opinion

The long-awaited low-cost MacBook powered by an A18 Pro chip is now expected to launch on March 4. It will reportedly be priced somewhere around $700, making it significantly cheaper than an entry-level MacBook Air.

Given that the upcoming machine is likely to meet the needs of a great many of those who currently opt for the MacBook Air, it could cannibalize a lot of sales. One possible solution to this is to use the strategy Apple once adopted with the iBook and Powerbook lineups …

One of the more persistent and long-standing Apple rumors has been the launch of new AirPods models with built-in cameras. Another leaker added their support for this idea just yesterday.

Exactly what role these cameras would perform has been the subject of much speculation, with some suggesting they will be used to support Apple Intelligence visual features. While that is certainly possible, I can’t help wondering whether the reports point to support for hand gestures similar to those used with Vision Pro …

A report yesterday said that we will see a Siri chatbot as part of iOS 27, despite the company previously dismissing this idea.

If accurate, this will see the company adopt a two-stage strategy to finally giving the new Siri the smarts it has long lacked …

Yesterday brought a surprising report about the development of an Apple pin, which The Information likened to the mysterious and as-yet-unreleased AI hardware device designed by Jony Ive.

I have a pretty strong suspicion about what the Apple pin is, and I’m very confident indeed that I know what it isn’t …

Apple yesterday confirmed reports that it was partnering with Google’s Gemini to provide the AI features for Siri and more.

The primary reason for the announcement couldn’t have been made any clearer by the way the company chose to release the news …

Apple has frequently used small variations on the same one-sentence justification when giving in to government demands that conflict with the company’s stated values: “Apple complies with the law in each of the countries in which it operates.”

However, there are occasions on which the company has instead chosen to stand up to unreasonable government demands, and we yesterday saw the latest (and highly successful) example …

I said only recently that it’s getting harder and harder to believe Apple can deliver on the new Siri. The company’s backtracking on announcements coupled to very vague statements on revised timings were certainly not making it easy to imagine that the new intelligent assistant will deliver.

I’m not yet ready to do my own U-turn on this, and my skepticism still very much remains, but there have at least been a couple of encouraging signs in the last few days …

The latest version of the Oura smart ring app provides an improved and simplified view of key health information.

I’ve argued before that Apple could learn some lessons from Oura, and I think this is even more true today – here’s why …

Next year’s MacBook Pro is expected to be a significant upgrade on the current model, with the headline believed to be a total redesign that’s both thinner and lighter.

The rumors include three specific features, and I got a chance to preview all of them thanks to an early chance to try a Windows laptop going on sale later this month …

Once upon a time, there was just a single iPhone. Today, things are rather more complicated, with a choice of four new models plus two older ones remaining on sale directly from Apple.

Next year may see the most fragmented iPhone lineup we have ever seen in the company’s history – and that could be bad news for some of us …

While Apple first started supporting eSIMs back in 2018, it’s only this year that it has taken full advantage of the technology.

For the first time, Apple is using the space previously occupied by an insertable SIM card slot for additional battery capacity …

Ming-Ching Kuo today suggested that we can expect a touchscreen MacBook Pro to go into production in late 2026. This is the latest in a years-long string of rumors that Apple is working on such a device.

The company has been testing prototypes since at least 2008, but has consistently dismissed the idea of launching one. However, I do tend to believe the latest report …

If you’ve just installed iOS 26, the first thing you will, of course, have noticed is the new Liquid Glass user interface. This has proved a somewhat polarizing feature, with some developers arguing it’s not yet ready for primetime.

It certainly takes some getting used to, but overall I’m a fan, and I particularly like some of the small but notable changes …

Apple is sometimes accused of deliberately withholding new features from older devices for no good reason. For example, eyebrows were raised when dual capture video recording was restricted to the iPhone 17 when the same feature has been supported by third-party apps all the way back to the iPhone 11, so is clearly nothing to do with hardware capabilities.

When it comes to the latest health features, however, the company is wisely taking a far more inclusive approach …

Apple’s hardware design chief said yesterday the company knew it would be hard for some to choose between the new iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max.

That isn’t true for everyone, of course. For some, the decision will be very straightforward – but I can see how it could be tricky for others …

We yesterday highlighted what is quite possibly the smallest user-facing change in the latest iOS 26 beta: the ability to revert the camera app slider to its previous direction.

While this is in itself a very tiny change, I do think it ought to be a guiding principle for Apple’s approach to user interfaces …

Yesterday saw the emergence of three rumors about the iPhone 17 Pro camera system. The source for them has no track-record, so it’s entirely possible that all three are nonsense, but it’s at least plausible that they would have access to the claimed information.

Two of the rumored features would be welcome, even if one sounds rather unlikely. But the third is something I’m very much hoping is dead wrong …

A report yesterday suggested that the two iPhone 17 Pro models could get an anti-reflective display, after Apple’s suppliers managed to overcome production difficulties.

I do love anti-reflective displays, and still have very fond memories of my all-time favorite Apple one from way back in 2004, but an iPhone one would have only moderate appeal to me …

Amazon, Google, and Samsung are all working on an exciting way to bring AI to smart homes – and Apple risks being left behind.

Samsung is first to launch the new feature: the ability to use natural language to simply tell your smart home app what it is you want it to do …

Analyst Ming–Chi Kuo has suggested that Apple plans to launch an all–new MacBook next year, powered by an iPhone processor. Specifically, he expects it to have the A18 Pro chip which currently powers the iPhone 16 Pro line–up.

While there’s no word on pricing, the only way the report makes sense is if Apple is targeting an even lower price than the $999 starting–point of the current MacBook Air. Indeed, if you factor in discounted pricing on that, then it would have to be significantly cheaper. But there may be a more cynical possibility …

When Jony Ive and Sam Altman teased their upcoming AI hardware device, we noted how mysterious they were being about its form factor.

While some were suggesting that it was a wearable, I said I felt pretty sure it wasn’t, and that’s now been confirmed by a court filing. A 9to5Mac reader last month made a plausible suggestion, and the latest development seems to me to add weight to the idea …