Articles by John Loeffler, Components Editor

John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY.

Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.

John has a Bachelor’s degree in English and is currently in the wrapping up a Master’s program in Computer Science, where he spends his evenings building digital circuits, multiboxing Linux kernels, and coding shell scripts.

You can usually find him on Bluesky (@@johnloeffler.bsky.social) where you’ll get hot takes on stuff as well as reposting content that is almost as good as the worst content you used to be able to find on Vine.

Articles by: John Loeffler

Photographer with Nikon Z f at golden hour

Best Photoshop courses online of 2025

By Mayank Sharma Last updated 14 August 25

Updated We list the best Photoshop courses online, to make it simple and easy to either learn or expand on your existing skills at Photoshop with these free and paid-for courses.

One of the best processor picks against a golden TechRadar background

The best processor in 2025: top Intel and AMD CPUs to upgrade your PC

By John Loeffler Last updated 14 August 25

Updated Whether you're team Red or team Blue, we've got you covered with our picks for the best processors you can kit into your PC.

Study up on Wi-Fi security before you head back to school

By John Loeffler Last updated 11 August 25

Public Wi-Fi networks are plentiful, especially around school campuses, but they can pose risks if you're not security-conscious.

I've been reviewing Dell XPS laptops for half a decade, and the Dell 14 Premium is as close as they've ever come to dethroning the MacBook Pro

By John Loeffler Published 8 August 25

Recommended

The Dell 14 Premium isn't perfect, but it's as close as Windows users will likely get to a real MacBook Pro 14-inch alternative.

I've tested more than a hundred laptops in my career, and the Dell 16 Premium is the only MacBook Pro rival worth considering

By John Loeffler Published 2 August 25

Recommended

The Dell 16 Premium lives up to its name, beating out the MacBook Pro 16-inch in most of the ways that matter.

Logos of some of the best html to pdf converter picks against a two-tone techradar background

Best HTML to PDF converter of 2025

By John Faulds Last updated 25 July 25

Updated We list the best HTML to PDF converters, to make it simple and easy to prevent the altering of formatting and web links when converting any web page into a document.

Best Adobe Portfolio alternative of 2025

By Alexis James Last updated 10 July 25

Updated We list the best Adobe Portfolio alternatives, to make it simple and easy to better manage your images.

An AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT next to its retail packaging on a table

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT review: a compelling value whichever version you pick

By John Loeffler Published 23 June 25

Recommended

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT offers good value in both its 16GB and 8GB versions, though both still lag behind when competing with Nvidia's offerings.

A Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch on a desk

I finally got the Purple MacBook I've been begging for, it just turned out to be the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop

By John Loeffler Published 15 June 25

Recommended

While the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch is about as close as a Windows laptop can come to being a MacBook Air on the outside, its weaker hardware and display put it at a distant second.

A Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch vs MacBook Air 13-inch against a two-tone background

I put the new Surface Laptop 13-inch head-to-head with the MacBook Air 13-inch, and the results are telling

By John Loeffler Published 15 June 25

Putting the Surface Laptop 13-inch vs MacBook Air 13-inch to the test

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is a very affordable 2-in-1, with some compromises

By John Loeffler Published 6 June 25

Recommended

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is a very solid and affordable pick, especially for students.

Computex 2025 live: all the latest from the world's largest computing show in Taipei

By Matt Hanson Last updated 23 May 25

Computex 2025 Computex 2025 is the world's biggest computing show where companies like AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm show off their latest devices - and we're reporting live from the show floor in Taipei, Taiwan.

A Colorful GeForce graphics card at Computex 2025

The best graphics cards of Computex 2025: all the best of GeForce, Radeon, and Arc GPUs

By John Loeffler Published 22 May 25

These are the coolest graphics cards I saw at Computex 2025

An MSI PC build on display at Computex 2025 with a TechRadar Computex 2025 badge overlay

MSI's component showcase at Computex was impressive, but in the end, I fell in love with a bracket

By John Loeffler Published 21 May 25

MSI's Unibracket for its new AIO cooler is my dark horse favorite reveal at Computex

An MSI Prestige 13+ AI Ukiyo-e Edition laptop at Computex 2025

The MSI Prestige 13+ AI Ukiyo-e Edition is nothing short of a work of art, and my only complaint is that so few people will get to see it in person

By John Loeffler Published 21 May 25

The MSI Prestige 13+ AI Ukiyo-e Edition laptop is the by far the most impressive thing I've seen at Computex 2025.

An MSI MEG Vision X AI gaming PC at Computex 2025 with a TechRadar @ Computex 2025 badge overlay

MSI's new AI-infused QD-OLED monitor and improved MEG Vision X AI gaming PC make AI a bit more practical for gamers

By John Loeffler Published 20 May 25

MSI showed off some new and updated AI-infused gaming hardware at Computex 2025

Dell 14 Plus review: a surprisingly great budget laptop

By John Loeffler Published 17 May 25

Recommended

The Dell 14 Plus does its retired Inspiron heritage proud by delivering solid everyday performance for a great price.

2 Comments

An AMD Radeon RX 9070 on a desk next to its retail packaging seen from a slightly elevated angle

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is too close to the RX 9070 XT to really stand out, but it's a better value given the market

By John Loeffler Published 1 May 25

Recommended

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a fantastic graphics card undercut by its market proximity to its beefier sibling, the RX 9070 XT.