Internet Culture

Supercharge your MacBook’s performance with a bundle of powerful apps

Productivity, photography, and privacy—oh my!

Photo of Lauren Forgione

Lauren Forgione

mac apps

Many Mac owners have reached such high levels of Apple fandom they practically consider their devices members of the family. If that’s you, then you are going to freaking love this Limited Edition Mac Bundle that features 11 award-winning apps for productivity, photography, privacy, and more that will pretty much supercharge your computer’s performance and make your digital life a hell of a lot easier overall.

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Two of the apps in this bundle—Parallels and Windscribe—are worth the price of admission alone (just $59.99), and the rest are the proverbial cherries on top. Scope out the details below!

Parallels Desktop

One issue that everyone’s dealt with at some point is needing or wanting to use Windows software on their Mac. It’s either impossible to get or lags like mad or any number of other annoying problems. And if you’ve tried to run Windows OS on your Mac to solve this problem, you know how much that can slow your whole computer down and how it involves having to restart when you want to make the switch.

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Forget all that and get the best of both worlds from this awesome Parallels Desktop app. With it, you can run thousands of Windows programs on your Mac without compromising on performance or needing to reboot. That means you can work in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Access, and even graphic-intensive games with DirectX 11 support via Apple Metal and CAD programs with no hassles. 

In addition, this app allows you to seamlessly transfer everything from a PC to a Mac, and it includes the Parallels Toolbox with essential utilities for both operating systems. The Parallels 15 version is optimized for the latest Windows 10 updates and macOS Catalina (10.15) and trusted by over seven million users—it’s a Top 15 Grossing App in the App Store. iMore called it the “best virtualization software.” You’ll call it a lifesaver. 

Windscribe VPN Pro

If you don’t already use a virtual private network, you’ll be tickled by what one can do for you. Like privacy? A VPN is your new BFF. Like protection on seedy public Wi-Fi? A VPN is your new BFF. Like watching whatever shows, movies, or live sports you want? A VPN is your new BFF.

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Here’s a quick explanation of how it works: Your internet-connected device connects (via the VPN) to a server in another geographic location, allowing it to appear as though you and your device are actually in that other geographic location. It masks your IP address, which in turn masks your identity.

Protect your online data on your Mac and an unlimited number of other devices (perfect for business owners and technophiles alike) with Windscribe VPN Pro—which is actually much more than a VPN. This desktop app and browser extension protects your privacy online, unblocks websites, and removes ads and trackers to help improve your browsing speed. You can also torrent and share files without worrying about your internet service provider watching you. As a bonus, Windscribe has a port forwarding feature, allowing you to access services on your Mac or home network when you’re not at home.

Touted for its above-average anonymity, including a strict no-logging policy and anonymous sign-up that doesn’t even require as much as an email address, Windscribe is rated 4+ stars by PCWorld and TechRadar.

PDF Expert

How about an Apple Editors’ Choice winner to go with your Mac bundle? PDFs are a standard part of life, both at home and at the office (and the home office of course), and the best way to send files, but whenever you need to edit one, well, that’s easier said than done if you’re on a Mac. PDF Expert is a game changer for the way you work and collaborate with the document format, allowing you to edit text, images, links, and outlines in a snap, along with other functions you’d expect like merging, annotating, and more.

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iMazing

Getting your pix and music from one Apple device to another has long been a bit of a headache, especially as the native apps have changed over the years. Forget the hassle of iCloud, iTunes, etc. Manage your mobile data/files the way you want to and easily transfer it between devices (wirelessly or via USB) thanks to the iMazing app. It works with any app documents, data, or media, so you’ll also have easy access to things like text messages, contacts, videos, backups, voicemail, notes, audio recordings, and more.

Aurora HDR

A Best of Mac Award winner, Aurora HDR will upgrade your photo editing game. Turn your ordinary TIFF, JPEG, or PNG photos into stunning HDR photos in no time with a vast array of creative filters to help you customize your images. When you’ve made your masterpiece, share it directly to social media from the app.

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NetSpot Pro

Wi-Fi problems? We hear that. Optimize your connection with this powerful Wi-Fi analysis app. It’s got a cool mapping tool that will show you dead zones and best spots for your hotspot, as well as a troubleshooting feature that helps you identify connectivity issues. In addition, NetSpot ensures radio channels are assigned correctly and runs upload/download speed tests. Use it at home or anywhere you plan to get online.

Disk Drill PRO

Imagine, if you will, your whole Mac crashing. It’s done, everything’s gone, things could not be worse for you and your computer. We know—you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. Good thing you have Disk Drill Pro. The top data recovery system will protect you from losing your sh*t (and your stuff) and make it easy to recover documents, music, photos, videos, or even whole partitions that have gone missing from your computer.

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RapidWeaver 8

Wanna build an awesome website but don’t know how to code? Ha ha, sucks for you! JK, BTW, because RapidWeaver is the intuitive Mac web design app that lets you build your own beautiful, responsive, websites without having to write a single line of code. Its improved intuitive UI plus hundreds of add-ons make it easy to create the site of your dreams from the ground up.

TextExpander

Many of us spend most of our days typing, which is obviously a time suck and probably not great for our poor hands. That’s why you’ll want TextExpander, “the single best productivity tool for the Mac, right after Quicksilver,” as per Leo Laporte, Host of MacBreak. This award-winning typing shortcut tool will save the day in so many ways. Create custom shortcuts for just about anything including HTML formatting, salutations, lengthy emails, dates, times, signatures, form fills, and more. Just drop your text snippets into a collection and TextExpander will auto-fill content anywhere on your Mac.

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DeltaWalker Pro

If your files and folders are a hot mess but every time you think about trying to organize them you start to tear up, this is the app for you. DeltaWalker Pro helps you compare and sync hundreds of thousands of files and folders side by side. Among other features, you can edit-in-place and merge text files, as well as visualize and compare pixel by pixel for images. 

XMind 8 Pro

Collect your thoughts into something useful with XMind 8 Pro, the productivity and creativity app that’s loved by millions of users, rated 4+ stars by Capterra, and trusted for more than a decade. It’s the ultimate mind mapping and brainstorming tool with charts for business, presentations, and more. With customizable fonts, themes, icons, and styles, you can organize relationships, manage and present projects, track milestones, and, of course, design mind mapping charts.

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Buying all these apps separately would cost over a thousand bucks, but right now the Limited Edition Mac Bundle Ft. Parallels Desktop is on sale for $59.99, a savings of 94%.

 
The Daily Dot