Opinion pieces & commentary

The next iPhone lineup is around the corner – and it’s going to be a different one. The base model iPhone 18 won’t be making an appearance quite yet, as that model has been shifted to a spring release schedule. This September will squarely be on the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the all new foldable iPhone.

Of course, there’s one major elephant in the room: price hikes. It’s inevitable that the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will cost more, which begs the question – is buying an iPhone 17 Pro at today’s prices a good idea?

Jony Ive and Sam Altman made a big promise when they teased the launch of a completely new concept in AI hardware more than a year ago.

The most recent report suggests that OpenAI may technically be delivering on this promise, but could end up at least partly competing with an upcoming AirPods model. If so, I can easily see AirPods Ultra proving the more popular choice …

Last year, Apple completely reinvented multitasking on the iPad, with the introduction of windowing in iPadOS 26. At first, this meant the removal of the simpler version of multitasking, Split View and Slide Over. Those features did eventually return, but at a cost – they required you to use the clunky new windowing system. I was hoping iPadOS 27 would improve this, but it didn’t.

One of the things tucked away in the small print of macOS 27 beta 3 is the news that you’ll need a 2TB iCloud+ subscription in order to use the new AI features for home security cameras in the Apple Home app.

While some are suggesting that we shouldn’t be too surprised by this, I do find it a somewhat disappointing move by Apple …

We’ve been hearing for a long time now that a new high-end MacBook Ultra model with a touchscreen will get a significant redesign with a slimmer form factor. The new design appeared to be one of the things that would differentiate the high-end model from the MacBook Pro.

However, a report yesterday said that an entry-level MacBook Pro set for release early next year will have a new design in line with that of the Ultra …

Some of the recent Apple price hikes exceeded 50%, while the cost of upgrading memory and storage has literally doubled in some cases.

The company has said that it’s “working tirelessly to find solutions” to the problem, but when might we expect prices to revert – if ever … ?

We’re about 3 weeks out from when Apple unveiled iOS 27 to the world at WWDC26, and it’s still safe to say: this is an incredible update. It’s incredibly performant, and besides some small quirks and a little battery drain, it feels much more usable than iOS 26.5.

While iOS 27 does support every device that ran iOS 26, the same isn’t true for iPadOS. A number of older iPadOS 26 devices will not be receiving the iPadOS 27 update, which I think is quite a shame – and Apple should mitigate this one way or another.

Last year, Apple debuted Digital ID on iPhone, allowing users to use their US passport as identification in Apple Wallet. Apple’s been rolling out drivers licenses in Wallet slowly over the past few years, but that’s on a state-by-state basis. Digital ID is universal, allowing anyone with a passport to use it.

Of course, you can use it at TSA checkpoints in airports – but Apple had a bigger scope in mind: digital age and identity verification. While not yet confirmed, it’s possible that we could see a first major implementation of this quite soon, in Claude.

In my roundup of what I saw as the 11 key AI features announced by Apple at this year’s WWDC, I said that the camera features seemed extremely well thought through.

In the two weeks since, my view has been very much reinforced. The Clean Up tool is now significantly more powerful, while the Reframe and Extend tools address similar real-life needs …

While macOS 27 introduces lots of new features, it does have a few drawbacks. One of these appeared to be that it bricked Time Capsules.

A Microsoft engineer has found a way to maintain compatibility, but it really just leads me to renew my belief that Apple needs to revive the product …

It’s not unusual for both hardware and software companies to make claims about faster performance for new models and new software releases. I generally roll my eyes a little at these since they often refer to tiny improvements that would hardly be noticed in real life usage.

Apple has claimed more than 40 speed improvements in iOS 27, and I have to say that I did do a little eye rolling …

Vibe coding has shaken the App Store. As stated at WWDC, over 1000 apps are being submitted every hour. Apps can be built substantially faster now – creating a flood of submissions. This is a bit of an issue when there’s only one true method of distributing apps on iPhone, at least in most of the world.

Apple recently introduced a higher review bar for App Store submissions, and while that’s certainly a step in the right direction – I don’t think it’s a full solution.

In asking one big question and highlighting 11 key features about iOS 27, I said that the Liquid Glass debate was over. Apple introduced a slider that enables everyone to choose their exact desired degree of transparency, including effectively switching off the effect altogether.

But in running the developer beta on my main iPhone with the Liquid Glass effect maxed out, I’d now argue that the company has done far more than this …

A number of people have been complaining that the new Siri demos during the keynote videos were a little on the slow side. There were notable lags of several seconds between Siri requests and the task being carried out.

But while the ideal we’re aiming for is for AI tasks to be carried out as quickly as possible, what we saw is kind of good news …

Yesterday’s WWDC 2026 keynote was a very different beast to its predecessors – and not just because the company spent more than ten minutes talking about child safety and screen time in response to growing concerns by regulators.

The structure of the keynote presentation was completely different to what we have seen in the past, but we can expect this to be the new normal …

Almost two years after Apple first showed off a video promoting the new Siri and lots of exciting new Apple Intelligence features, that future has finally arrived – at least in first beta form.

The company had a lot of ground to make up. Obviously, the test will be how well the new features work in real life usage, but let’s start with what seemed to me to be the most important things the company announced …

Over a decade ago, with the launch of the of the Apple TV HD and the first version of tvOS, Apple set off on a rather unsuccessful journey to turn the Apple TV into a gaming platform. The efforts have largely died off, but I think this year could potentially mark the beginning of a renaissance, if Apple wanted to. Let’s outline it.

A report a year ago said that we could expect an Apple Vision Air product in the second half of 2027. This was expected to address both of the issues that have led to the Vision Pro being such a niche product.

This week brought two reports suggesting that we may have to wait significantly longer for a Vision Air, if indeed we ever see one at all …

It’s more than 18 months since I wrote an opinion piece suggesting that while the wait for the new Siri is frustrating, the privacy payoff would be worth it.

A lot of time has passed since then, and of course user frustration at the ongoing delay has grown significantly. While goodwill has undoubtedly been lost, a recent announcement does provide some hope that privacy may still rescue the company’s tarnished reputation in AI …

Granted, there’s probably at least one person who says that any given Apple TV show is the best. But if you’re not watching Widow’s Bay, you are really, really missing out.

One of the core Apple Intelligence features to date has been Visual Intelligence. It started off in a rather limited capacity through Camera Control, but with iOS 26, the company expanded it to screenshots. I’ve found those capabilities very useful thus far, and I’d love to see Apple take it even further with iOS 27.