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Ben Lovejoy

benlovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written several books, and creates occasional videos.

He is old enough to have owned the original Macintosh. He currently owns an M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro, an M1 13-inch MacBook Air, an iPad mini, an iPhone 16 Pro Max, and multiple HomePods. He suspects it might be cheaper to have a cocaine habit than his addiction to all things anodised aluminum.

He’s known for his op-ed and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review:

He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.

He gets a lot of emails and can’t possibly reply to them all. If you would like to comment on one of his pieces, please do so in the comments – he does read them all.

Connect with Ben Lovejoy

Touchscreen Mac, or double your RAM or SSD size – what’s the better deal? [Poll]

Touchscreen Mac, or double your RAM or SSD size – what’s the better deal? | Image shows a representation of a touchscreen MacBook

We’re just a week away from the official announcement of the first ever touchscreen Mac. The upcoming MacBook Pro will also have an OLED screen, which may include a Dynamic Island, and is said to be lighter.

We don’t yet know the price of the new model, but we can be sure it will carry a significant premium over the existing one. My guess would be somewhere in the $500 to $700 range …

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Apple says American suppliers make almost 100 parts for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo

Apple says American suppliers make key components in iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo | Photo shows a red-hot titanium rod destined to be used in the iPhone Duo casing

Apple says that American companies are supplying “critical materials and components” for both the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone Duo. In all, it says that nearly 100 components across the two phones are produced by American companies in more than a dozen states.

The company has named two of its US supply chain partners, stating that one of them will be making tech used in the variable aperture camera in the iPhone 18 Pro …

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Apple still makes it too hard for Apple Pay competitors to emerge, says UK

Apple still makes it too hard for Apple Pay competitors to emerge, says UK | Photo shows an Apple Pay transaction being processed

Apple still makes it too hard for third-party developers to launch alternatives to Apple Pay, despite loosening its grip on access to the NFC chip embedded in iPhones. That’s the claim made by the UK’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA says developers have reported that the compromise terms offered by Apple still don’t make it practical to develop competitors to Apple Pay …

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iPhone Duo orders limited to two per customer as Apple tackles scalping

iPhone Duo orders limited to two per customer as Apple tackles scalping | Screen grab of the message overlaid on a photo of the iPhone Duo

Apple is limiting iPhone Duo orders to a maximum of two per customer in the US, UK, and elsewhere after shipping dates slipped into January of next year within minutes of pre-orders opening.

The move appears to be an attempt to tackle the problem of scalping, where people buy large volumes of supply-constrained devices in order to resell them on eBay for well above the retail price …

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Apple is right about the wild west of AI, and the growing backlash

Apple is right about the wild west of AI, and the growing backlash | A disturbing exhibit of floating human faces at San Francisco's Exploratorium

Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak didn’t hold back when he described the most ambitious figures in the AI race as the “lunatic fringe” of Silicon Valley. The piece suggested that the iPhone maker is hoping to position itself as being on the right side of a growing AI backlash.

Given the pace of development, trying to predict the future of AI is a risky business, but I do think Apple is absolutely right about the dangers …

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Constrained iPhone Duo availability is annoying, but a mixed blessing for Apple

Constrained iPhone Duo availability is annoying, but a mixed blessing for Apple | Two views of the iPhone Duo shown against a colorful background

Estimated iPhone Duo delivery dates started slipping dramatically, literally within a minute of pre-orders opening on Friday. Even some of those who got in within the first few minutes got estimated shipping dates into January of next year.

That undeniably poses problems for Apple, but some have gone as far as calling it “a major mistake” to launch with such limited stock. Personally, I’d say it’s annoying for customers but more of a mixed blessing for Apple …

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Here’s the difference the variable aperture of the iPhone 18 Pro makes at night

iPhone 18 Pro night shot | Photo shows Tower Bridge shot at night using a 4-second exposure at f/4

I previously tested the difference the wider aperture of the iPhone 18 Pro makes when it comes to depth of field. The executive summary is that the difference is small, but definitely present.

I said at the time that I’d intended to test the difference it made to Night mode shots when an unmissable night video opportunity had me write about that instead. So belatedly, let me turn my attention to Night mode photos …

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Touchscreen MacBook Pro and more launching at Apple event on Oct 28

Touchscreen MacBook Pro and more launching at Apple event on Oct 28

We’ve long been awaiting the launch of the first touchscreen and OLED MacBook Pro, and a new report says that the official launch will take place at an Apple event on October 28. It says that Apple has begun sending invites to selected media representatives.

The same event will include the OLED iPad mini as well as an M6 original design MacBook Pro and iMac …

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The ‘renewable’ iPhone Duo display layer may help buyers justify the price

The 'renewable' iPhone Duo display layer may help buyers justify the price | iPhone Duo seen at the launch event

The iPhone Duo starts at $1999 for the 256GB model and rises to an eye-watering $3199 for the 2TB version – but a “renewable” inner display layer may help buyers to justify spending so much money on a phone.

Apple has addressed the biggest problem experienced with folding phones to date via a surprisingly affordable option …

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Apple reportedly gearing up for strong iPhone 18 sales

Apple reportedly gearing up for strong iPhone 18 sales | Render shown

While the iPhone 18 Pro is out, the entry-level model has been held back until early next year. That’s likely because the company wanted to maximize early production capacity and memory availability for the Pro model, alongside the iPhone Duo.

But even this far ahead, one leaker has suggested that supply-chain orders indicate Apple is optimistic about demand for the base model …

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Why the Apple Home Collection will accelerate smart home adoption

Why the Apple Home Collection will accelerate smart home adoption | Image shows an iPhone with the LG doorbell setup on the left and HomeView with a camera view on the right

I think it’s sometimes easy for geeks to forget that we live in a tech bubble with our fellow geeks. Many of us here have been using smart home technology for more than a decade now, some even for many decades.

I’ve seen a lot of bemused comments on the Apple Home Collection, with people asking why anyone would want to pay significantly higher prices for devices which don’t seem to offer any added benefit. But I think this is absolutely a bubble effect …

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Apple website suggested Siri AI may be coming to full size HomePods

Apple website suggested Siri AI may be coming to full size HomePods (shown)

The headline feature of the new HomePod mini 2 is support for Siri AI, something that won’t be available for the first-gen model. But there’s hope that existing full size HomePods may also get access to the smarter intelligent assistant.

A leaker noticed two clues on Apple’s website seemingly pointing to this, but it’s possible that it was an error on the part of the company …

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Call Screening has made a big difference to my iPhone experience

Call Screening has made a big difference to my iPhone experience | Screengrab shows screening in progress

iOS 27 has brought a lot of new features to the iPhone, but one of the things that has made the biggest difference to my experience of the device as a phone actually dates back a year earlier.

Apple introduced Call Screening to the Phone app in iOS 26, but I only started using it a few months ago – and the feature has protected me from a growing number of spam and spam calls …

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Apple may have to officially support easy Apple Intelligence removal on Macs

Apple may have to officially support Apple Intelligence removal on Macs to protect hardware sales | Image shows a MacBook against the Apple Intelligence logo

You only have to read some of the comments right here to see that there’s a vocal minority of people rejecting all AI tools, including Apple Intelligence. That’s led to an unofficial tool enabling people to turn off the feature on their Macs and remove all downloaded Siri AI models.

We warned yesterday that this could be a risky thing to do, but it’s now being suggested that Apple may have to officially support an AI removal feature in order to protect hardware sales …

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