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.
Claimed photos of iPhone 15 USB-C port components have been posted by two Twitter accounts, though their provenance is unknown. They are shown on the right, alongside our render.
One of the accounts is that of an engineer who appears to have a significant amount of expertise with Apple devices, posting videos of modifications they have made …
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While some rolled their eyes when Apple described Vision Pro as a spatial computer, instead of a headset, I didn’t. That’s because, to me, having virtual Mac monitors in front of my eyes, no matter where I am, is by far the most exciting use case for the device.
At a minimum, it could transform the way I work when away from my home office – and in the longer term, it could potentially be a great way to work even when at home. So when I discovered I could try out this idea on the Meta Quest 2, I couldn’t wait to do so …
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Security researchers have demonstrated that MacBook Pro keyboard audio can reveal what you are typing, with an accuracy of between 92% and 95%. They say the attack is a practical one on things like Zoom calls …
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Controversy over the first ever US TSMC plant aren’t going away – especially plans for around 500 Taiwanese construction workers to be flown in. Update: Indeed, things got worse.
A petition has been created, calling on senators and members of Congress to block the visas needed to bring in their foreign workers …
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WhatsApp group voice chats are now being tested, after an earlier vague report of something then referred to as audio chats …
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There has been a couple of sketchy suggestions over the weekend suggesting that the iPhone 15 Pro storage tiers may max out at 2TB, with one of them a reference to the lineup starting at 256GB instead of 128GB.
While this idea might relate to earlier reports that Apple will be increasing the price of this year’s Pro models, we would urge caution given the sources …
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An Apple patent granted last week described a wide range of potential Vision Pro accessories, and another specifically describes a hardware device designed to turn your desk – or other flat surface – into a virtual Magic Trackpad, with full gesture support.
At first glance, the patent is a somewhat odd one: using one piece of physical hardware to help emulate a virtual version of another piece of physical hardware, but we can see some potential benefits to Apple’s approach …
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US-made TSMC chips may cost more than the same ones made in Taiwan, suggests a new piece today, following an interview with company chairman, Mark Liu. The Arizona plant will make chips for older Apple devices.
Asked about the risks of China invading Taiwan, Liu suggested that this mostly depends on the state of diplomatic relations between the US and China …
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Yesterday’s earnings numbers didn’t contain any major surprises, but there were a few interesting takeouts from the analyst call which followed. This includes the fact that CEO Tim Cook uses his Vision Pro every day.
It was also revealed that most iPhones are now purchased through the iPhone Upgrade Program, trade-in, or some kind of instalment plan, and this is part of the secret to Apple’s success in a difficult economy …
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Yesterday’s earnings report revealed mixed news for AAPL Q3 2023, starting with a fair chunk of bad news.
Jason Snell has done his usual sterling work in transforming all the numbers into a series of colorful charts, letting us see all the key information at a glance …
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Update: Bloomberg today reports that both Apple and Samsung have responded to the sudden announcement by halting laptop imports into India. This is likely to be a temporary pause until a license is issued, but there’s no way to know how long this may take.
A new policy announced today means that Macs and iPad imports to India will require a license. The policy takes “immediate effect.”
The move appears to be part of the country’s Made in India strategy, which uses a carrot-and-stick approach to encourage brands to set up local manufacturing plants for their products …
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While all four iPhone 15 models are expected to get the 48MP stacked sensor tech used in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, next year’s iPhone 16 Pro cameras may again pull ahead of the base and Plus models.
A new supply chain report today isn’t specific on the details, but reading between the lines does seem to point to a new Sony tech that roughly doubles the low-light sensitivity …
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A newly published Apple patent describes how Vision Pro displays use technology designed to reduce both motion sickness and eyestrain.
While motion sickness is a known concern with head-mounted displays, an eyestrain issue caused by the illusions they create is something I hadn’t encountered before …
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Meta is blocking news links in Canada, as it did previously in Australia, following the introduction of new legislation. The development is being described as an “everyone loses” outcome …
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South Koreans under 30 years of age are switching from Android to iPhone in substantial numbers, according to a new report.
The shift is significant in a country where patriotic support for local brand Samsung is usually extremely strong …
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There’s so far been very little information on any Apple plans to launch an AirPods Max 2 – a new generation of its most expensive headphones – but it’s clear that a major update is needed.
Ming-Chi Kuo’s report back in January said nothing more than that an “updated version” is planned, and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said only that new colors might be in the works.
But owners and would-be purchasers likely expect a lot more …
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Family Sharing lets parents limit Screen Time for kids, but in China, the government is proposing to impose tough limits by law …
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The cost of Apple tech – in the form of an iPhone and Apple Watch – has been accepted as disability-related expenses, as part of a social care assessment of a severely disabled man who relies on Siri for much of his daily routine …
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Just in case you thought Apple’s spatial computer wasn’t sufficiently expensive, a newly granted patent describes the possibility of a wide range of Vision Pro accessories.
These include additional cameras, for an even wider field of view, and a range of different sensors to add capabilities to the headset …
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Apple introduced Spatial Audio for video calls to FaceTime with macOS Monterey back in 2021 – and the same feature is now available on both Macs and PCs in Microsoft Teams. The full rollout follows earlier testing.
Spatial audio creates the illusion that individuals are physically positioned in the space in which they are shown on your screen, their voice appearing to originate from that location. Microsoft says that this is more than just a gimmick …
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Cybersecurity firm Guardz has found Russian hackers offering for sale a Hidden VNC tool specifically designed to give attackers full access to Macs. It follows a similar tool for accessing Windows PCs, and is geared to stealing personal data and logins.
The HVNC (Hidden Virtual Network Computer) is being sold on the dark web, and as a sign of good faith that the tool works as claimed, the hackers have deposited $100K in an escrow account …
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SEGA’s classic rhythm game Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go is one of four new games coming to Apple Arcade this month.
SEGA says that the revival version is exclusive to Apple’s streaming games service, and includes new songs and a brand-new Story Mode …
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As Apple moves into virtual reality with Vision Pro, the company has announced the formation of a new initiative to create cinematic 3D content for that world. The company is partnering with Pixar, Adobe, Autodesk, and NVIDIA to form the Alliance for OpenUSD.
The unsexy name refers to the Open Universal Scene Description developed by Pixar Animation Studios, with the results likely to be rather more exciting than the jargon …
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Meta seems to be planning to get into artificial intelligence in a big way – with AI images on Instagram, and chatbots aiming to gather more personal data from users …
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