Articles by Alex Blake, Freelance Contributor

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

Articles by: Alex Blake

A person trading in an iPhone at an Apple Store.

iPhone fans aren't happy as Apple closes a popular money-saving loophole — but there’s better news for iPad buyers

By Alex Blake Published 17 July 26

Apple will no longer let you buy an unlocked iPhone on carrier financing direct from its website.

MacBook Air 15-inch with M4 chip on a creative's desk with screen open

MacBook users are filing off the sharp corners of their laptops for better wrist comfort

By Alex Blake Published 17 July 26

Apple users have been filing their MacBooks’ edges due to their painful sharpness.

Microsoft deletes man’s hacked OneDrive with 25 years of photos and games — as 'irreversible' action prompts him to bemoan ‘I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe’

By Alex Blake Published 15 July 26

A OneDrive user’s account was deleted after it got hacked, losing 25 years’ worth of their photos and games.

A man sitting in front of a PC with his head in his hands

Unlucky Redditor orders Corsair DDR5 RAM from Amazon and gets sent dummy light sticks instead — but one trick saves their skin

By Alex Blake Published 14 July 26

A Reddit user got scammed when buying RAM off Amazon, but one clever step helped them get a refund.

A person using a Mac with Final Cut Pro.

Apple’s app subscription bundles are too rigid and inflexible — here's how I'd overhaul them if I were CEO-to-be John Ternus

By Alex Blake Published 13 July 26

Apple’s app subscription bundles are too rigid and inflexible. They’re in desperate need of a rethink.

Philips Hue promises free Bridge Pro replacements after a rogue update bricked its devices — and users are impressed

By Alex Blake Published 13 July 26

Philips Hue is offering free replacement Hue Bridge Pro devices after they were bricked by a software update.

The ChatGPT app showing its Work and Codex modes.

‘Christ almighty, this is so bad’: ChatGPT’s big app update brings huge changes to your workflows — and users seem to hate it

By Alex Blake Published 10 July 26

OpenAI has merged the ChatGPT app with Codex, but many users feel disappointed with the change.

Razer Seiren V3 Pro microphone on wooden desk

Razer wants the Seiren V3 Pro to be the ultimate gaming mic, but you probably don’t need it

By Alex Blake Published 9 July 26

Recommended

The Razer Seiren V3 Pro comes loaded with features for demanding users, but you’ve got to pay for the privilege.

The Google Earth icon against a blue background.

‘The impact to thousands of companies across industries will be huge’: Google Earth Pro for desktop will no longer be available to download soon, and some users are furious

By Alex Blake Published 8 July 26

The desktop version of Google Earth Pro will no longer be available to download soon, with users pointed towards the web and mobile editions.

A person fixes a MacBook using one of Apple's Self Service Repair kits on a blue desk mat.

‘This kind of work blows my mind’: An Apple fan saved $2,200 by manually upgrading their Mac’s storage — but admitted the process ‘was really hell’

By Alex Blake Published 7 July 26

An Apple user manually upgraded their MacBook’s storage and saved $2,200 by doing so

A close-up of the Apple Messages icon in iOS.

‘I am mortified’: An iPhone user sent ‘sensitive pictures’ to a stranger’s phone after making this simple iMessage mistake — here’s how to avoid the same fate

By Alex Blake Published 6 July 26

An iPhone user accidentally sent ‘sensitive’ texts to the wrong person after their partner made one key mistake.

A close up of a hand wearing the Oura Ring 5

‘Long overdue but so glad to have it’: Surprise move from Oura sees these key Ring 5 features come to its older devices

By Alex Blake Published 6 July 26

Features that launched with the Oura Ring 5 are now coming to the Ring 4 and Ring 3 wearables.

A man looking frustrated at his mobile phone

iPhone age verification is now nagging people who live outside affected regions — but the mystery has been solved

By Alex Blake Published 3 July 26

A Reddit user bought an imported iPhone, which opened up a can of iPhone age verification worms.

An iPhone showing the amount of iOS storage taken up by System Data.

Another mysterious iPhone bug is eating up over 100GB of some people’s storage — here’s how to fix it

By Alex Blake Published 2 July 26

Some iPhone users are losing over 100GB of storage space to ‘System Data’ on their devices.

Worried about iPhone price hikes? Apple's new refurbished deals could offer the best value for years — and they now include the iPhone 16e

By Alex Blake Published 1 July 26

Apple is now selling the iPhone 16e on its online store for refurbished devices — and that makes it a very good deal indeed.

A pair of hands carefully fitting a stick of RAM into a motherboard.

Did RAM suppliers fix memory prices? This lawsuit says they did — but I don’t think it will fix the RAMpocalypse

By Alex Blake Published 30 June 26

A lawsuit filed against RAM suppliers says they colluded to fix memory prices in favor of HBM for AI data centers.

Fitbit’s Gemini AI coach is giving users ‘unhinged’ fitness advice — here’s why users are saying they ‘cannot wait for my trial to end’

By Alex Blake Published 29 June 26

Users say Fitbit’s Gemini AI is giving them highly questionable fitness advice.

'The best browser for Macs': Some Mac users are surprisingly defending Microsoft Edge, but here's why I use Firefox instead of both

By Alex Blake Published 29 June 26

Users on X have been debating whether Microsoft Edge or Safari is the best web browser for Mac.

More MacBook misery? Apple’s rumored M-series chip roadmap could bring a frustrating delay for Pro users

By Alex Blake Published 26 June 26

Apple might delay the MacBook Pro’s M7 Pro and M7 Max chips until 2027, a new report claims.

An iPhone showing the alarm screen in iOS.

iPhone owners are blaming a ‘silent alarm’ problem for costing them jobs — but a fix is finally coming in iOS 27

By Alex Blake Published 25 June 26

Some iPhone users say their alarms are going off silently, leading to them losing their jobs.

An Apple Siri mystery has been solved by an audio engineer — spectrogram reveals how Apple stopped voice assistant setting off millions of iPhones and HomePods during its WWDC 2026 event

By Alex Blake Published 24 June 26

An engineer has shown why Apple’s presenters don’t set off Siri on your iPhone during events.

The Kage GhostPad interactive mouse mat.

Someone made a touch-sensitive mouse mat that could obliterate desk clutter — and Reddit users are ‘shocked it doesn’t already exist’

By Alex Blake Published 23 June 26

The Kage GhostPad is a touch-sensitive mouse mat with built-in programmable buttons.

Two hands holding a phone showing the Brazil flag and X

‘I barely slept last night’: Hackers sent an ‘extreme’ alert to millions of Brazilians using the government’s own tools, and that’s a huge concern

By Alex Blake Published 22 June 26

Hackers breached government systems in Brazil to send millions of people a mysterious ‘extreme’ alert.

Apple price hikes predicted to be ‘fairly imminent’ — so don't wait on upgrading your Mac, iPad or iPhone

By Alex Blake Published 19 June 26

Apple is planning price hikes and they could be ‘imminent,’ one analyst believes.

It’s official — the Google Nest Audio and Nest Mini are dead, here’s what that means for current owners

By Alex Blake Published 18 June 26

Google has discontinued its Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers as the launch of the firm’s Home Speaker nears.

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