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CES 2024: ASUS Rules CES, A Grab Bag of Other Announcements, Plus More Weird and Wonderful Gadget Finds

Source: CES.

Source: CES.

We’re only two days into CES 2024, and something occurred to me in the aftermath of ASUS’s packed presentation. We’re in a new golden age of gadgets, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many years. The world seems ready for something new after spending more than a decade cramming everything imaginable into our phones. An awful lot of companies seem to think the next big thing will be powered by artificial intelligence. Perhaps it will be, but even if it isn’t, we’re seeing a breadth and depth of gadget innovation at CES that’s exciting.

Yesterday, the gadget that stuck with me the most was the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. I love the flexibility and modularity it promises. ASUS’s ROG Phone 8 line of mobile phones was a close second with its beefy, game-friendly specs. But neither captured my imagination quite like one of the accessories ASUS saved for yesterday’s presentation.

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CES 2024: Gaming, Laptops, TVs, AR and VR, Batteries, and a Couple of Oddities

Source: CES.

Source: CES.

Every year, I dig into the press releases and reporting coming from the CES show floor, so you don’t have to. The pandemic took the wind out of CES’s sails for a few years, but the show and interesting gadgets have made a comeback for 2024, with a wide range of announcements made in the days leading up to the show, which doesn’t even officially start until tomorrow. I’ll be back with more updates throughout the week, but here are some of the announcements that have caught my eye so far.

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MacStories Unwind: The Best Videogame Hardware and Games of 2023

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This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico and I recap our videogame hardware experiments of 2023 and pick our favorite games of the year.

Hardware Picks

Game Picks

Backlogs

Also mentioned:
GameTrack, an iOS, iPadOS, and Mac game tracking app

MacStories Unwind+

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Our Setups

Our desk setups.

Our desk setups.

It’s no secret that, here at MacStories, we like to experiment with different hardware and apps in the constant pursuit of more portable setups, more customizable apps, or more powerful workflows. And we recognize that, for readers, it can sometimes be…tricky to keep up with the “latest” state of our setups.

With this Setups page, our goal is to provide readers with a summary of our hardware and software setups. The list will be updated on a regular basis over time.

For more questions, feel free to reach out on Mastodon @viticci or @johnvoorhees, or ping us on Discord.

Changelog

April 17, 2024
Federico

Note: Details about the Lenovo Legion Go can be found in this episode of MacStories Unwind.

April 2, 2024
Federico
  • Added EUCARLOS carrying case for Vision Pro
  • Added KIWI lens protector
  • Added SoloTop
  • Added Infinity One Air Cover forehead mount
  • Added 3D-printed stand
    • March 22, 2024
    Federico

    Note: Details about the MacPad can be found in this story.

    John
  • Added Logitech Casa Pop Up Desk
  • Added ASUS ZenWiFi Pro Wi-Fi 6E Mesh Routers
  • Added Miyoo Mini+
  • Added Boox Palma
  • Added Samsung T9 2TB SSD
  • Added Shure SE215-CL in-ear monitors
  • Added GameTrack and Sequel
  • Added GoodLinks
  • Added Readwise Reader
  • Added Vision Pro
  • Added Syntech Hard Carrying Case
  • Added KIWI lens protector
  • Replaced NaturalReader with Speechify
  • Added Tower and Kaleidoscope
  • Replaced Paste with PastePal
  • Removed: XREAL Air
    • February 2, 2024
    John

    Note: Details about these changes can be found in this story and this episode of MacStories Unwind.

    January 19, 2024
    Federico
  • Added Z13 Acronym to Videogames section (Unwind episode)
  • Removed Raikiri Pro game controller and replaced with FlyDiGi Vader 3 Pro and GuliKit KingKong 2 Pro
  • Added Hall effect joysticks to ROG Ally section
  • Added Edge Pro MagSafe holder and BoomCan MS from How I Modded My iPad Pro with a Screen Protector, iPhone Holder, and Magnetic Stereo Speakers
  • Removed mentions of velcro and replaced with AllyMate and DeckMate in ROG Ally and Steam Deck sections
  • Apps section: updated entries for media tracker, read later, podcast, weather, and team communication apps
  • Added new Belkin charger

    • Table of Contents

    Federico’s Setup

    My desk.

    My desk.

    Daily Drivers

    Videogames

    My Lenovo Legion Go.

    My Lenovo Legion Go.

    Audio

    My favorite headphones.

    My favorite headphones.

    Mac Server Setup

    Batteries and Chargers

    TV Setup

    Other Gear

    The MacPad.

    The MacPad.

    Apps

    John’s Setup

    Core Desktop Production Setup

    Portable Setup

    Vision Pro Setup

    Reading and Research

    Cables, Connectors, and Miscellany

    iPhone

    Mac Server Setup

    Podcasting

    At Home Podcasting

    On-the-Go Podcasting

    Videogames

    Consoles for Modern Games

    Retro Gaming

    TV Setup

    Controllers and More

    Other Headphones and Speakers

    Office, Lighting, and Office Automation

    Batteries, Chargers, and Power Strips

    Apps

    Note: MacStories participates in the Amazon Associates and other affiliate programs and may be paid a small commission if you click on a link and purchase a product or service from a third party. For more information on how MacStories uses affiliate links, please read our Privacy Policy.

    AppStories, Episode 355 – Building a Link Gathering Machine→

    This week on AppStories, I surprise Federico with a link gathering machine I designed for processing and reading the web.

    Sponsored by:

    • CleanMyMac X – Your Mac. As good as new. Get 5% off today.
    [Subscribe here.](https://appstories.net/plans)

    Subscribe here.

    On AppStories+, Federico tests more AR glasses and reports back on his experience with the XREAL Air after a week, plus I joins in on the fun.

    We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

    To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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    MacStories Unwind: Flora and Son and Federico’s Latest Tech Discovery

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    23:03

    This week on MacStories Unwind, I recommend an Irish family drama on Apple TV+, while Federico has been out exploring new corners of the tech world.

    • Kolide – It ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today!

    John’s Pick

    Federico’s Pick

    Federico recording AppStories using the XREAL Air.

    Federico recording AppStories using the XREAL Air.

    MacStories Unwind+

    We deliver MacStories Unwind+ to Club MacStories subscribers ad-free and early with high bitrate audio every week.

    To learn more about the benefits of a Club MacStories subscription, visit our Plans page.

    Six Colors’ ‘Apple in 2023’ Report Card

    For the past nine years, Six Colors’ Jason Snell has put together an ‘Apple report card’ – a survey to assess the current state of Apple “as seen through the eyes of writers, editors, developers, podcasters, and other people who spend an awful lot of time thinking about Apple”.

    The 2023 edition of the Six Colors Apple Report Card has just been published, and you can find an excellent summary of all the submitted comments along with charts featuring average scores for different categories here.

    I’m happy that Jason invited me again to share some thoughts and comments on what Apple did in 2023. As you’ll see from my comments, I was very disappointed with the iPad – there was literally no new hardware last year and only minor changes in software – and more intrigued by what’s happening in macOS land. This, I think, will be a recurring theme on MacStories in 2024: as I move my workflow to the Vision Pro with the Mac as an accessory to it, I expect I’ll be using macOS a lot more as a result. In 2023, I was also very impressed with iPhone hardware, somewhat annoyed with the lack of changes to the AirPods line, and surprised by the updates in tvOS 17.

    I’ve prepared the full text of my answers to the Six Colors report card, which you can find below.

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    GoodLinks Adds Even Deeper Shortcuts Integration with Ability to Retrieve Current Article, Selections, and More

    The new Shortcuts actions for GoodLinks.

    The new Shortcuts actions for GoodLinks.

    A few weeks ago on AppStories, I mentioned to John that I was looking for the “Things of read-later apps”. What I meant is that I wanted to find an app to save articles for later that felt native to Apple platforms, had a reliable text parser, but, more importantly, featured deep Shortcuts integration to let me create automations for saved items. As I followed up after a few episodes, I realized the app I’d been looking for was the excellent GoodLinks, which we’ve covered on MacStories several times before.

    Today, GoodLinks developer Ngoc Luu released a small update to the app that, however, cements it as the premier solution for people who want a read-later utility for iOS and iPadOS that also features outstanding Shortcuts support.

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    Using the iPad Pro as a Portable Monitor for My Nintendo Switch with Orion, a Capture Card, and a Battery Pack

    Tears of the Kingdom on my iPad Pro.

    Tears of the Kingdom on my iPad Pro.

    Those who have been reading MacStories for a while know that I have a peculiar obsession for portable setups free of the constraints typically involved with working at a desk or playing games in front of a TV.

    It’s not that I don’t want to have a desk or dislike my 65” OLED TV: it’s that I don’t want those contexts to be my only options when it comes to getting work done or playing videogames. This is why I’ve spent the better part of my career fine-tuning my iPad-first lifestyle and why I’m so excited at the prospect of a giant screen that can always be with me. Modularity, portability, and freedom from a desk or TV are the driving factors in everything I use or buy these days.

    For these reasons, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I embraced the ability to use the iPad Pro as a portable monitor for videogame consoles thanks to UVC support. As I covered in my iPadOS 17 review, this feature was primarily conceived to let iPad users connect external webcams to their computers, but that hasn’t stopped developers from re-using the same underlying technology to create apps that allow you to display a video feed from any accessory connected via USB.

    It’s a very intriguing proposition: the 12.9” iPad Pro has a gorgeous mini-LED display; what if you could use that to give yourself a little extra screen real estate when playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder or Tears of the Kingdom without having to pack a separate portable monitor with you?

    In my review, I mentioned the Genki Studio app, which I used to play games with my Nintendo Switch and ROG Ally and output their video feeds to the iPad Pro’s display. Today, I want to explain how I took my setup a step further by enhancing the picture quality of the Nintendo Switch when viewed on the iPad Pro and, most importantly, how I created a fully-portable setup that allows me to play Switch games on the iPad Pro anywhere I am.

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