Technologies

Made in the USA: Baseball bats, sticky notes, kitchen mixers and more

Some prominent companies still make their products in the US, and finding them is easy.

This story is part of Road Trip 2021, CNET’s coverage of the Biden administration’s push to grow American manufacturing and make more things in the USA.

Though much of what we wear, carry in our pockets and use at home is made overseas, not everything we buy is imported. Buying USA-made goods is a popular idea, but as my colleague Ian Sherr wrote for CNET’s Made in America series, that belief doesn’t always carry over to behavior.

The federal governments wants to change that by encouraging Americans to buy more things at home. Shortly after taking office in January, President Joe Biden issued an executive order mandating stricter enforcement of «Buy American» standards within federal agencies. Then in July, he proposed a new rule that would hike up the minimum percentage of American-made parts required in products that the federal government purchases.

The goal of both efforts is to boost domestic manufacturing with the government’s purse — the federal government shells out $600 billion every year for goods and services — and encourage consumers to «Buy American.»

From cookware to beauty supplies, here are a few everyday products still being churned out on the home turf.

Post-it Notes

These pioneering sticky notes were invented by two scientists at Minnesota-based 3M: Spencer Silver, who’d discovered an adhesive that could stick surfaces together but yield when you pulled them apart, and Art Fry, a church choir singer who just wanted bookmarks that wouldn’t slip out of his hymnal. Post-it Notes are made at a 3M plant in Cynthiana, Kentucky.

Pyrex kitchenware

My parents have stocked kitchen cabinets with Pyrex baking dishes, storage containers and measuring cups for as long as I can remember. (A few have definitely surpassed my 21 years of age.) The Pyrex brand came to be more than a century ago when the wife of a Corning scientist made a cake on some glass scraps her husband brought home because her casserole dish had broken. Its glassware is manufactured in Charleroi, Pennsylvania.

Burt’s Bees lip balm

Launched in Maine during the 1980s by a beekeeper (the eponymous Burt) and an artist, Burt’s Bees offers a lineup of natural care products, including its famous beeswax-based lip balm. Burt’s Bees currently manufactures in North Carolina.

Sub-Zero appliances

Wisconsin knows a thing or two about the cold, as evidenced by Madison-based Sub-Zero’s refrigerators and freezers. The company has come a long way since the 1930s, when its founder, Westye Bakke, set out to find a better method of stockpiling insulin for his son with diabetes. Even now, Sub-Zero manufactures in Wisconsin and Arizona.

Alex and Ani jewelry

If you’re in search of some bling for yourself, Alex and Ani jewelry is reasonably priced, free of skin-irritating nickel and made in America.

Airstream trailers

Airstream’s silver streamlined travel trailers have become immensely popular as the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged Americans to take road trips for travel (there’s now a yearlong backlog for existing orders). The company has built them at its plant in JacksonCenter, Ohio, for decades.

La-Z-Boy chairs

Since creating its first recliner nearly a century ago, La-Z-Boy has supplied plushy, nap-provoking chairs to legions of snoring grandpas. As of 2019, La-Z-Boy manufactures most of its chairs and sofas in Tennessee.

Mustang cars

There are few images more American than that of a sleek Ford Mustang cruising down a US highway. Opened in 1987, Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan assembles the Mustang. The 2021 iteration starts at $27,205. (The new Mustang Mach-E electric cars are made in Mexico and China.)

Not Your Mother’s hair care products

I’m not sure what NYM has against my mother’s hair care products — but this company makes well-regarded shampoos, conditioners and creams right here in the US.

Weber grills

It’s Hot Grill Summer, and whether you prefer gas or charcoal to cook your burgers and ‘dogs, there’s a Weber grill that can take care of it. Weber sources parts both domestically and internationally but manufactures its grills in the US.

Steinway & Sons pianos

A gorgeous Steinway filled my family’s house with music for many decades. A German immigrant to the US founded the company in the mid-19th century. Steinway pianos sold in the US are made in Astoria, New York. For the rest of the world, they’re built in Hamburg, Germany.

KitchenAid stand mixers

These durable (and heavy) appliances last for decades and can be used for much more than just mixing cookie batter. Made in Greenville, Ohio, they come in a selection of vibrant colors. And as CNET found on a factory visit, they have a devoted following.

Gibson guitars

Listened to any music in your life? Then I guarantee you’ve heard someone strumming a Gibson. The company manufactures its acoustic guitars in Montana and its electrics, including the famed Les Paul, in Tennessee.

Louisville Slugger bats

Beloved by MLB stars and backyard ballplayers alike, the Slugger baseball bat is an American classic. And yes, it’s made in Louisville, Kentucky. You can join CNET’s Erin Carson on a trip inside the factory to see how the bats make their way from a forest to the playoffs.

Crayola crayons

Growing up, the coolest thing I owned was undoubtedly my three-tiered display of every Crayola crayon imaginable. (I still miss it sometimes.) Crayola’s annual output of crayons approaches 3 billion, and its major manufacturing facilities are based in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

Technologies

Apple Gives a Reason for the Reports of Terrible iPhone 17 Scratches

If you’ve seen scratched iPhone 17s, Apple says it’s just residue from their old display stands.

You may have missed it, but the internet had a collective meltdown about the brand-new iPhone 17 Pro, Pro Max, and iPhone Air demo units looking scratched up in stores. We finally have an answer. And no, the phones are not, in fact, made of butter.

Apple has officially weighed in on «scratchgate,» and the culprit isn’t a design flaw — it’s grimy display stands. Apparently, old and worn-out MagSafe holders were rubbing off on the backs of the new devices, creating the illusion of a scratch.

The company says that it’s fixing the problematic displays, and the marks can simply be wiped clean. The great iPhone panic of 2025 has ended not with a bang, but with a microfiber cloth.

Not all scratches are equal, and the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max’s shape could make the anodized coating susceptible to chipping. People are also reacting to videos from iFixIt and Zach Nelson’s YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. The videos show a possible issue with the anodized coating around the edges of the camera plateau on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. In his video, Nelson takes a quarter and rubs it along the edge of the camera plateau, causing the coating to chip.

Apple explained to CNET that the anodization on the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max is just as durable as that on other products. However, over time, it may show small abrasions with normal wear and tear. The company said that its anodization layer is extremely hard and exceeds industry standard guidelines for microhardness.

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Concerns about scratching and durability come on the heels of one of Apple’s biggest iPhone redesigns in years. And while marks and scratches don’t affect how Apple’s phones work, no one wants to have a new $800-plus iPhone look anything but the best it can. The iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro units CNET has been testing for the past two weeks don’t show any scratches, chips or scuffs.

If you’re concerned about your new iPhone getting scuffed, you can always buy a case and screen protector.

What is the iPhone 17 Pro made of?

The 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max bodies are made with aerospace-grade 7000 series aluminum, Ceramic Shield and Ceramic Shield 2. The Pro models have an aluminum unibody frame, which means a lot of the back is no longer made of glass.

While some on social media point to the new aluminum chassis as the problem behind the demo-unit damage, multiple videos show the scratches on the Ceramic Shield back panel on the dark blue iPhone 17 Pro (and on the black iPhone Air). There are even videos like this, where a person purposely scratches the back of their new iPhone Air only for the residue to wipe away, mostly clean.

Ceramic Shield, made of ceramic nano-crystals suspended in a glass matrix, covers most of the 17 Pro’s back under the camera bar. Apple says it is four times more resistant to cracks than the back glass on the iPhone 16 Pro.

Then there’s Ceramic Shield 2 on the 17 Pro’s display, which Apple says is three times more scratch-resistant than the Ceramic Shield used on previous iPhone models (and the backs of the new Pro and Air models).

During a briefing for the new iPhone models on the day they were announced, an Apple spokesperson noted that Ceramic Shield is focused on handling drops and resisting cracks, while Ceramic Shield 2 is about crack and scratch durability.

JerryRigEverything’s video and anodizing on the edge

In his iPhone 17 Pro video, JerryRigEverything’s Nelson does his usual array of scratch, bend and burn tests, but calls out a possible issue with the anodized coating on the iPhone 17 Pro’s aluminum.

«Apple forgot to do one really important thing. They ignored an international standard. And it’s going to haunt every single person who buys this phone,» Nelson warns in his video.

The ISO standard Nelson refers to is for decorative anodizing and recommends a specific radius threshold that’s 10 times the thickness of the finish, which apparently the edge around the camera bar doesn’t follow.

Apple explained to CNET that its anodization on the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max exceeds industry standards and that the edges of the camera plateau have similar characteristics to the edges of the anodized cases on other Apple products.

In his video, Nelson explains that corners, like those around the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera plateau, are weak points for an anodized coating. Think of the anodized layer on the aluminum like nail polish: It gives the phone its color but also helps protect it. If the coating gets scratched too deeply, you can see the actual metal color of the aluminum underneath. More people are likely to notice the damage on darker colors than cosmic orange.

In his video, Nelson shows how the corners around the 17 Pro’s camera plateau are particularly a concern because they lack a chamfer, fillet or bevel, which would typically help protect the edge from having its anodized coating chipped. He acknowledges that Apple used a robust coating and shows how it protects the back against a coin sliding against it or a key scraped on it.

But when he takes the same quarter and rubs it along the edge of the camera plateau, chunks of the finish come off.

I should note that Nelson made all of the scratches on the phone’s body with a knife, which leads me to suspect that someone may have intentionally scratched in-store demo units, in addition to Apple’s explanation about the MagSafe risers.

It could also be that people were holding multiple iPhone display samples one-handed for a photo or video, and that the sapphire crystal covering on the rear cameras rubbed against the back of the other iPhone. Sapphire crystal is second only to diamond in terms of its hardness. As anyone who’s had a retail job knows, in-store display units are often subjected to some of the worst customer treatment.

«I’m a massive fan of this new iPhone design,» says Nelson toward the end of his video. «Less glass and more aluminum is always a good thing.»

iFixIt’s ‘spalling’ iPhone 17 Pro teardown

In iFixIt’s iPhone 17 Pro teardown video, Shahram Mokhtari, the company’s lead teardown technician, confirmed Nelson’s finding of an issue with the anodized coating on the camera plateau’s edges. Mokhtari said the issue isn’t the aluminum unibody but the shape of the phone’s camera bump. The plateau’s sharp edges don’t adhere to the anodized coating, but flat surfaces, like the phone’s back, do.

Under a microscope, Mokhtari drags a hardness tool (equivalent to a penny) across the flat back of the camera plateau. You can see where he dragged, but the anodized coating is still intact. He drags the same tool across the edge of the camera plateau, and the coating chips off, revealing the metal underneath. The technical term for this is spalling.

«When there’s an edge to the oxide layer, like at the edge of the camera plateau, the brittle oxide bears the stress of your keys or coins rubbing against it. And so it spalls,» Mokhtari explains in the video.

He also acknowledges that iFixIt hasn’t seen the same level of vulnerability on the iPhone Air and standard iPhone 17 because their backs are made of Ceramic Shield and glass, respectively.

Are the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air durable?

In short, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air are durable, yes. But normal wear and tear on iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models could cause small abrasions to show. These issues won’t change how the phone operates or is used, but putting a case on the Pro models seems like the only way to avoid any chipping.

The iPhone Air and baseline iPhone 17 don’t seem to have the same issue with spalling that Pro models have because their backs are made of glass.

If you find that your new iPhone is scratched or has some of the anodized coating chipped off, take it back to where you bought it and see if you can exchange it. If those scratches were done deliberately, you’re likely stuck with it.

If you’re worried about your new iPhone getting damaged, the best solution is a case. Luckily, you have plenty of options.

Technologies

T-Mobile Hikes Late-Payment Charge Amid Other Recent Billing Changes

T-Mobile encourages customers to use autopay by offering monthly discounts.

T-Mobile is increasing the fee it charges customers who pay their bills late. Starting Nov. 1, the carrier will raise its late payment fee from $7 to $10, according to updated billing disclosures sent to customers and first reported by The Mobile Report.

The company says the fee will now be the greater of $10 or 5% of the customer’s monthly bill, depending on state regulations. The move represents a roughly 43% increase in the minimum charge and brings T-Mobile more in line with what rival carriers like AT&T and Verizon already assess for overdue payments.

A representative for T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There

The higher late fee could hit customers with smaller monthly plans the hardest, especially those who don’t use autopay, which is an option T-Mobile promotes by offering monthly discounts. The policy change continues a broader trend of wireless providers tightening payment terms and nudging subscribers toward automated billing as part of cost-control and retention strategies.

T-Mobile has not commented on the reason for the increase, but the change follows other recent billing and plan adjustments as the company continues to streamline operations after its merger with Sprint and amid rising operational costs.

Read more: My First Look at T-Mobile’s Unique Starlink T-Satellite Service Made Me Head Far From Home

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Technologies

It’s Easy to Get Free Extended Security Updates for Windows 10. Just Do This One Thing

Windows 10 support ends on Oct 14. Here’s how to keep access to Windows 10 security updates without spending a dime.

The era of Windows 10 support ends on Oct.14. After more than a decade, Microsoft is prioritizing updates for the most current OS, Windows 11, and stopping security updates for Windows 10.

If updating to Windows 11 isn’t an option, you can snag a year of extended security updates for the prior OS for $30. If you’re on a budget, there’s a free option that will let you keep extended security updates for a year. You’ll just be required to connect your OneDrive account and enable cloud backup.

Getting free updates on Windows 10, which was released more than a decade ago in July 2015, is a pretty big deal. As the most widely used Windows OS, it accounts for just over 53% of installs as of May 2025. Millions of people would be left without security support unless they upgrade. The cloud backup option gives users a choice without costing money.

The only potential issue is OneDrive. Anyone with a Microsoft account gets up to 5GB of storage for free. However, as The Verge points out, some backups may exceed this limitation, requiring users to purchase a monthly or yearly plan. At $2 a month for 100GB of cloud storage, a year of OneDrive still costs less than the $30 for a year of additional security updates, but it may still cause frustration among some customers.

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How to get Windows 10 security updates for free

Per Microsoft’s blog post, there are now three options for those who want to stay on Windows 10 and still receive security updates:

Use Windows Backup to sync settings to the cloud via OneDrive.
Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points. Redeeming those points can buy you one year of security updates.
Pay $30 for the Extended Security Updates program.

These options are available now. Microsoft began offering its Extended Security Updates program in July. Signing up for this option will guarantee updates until Oct. 13, 2026, although businesses will have the option to purchase up to three years of additional updates. So, this isn’t a long-term solution, but rather gives you more time to upgrade to Windows 11.

It’s been an uphill battle for Microsoft, as people have been reluctant to upgrade their existing hardware. There are myriad differences between the two operating systems, but Microsoft’s string of unpopular decisions, along with Windows 11 compatibility issues, have kept the prior-generation OS around a lot longer than it normally would.