Expo Notes: Do something useful with your iMac’s stand

Your iMac’s built-in stand is elegant, but it seems as though you should be able to do more with it. Two vendors here at the Macworld/iWorld show aim to help you do just that.

Rain Design’s upcoming mBase stand (above), available in June, is cut from iMac-matching aluminum and elevates your Mac about two inches off the surface it’s resting on. The mBase uses those two inches to provide a convenient drawer for your iPhone, a small hard drive, some cables, or even a charging brick.

What makes the mBase’s drawer especially useful is that it includes cable-management holes in the front and back, letting you string, say, a USB cable into the drawer from the back, or even all the way through the front. And vents along the back of the drawer keep its contents cool.

The mBase for 21.5-inch iMacs will sell for $50; a model for 27-inch iMacs will cost $60.

Meanwhile, iCoreGear’s CableCore Hub (price to be determined) elevates your iMac only about an inch off your desk (or whatever), but it aims to extend your Mac’s expansion ports for easier access.

You just plop your iMac onto the base and cover the iMac’s stand with the included cover; string a USB cable between your iMac and the CableCore Hub; and then plug in the CableCore Hub’s included power adapter. The Hub gives you three USB 3 ports within easy reach, each able to fast-charge an iPhone. You also get a 2.1-amp power-only USB port for juicing up your iPad or iPhone, as well as an SDXC/SDHC card-reader slot. No more having to blindly reach around the back of your iMac.

A version of the CableCore Hub for older 21.5-inch iMacs is available now, but the company is previewing versions for older 27-inch iMacs and all iMacs of recent vintage.