Companion Present

Companion Present: a reader asks…

I’m late on getting my husband a Christmas gift, too busy. He has a laptop computer, smartphone and tablet (all Apple), and doesn’t need a new one of any. Do you have any other ideas for a nice gift for him?

I would suggest a companion present, something that goes with or works with something he already has. If he has a Mac, iPhone and iPad, there are some nice companion gifts that would work with all of them:

• Airpods – wireless earbuds by Apple, $160
• Apple Watch – with or without cellular (but don’t get it without), the Series 3 watch from Apple starts at $330 and goes up from there
• If he already has an Apple Watch, then a nice new watchband would be great, the ones at Apple start at $50 and up
• iTunes gift card – he can apply to his Apple ID account and use it to purchase apps and software for his Apple products
• Expand his iCloud storage. Apple gives you a paltry 5gb of iCloud storage space without paying extra. Pay the extra for him to expand is storage so he can keep all his Apple devices backed up (including the photos & videos he takes with the iPhone) and share his files between devices. Upgrades go for $1/month (50gb of storage) to $3/month (200gb of storage) to $10/month (2tb of storage).

Or, some other tech gift that works in his environment. Such as:

• A subscription to LastPass Premium ($24/year) for password management
• Garage door internet connection & app so he can close the garage door he forgot to close on his way out (like the Chamberlain Smart Garage Hub for $80)
• Home theatre system remote (like the Logitech Harmony Elite for $250)
• a 2nd (& larger) monitor for his Macbook so when he’s working at home he can enjoy a large-screen experience. You don’t have to buy the hugely expensive monitor Apple sells these days, any 20″-27″ monitor will do. You will probably need to get a dongle that converts whatever connection type the monitor uses with whatever connection type his Macook needs (get that piece from Apple).
• A wireless keyboard ($99) or mouse ($79) or trackpad ($129) from Apple so when he’s working from home he can stretch out with his external monitor, keyboard and pointing device rather than hunch over the Macbook
• An extra power block/cord for the Macbook so when he takes the Macbook out he doesn’t have to dig the power brick and cable out of the mess under his desk.

These are just a few ideas, if you leave a comment with more specifics about him, what he likes and does, I can give you a more focused list.