’s great for apartment living.

• This Craftsman 10-piece combination wrench set is on sale for $19.98 at Lowe’s, 31% off its typical price. The set includes 10 double-ended, SAE wrenches. This set is a good companion to a ratchet set, so you can use a wrench to hold a bolt head as you’re turning the nut, or use the wrenches on their own to drive nuts.

Screwdriver sets

A range of screwdrivers is essential for any basic home toolkit, whether you're assembling flatpack furniture or swapping out a switch plate. Here are some deals on screwdriver sets on sale for under $25.

• The Craftsman 8-piece screwdriver set is on sale on Amazon for $14.98, 49% off its usual price. This set includes 8 screwdrivers with half slotted and half Phillip’s head, in a variety of sizes; it also has two short-handled drivers for turning screws in tight spaces. This is a good starter set.

• The DeWalt 2-piece screwdriver set is on sale for $9.97 for Labor day. The set includes two drivers, on Phillip’s head, and one flathead. The tips of these screwdrivers are magnetic, so they’ll hold onto your fasteners, which is convenient if you’re working in an awkward space.

• The Craftsman 15-piece ratcheting screwdriver set is on sale at Ace Hardware for $14.99, 41% off the regular price. It's labeled as a 15-piece set because the bits are double ended, but it actually comes with 7 bits and a ratcheting handle. The bits store inside the handle, so it's a compact option for your home tool kit if you have limited storage space. It includes Phillip's head, flat head, square tip, and star drive bits.

Other tools and accessories

Here are a few more standout Labor Day tool deals on tools and accessories.

• The DeWalt 20-inch handsaw is on sale at Ace Hardware for $15, 50% off its normal price. This is a basic handsaw for cutting medium sized dimensional lumber, and can be handy for finishing corners when cutting sheet goods with a power saw. The 8-tooth-per-inch blade will provide a medium-to-smooth cut without splintering or tear out on most lumber.

• A set of four Vevor bar clamps is on sale at Lowe’s for $24.99. This set includes two 6-inch clamps and two 12-inch clamps with a 2 ½-inch jaw depth and a 600-pound pressure capacity. Clamps are a useful tool for DIY woodworking because you can use them to hold joints flush while you’re driving fasteners or waiting for glue to dry.

• A DeWalt 16-oz. Hammer is on sale for $14.99 at Ace Hardware, 44% off its regular price. This is a small, smooth-faced hammer with a curved-claw for pulling nails. This is a good hammer for projects like hanging pictures or driving small finish nails, but it doesn’t have the weight necessary for larger jobs like framing.

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This Waterproof Sonos Roam 2 Portable Speaker Is $40 Off for Labor Day

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Labor Day sales are rolling in, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before they’re over. You can also subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

Labor Day sales often bring the kind of discounts that make you wonder if it’s worth upgrading your tech, and the current deal on the Sonos’ Roam 2 fits the bill there. The waterproof portable speaker is marked down to $139, only a few dollars more than its all-time low, according to price trackers.

Sonos Roam 2

$139.00 at Amazon

$179.00 Save $40.00

$139.00 at Amazon

$179.00 Save $40.00

For a Sonos device, that’s a tempting price cut, especially if you’ve already got other devices from the brand. The Roam 2 is small, and shaped like a rounded triangular bar with rubber feet, so it doesn’t wander across the counter when the bass kicks in. It plays mono sound through a racetrack midrange driver and a tweeter, delivering a fuller punch than its size suggests. Placement matters, however: Set it upright and you’ll notice detail takes a hit, since the tweeter fires from the bottom. When laid flat, clarity improves.

The real issue for most people will be connectivity, which is a bit of a mixed bag. You get Bluetooth 5.0, which already feels dated compared to speakers pushing newer standards, and support is limited to AAC and SBC codecs, so don’t expect the highest quality streams. Multipoint pairing and Google Fast Pair aren’t part of the package either, which means switching between phone and laptop isn't as seamless as it could be. On the upside, it does have dual-band wifi and AirPlay 2, which makes it work nicely in a home setup, especially if you’re already running other Sonos speakers. 

Alexa is available for hands-free commands, but oddly, it doesn’t let you control music playback. Sonos Voice Control can handle that, but the limitation is noticeable if you’re used to smarter assistants, as noted in this PCMag review. Battery life hovers around 10 hours, which is fine for day trips but not spectacular for the price bracket. The inclusion of wireless charging sets it apart though—you can just drop it on a Qi charger instead of fiddling with cables. Durability shouldn't be a concern, either: With its IP67 rating, the Roam 2 can shrug off sand, dust, and even a 30-minute dip in the pool, making it a good pick as an outdoor sound system for Labor Day gatherings near water.

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You Can Get $150 Off an 11-inch iPad Air for Labor Day

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The iPad Air is the best iPad for people who really like iPads. The regular iPad is great for kids and basic use, while the iPad Pro is designed to handle professional level creative workflows, with its latest M4 chip and tandem-OLED display. The iPad Air, on the other hand, gives you everything you need from an iPad, without the compromises of the base iPad, and for far less than the iPad Pro.

And during Labor Day sales, you can get the 128GB base 11-inch iPad Air for $449.99. That's down from the sticker price of $599, and it's the lowest price yet for the latest iPad Air.

Apple iPad Air 11-inch with M3 chip Built for Apple Intelligence, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 6E + 5G Cellular, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue

$599.00 at Amazon

$749.00 Save $150.00

$599.00 at Amazon

$749.00 Save $150.00

The device has an 11-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 bits of brightness and 2360×1640 resolution. It's powered by the M3 chip from last year, which is still way more powerful than most iPad users will need, with an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. There is also 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Even when you factor in the new multitasking and freeform window support coming to iPadOS 26, this thing can handle it.

The iPad Air supports both the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the Apple Pencil Pro. And unlike the iPad Pro, it uses Touch ID in the power button for authentication, rather than Face ID. In its expert review, PCMag gave the M3 iPad Air a 4-star rating and an Editor's Choice award, noting, "[The] iPad Air remains the best choice for students and creators who need a powerful tablet at a decent price."

If you want to go a size larger, you can also check out the 13-inch iPad Air, which is also discounted to its lowest price ever, at $649 (down from $799).

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This TransUnion Data Breach Affected 4.4 Million Consumers

One of the three major U.S. consumer credit bureaus has been breached, leaving the data of more than 4.4 million people exposed to hackers. TransUnion, which maintains credit information on 200 million consumers in the United States and shares that information with 65,000 other organizations, has just disclosed a breach that occurred last month amid the larger Salesforce data theft.

What happened at TransUnion?

According to a data breach notice submitted to the Maine attorney general, a "cyber incident involving a third-party application" occurred at TransUnion on July 28, allowing threat actors unauthorized access to some U.S. consumers' personal information. The letter being distributed to those affected states that credit reports and "core credit information" were not included in the breach, though the company hasn't disclosed specifics as to what was compromised. The breach was discovered on July 30.

As BleepingComputer reports, the incident is linked to series of recent attacks carried out by the ShinyHunters hacking group on Salesforce, a major customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Other Salesforce-connected companies that have been impacted include Google, Workday, Allianz Life, and a handful of major retailers like Adidas and LVMH.

What TransUnion customers need to do now

TransUnion began notifying affected consumers on Aug. 26, so be on the lookout for a letter from the company. Anyone whose data were compromised can enroll in 24 months of free credit monitoring provided by My TrueIdentity—which belongs to TransUnion—including identity protection and resolution services and $1 million in identity theft insurance.

To sign up via the My TrueIdentity website, you'll need the unique activation code from your letter, and you'll need to provide an email address and verify some personal information. Note that the offer is valid for 90 days from the date of the notice.

If you haven't already, you should also freeze your credit with each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to prevent bad actors from opening accounts in your name. If you believe your Social Security number or other information has been compromised, you can place a fraud alert at one bureau, which will share it with the other two. You should also take other measures to lock down your identity, including monitoring all of your accounts and reporting suspicious activity immediately.

If you need to speak to someone at TransUnion about the breach, you can call 800-516-4700 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday to Friday.

This Eight-Piece Ring Home Security Bundle Is $275 for Labor Day

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This Labor Day, the Ring Alarm 8-Piece Kit with Outdoor Cam Plus and Battery Doorbell is down to $274.97 from its usual $399.99. According to price-trackers, that's the lowest it has ever gone, so if you’ve been considering building out a Ring setup for a small home or apartment, this might be the time to do it. The appeal is pretty simple: Instead of piecing your system together over time, you get a starter alarm kit, an outdoor security camera, and a battery-powered video doorbell all in one shot.

(This bundle is only available in the U.S., and because the products come in different packages, shipping could be split across a couple of deliveries.)

Ring Alarm 8-Piece Kit with Outdoor Cam Plus, Battery and Ring Battery Doorbell

$274.97 at Amazon

$399.99 Save $125.02

$274.97 at Amazon

$399.99 Save $125.02

The 8-piece kit covers the basics well. You get a base station, a keypad, four contact sensors for doors or windows, a motion detector, and a range extender that helps if your wifi is patchy. It’s not overkill but enough to secure an apartment or the entry points of a small home. The Ring Battery Doorbell adds another layer of security, letting you see who’s at the door without committing to hardwiring. It runs on a rechargeable battery, which means recharging every few months, depending on how busy your doorstep is.

The Outdoor Cam Plus rounds out the bundle: It records in 2K, works at night with color vision, and has a built-in siren. And because it’s battery-powered too, you won’t need to mess with drilling or running cable. The catch, as with all Ring products, is that the best functionality—including video history, smart alerts, and the ability to arm or disarm the alarm remotely—sit behind a Ring Home subscription. The higher tiers even add 24/7 professional monitoring and backup connectivity if your wifi drops. Still, at this price, this is a solid way to pick up both a starter alarm system and two useful battery-powered cameras in one package.

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Six Things You Need to Clean Yourself Before the Professional House Cleaners Arrive

You might think that if you hire a cleaning service to come and deal with your mess, you can promptly ignore the whole subject and let the housecleaners deal with everything—after all, that’s the whole point of paying someone to clean your house. But if you want your cleaning service to be as effective as possible—and your house to be as clean as possible—there’s some prep work you should do before the cleaners arrive.

Yes, you need to clean some things before your professional cleaners show up, because you want to maximize the benefit that pro cleaners bring to your house. Otherwise, they’ll waste time and energy (and your money) fighting an uphill battle. If you want to get the most out of your professional house cleaners, here are the pre-cleaning steps you need to take.

Declutter

The number one thing you should do to prepare for a professional cleaning service is to pick up your stuff and declutter. If your cleaners have to pick up and move stuff out of their way, they’ll spend less time actually cleaning, and they probably won’t put everything exactly where you want it. A few key areas to declutter include:

• Floors. Clear the way for vacuums and mops.

• Counters. Make it easy for your cleaners to dust and wipe down surfaces. This includes putting small appliances away and clearing all those primping tools off the bathroom sink or counter.

• Valuables and private stuff. Don’t leave stuff sitting out that you wouldn’t want strangers seeing or interacting with.

Organize laundry

The line between house cleaners and housekeepers can be a fuzzy one, and laundry is one chore that not every cleaning service does. If your house cleaner is going to do the laundry as part of their usual visit, you should organize it before they arrive. That means gathering it all into a central place and (possibly) sorting it at least into whites and colors. You should also separate out anything intended for the dry cleaners, and any delicate items that require special handling. You can either do those yourself or leave specific instructions, but never assume the cleaning pros will automatically know what needs to be done.

You should also make sure you’re stocked with detergent, fabric softeners, and anything else you expect your cleaners to use while washing your clothes.

Do the dishes

Some house cleaners will do dishes if you leave them in the sink, but many won’t, and for some, it’s an add-on service you pay for. Obviously, if your cleaning service includes the dishes, you should let them handle it. But if your service isn’t going to handle the dishes for you, don’t leave a pile of dirty ones in the sink that will get in the way of your cleaners’ efforts to scrub the sink and the surrounding area. Plus, a pile of dirty dishes implies you’re trying to get the cleaners to wash them even though it’s not their job.

Fragile and personal stuff

Anything in your house that’s fragile or that requires special handling, you should clean yourself. If it requires a memo to explain the process to your cleaners, the chances that they will fail to do everything correctly (or even damage the items) will not be zero.

You should also make sure that anything intimate and personal, like financial documents or personal letters, isn’t left out. This should be part of your decluttering routine mentioned above, but it’s worth doing an extra sweep of the house. You don’t want your house cleaners to know your business, your house cleaners don’t want to know your business, and if you’d rather not have something touched or moved, you shouldn’t leave it out.

Clean out the fridge

Note I didn’t write clean the fridge—your house cleaners should handle the actual cleaning of your refrigerator. But if you want a truly sparkling refrigerator, don’t leave it packed full of old plastic storage bowls, takeout containers, and dubiously wrinkled produce. The more time your cleaners have to spend tossing all that stuff into the garbage for you, the less time they’ll have for actually cleaning your appliance, so take a few minutes and clean the fridge out as thoroughly as possible. If there’s an obvious spill in there, you should probably mop it up, but otherwise, you can leave the actual detail work to the professionals.

Clean the litterbox

If you have a cat as a pet, clean out the litterbox before your cleaners arrive. Check with the company’s policy—some house cleaners won’t touch a litterbox at all, while others are happy to move it in order to clean under and around it. But considering what a litterbox is typically full of, it’s a simple courtesy to make sure it’s clean before you expect someone to get down close to it and possibly handle it.