The M4 MacBook Pro Is $300 Off for Labor Day

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.


It's Labor Day weekend, and tech sales are going strong, with deals on TVsiPads, 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).

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

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.


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 Soda Can-Sized Smart Projector Is 35% Off for Labor Day

This Soda Can-Sized Smart Projector Is 35% Off for Labor Day

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It's Labor Day weekend, and tech sales are going strong, with deals on TVsiPads, tablets, and some of headphones. If you’re looking to upgrade your movie nights, the Nebula Capsule Air Projector is now 35% off on Amazon. Perfect for an outdoor cinema moment in your backyard or on a camping trip, this soda can-sized mini projector from Anker is a space-saving alternative to a TV.

Weighing in at 1.43 pounds, portability is a great perk for this battery-powered portable smart projector. The included base attachment allows the projector to “lean back” so you can project directly on the ceiling if you prefer.

The Capsule Air offers up to 2 hours of playtime off its 34Wh battery, so while it can handle a single movie or a few episodes, it’s not quite enough for a Netflix binge.  With built-in Google TV, it supports more than 30,000 apps on Google Play, eliminating the need for an external streaming device. While the image quality isn’t full HD, it’s fairly vibrant at 720p, with decent color accuracy (you can play content up to 1080p, which will be automatically down-converted, according to this "excellent" PCMag review.) It has 150 ANSI Lumens of brightness,which means you’ll get the best viewing experience in a darker setting, and it may not work well in brighter rooms. 

Users report that the built-in speaker isn’t very loud, so you may need to pair it with an additional Bluetooth speaker. But if you don’t need ultra-sharp HD visuals and can live with the shorter battery life, the Nebula Capsule Air Projector is a compact choice for on-the-go entertainment.

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Some Great Starter Ryobi Cordless Tools Are on Sale at Home Depot for Labor Day

Some Great Starter Ryobi Cordless Tools Are on Sale at Home Depot for Labor Day

Labor Day sales are in full force, 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.


If you need a basic tool set for home maintenance or want to expand your DIY skillset, a set of cordless tools is a necessity. Shopping Labor Day sales is one of the best ways to save money on tools. I'm a fan of Ryobi's cordless offerings, and Home Depot has some great starter sets on sale for Labor Day.

The best Labor Day deals on cordless drills and drivers

A drill is the foundation of any tool set. If you’re building a home maintenance tool kit, a Ryobi drill for $39 is a standout deal. The 18-volt, ⅜-in chuck Ryobi drill is 65% off and it comes with a set of driver bits, a 1.5-amp-hour battery, and a charger. This kit is ready to use out of the box, and it comes with a battery set that is compatible with any 18-volt Ryobi tool, allowing you to try out new tools as you build your set.

The Ryobi 18-volt, ¼-inch chuck impact driver is also on sale for Labor Day for $109.97, 39% off its regular price. The driver comes with a 2-amp-hour battery and a charger. An impact driver can make driving fasteners easier by adding some mechanical momentum as you drive your fastener for a powered assist when your driving screws and bolts.

The best Labor Day deals on batteries and bonus tools

A set of spare batteries for your Ryobi tools can come in handy when you’re using more than one tool at a time, and having a spare battery while you’re working so you can always have one on the charger will allow you to keep going without having to wait for it to charge.

The Ryobi 18-volt battery starter set is on sale for $79, 61% off its regular price. It comes with a 2-amp-hour battery, a 4-amp-hour battery, and a charger. This is a good set as an add-on for a tool that doesn’t come with batteries, or to expand your cordless tool set.

There are two other notable deals on Ryobi batteries that come with bonus tools. You can get the Ryobi 18-volt battery starter set with a reciprocating saw for $158, 41% off its regular price, or a starter set with a portable fan for $108.97, 51% off its usual price. A reciprocating saw can be used for trimming hedges as well as for cutting lumber. A fan is a good way to add ventilation if you’re working on something that produces dust or paint fumes.

Why I like Ryobi tools

For DIY and home maintenance, a set of tools that is reliable and versatile is key. Ryobi  batteries are cross-compatible with over 300 tools, including drills, drivers, saws, landscaping equipment, and finishing tools. Building your home tool set on a battery type that allows you to add tools without needing a whole new set of batteries will make building your kit more affordable.

Also, because the tools are backwards compatible with Ryobi 18-volt tools released over the last decade, your batteries and chargers will likely be compatible with future Ryobi tools as well. This means you won't need to update your battery system as new tools come out.

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

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

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Labor Day sales are rolling in, and Lifehacker is sharing the best bargains 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.


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.

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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That Phone Call From Google Is Probably a Scam

That Phone Call From Google Is Probably a Scam

You probably know by now not to pick up or respond to the barrage of communication from numbers you don't recognize—this gets easier as smartphones roll out more robust scam detection and spam prevention features. But you are less likely to be suspicious of a call from a contact you recognize, whether that's a friend, family member, or organization you do business with.

Scammers know this, and they're capitalizing on your trust with a trick known as caller ID or phone number spoofing, an attempt to convince you to hand over personal information—like bank account numbers and login credentials—or send them money, or both.

Scammers can pretend to call you from a number you trust

Caller ID spoofing involves manipulating the contact information that appears on your phone when you receive a call, so the number or name matches that of someone you know. The mechanics of phone spoofing vary, but at its most basic level, the method simply requires scammers to know the caller's number, the recipient's number, and the relationship between the two as well as access to an app that can trick caller ID.

In one of the latest examples, users on Reddit report receiving calls that, according to both the name and number that show up on caller ID, are from Google. The person on the other end calmly alerts the recipient to suspicious activity, such as unauthorized login attempts, on their account and requests that they engage with a push notification to verify their information. Another version of the ruse is that someone is trying to fraudulently add your email as a recovery address on their Gmail account. In either case, hackers are attempting to collect your login credentials and hijack your account.

There are plenty of even more alarming iterations of phone spoofing, from callers impersonating family members begging for money in an emergency to those pretending to represent government agencies demanding payment for services. Money transfer scams may also involve caller ID spoofing so you think you're talking to either your bank or federal officials (both are scary and neither are real).

How to fight caller ID spoofing

You probably won't be able to prevent caller ID spoofing entirely—at least for now. But you can identify these scams as they roll in and practice good digital hygiene to minimize the risk that your information will be compromised. Avoid giving out your phone number where possible, and minimize the personal data you share online.

As with any scam, eliciting strong emotions and giving a sense of urgency are red flags. Attackers may threaten you or pose as a friend or family member in danger to induce fear and pressure you to act quickly. They may also say something that sounds too good to be true. Or they'll alert you to some type of security issue that needs to be resolved ASAP.

You should always be wary of any request for payment or personal information. It's safe to assume that trusted organizations, including the IRS, the FTC, and Google, will not call you out of the blue to demand money or login credentials. Even if the company name or associated number appears on your caller ID, you shouldn't engage in the conversation, press any buttons, or provide any data. Hang up right away and call the person back directly using contact information you trust, such as a phone number you've found on an official website.



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