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.
A hiker who broke her leg was airlifted to safety by helicopter after using her iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature.
The woman was able to call for help, despite not even knowing how the feature worked …
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There’s no sign of any letup in the Reddit controversy. After the company threatened protesting moderators, it’s now facing pushback from moderators with disabilities …
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The airline 5G mess – where some planes with older radio altimeters could be confused by strong 5G signals when making their final approach to US airports – still isn’t over.
Airlines were given until July 1 to update their fleets, but some won’t meet this weekend’s deadline for three reasons, and their flights will be subject to delay as a result …
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Questions are being raised about TSMC Arizona plant safety, after multiple accidents, near-misses, and claims of a faked active shooter drill to cover up the evacuation needed for a dangerous gas leak.
One union rep says that the plant – which is set to make chips for Apple – is “easily the most unsafe site” he’s seen in 17 years …
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Planned improvements to NFC specifications are likely to see improvements to Apple Pay range and speed.
Another proposed change would enable the Wallet app to get smarter, as the standard will begin supporting multiple actions with a single tap …
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Australia’s prime minister has echoed the advice of cybersecurity professionals, in recommending that you turn off your iPhone for five minutes every night.
No, it’s not so you can reduce your daily Screen Time to 23 hours and 55 minutes, but to stop any spyware that may be running in the background on your device …
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One of the main questions asked since the US launch of Apple Card is: When will it be launched in other countries? A new report suggests that the Cupertino company is in active discussions for a planned Apple Card global rollout, but it may not be easy.
The report says that Apple is talking to both banks and regulators about launching the card in India …
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Reddit threatened multiple moderators of subreddits, after they made the decision to remain closed as a continuing protest against the upcoming API charges that killed the popular third-party app Apollo.
Effectively, they have been told that the subreddit will be taken away from them unless they re-open. Additionally, Reddit is forcing rule changes that are likely to reduce the quality of posts …
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Bob Clearmountain, the US recording engineer who mixed Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. album, says that he hopes Spatial Audio will bring back the days when people sat down and actively listened to music – instead of it simply being a background soundtrack to their lives.
Artist Alicia Keys says that it should, as it completely transforms the experience of listening to an album …
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Update four months later: A fake Microsoft Authenticator app somehow survived the cull, but was finally removed in June …
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We noted last week that Vision Pro supply will be constrained by the advanced OLEDoS displays used in this device. So far, Sony is Apple’s sole supplier, but Chinese company SeeYa is hoping to change that.
SeeYa has just spent $24M on kit designed to boost its own production of OLED on Silicon (OLEDoS) displays, and the company is reportedly targeting Apple orders …
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Apple yesterday released the first SDK for visionOS, and we dived into the Xcode simulator to take a look at what we can expect. The company also released Vision Pro developer guidelines, which provide more clues about the upcoming spatial computing experience.
Third-party Vision Pro apps are likely to play a significant role in boosting the appeal of the device, and Apple is offering developers advice on providing the best user experience …
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The switch from live on-stage presentations to pre-recorded Apple keynote videos has created a whole new level of slickness, and a YouTuber has broken down some of the mind-blowingly clever editing techniques the company uses to wow us …
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Yet another Apple union-busting tactic has been found to be illegal. Yesterday’s ruling by a judge was the third time that the company was found to have broken employment law in its efforts to stem the growing tide of Apple Store staff forming and joining unions.
A US labor board judge found that the company was guilty of “coercively interrogating workers” about their unionization activities …
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We reported a couple of days ago that a planned new European law could force Apple to make iPhone battery replacement an easier process. The law would also apply to other tech products made by the Cupertino company – indeed, it might apply to all of them.
We noted at the time the lack of any clear definition or guidelines, and a new piece today shows just how many questions the new law could raise …
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Buying an iPhone 14 Pro 128GB model costs the average American 2% of their annual salary – the second cheapest price in the world when measured in this way.
But there are countries where the same phone costs more than 100% of the average annual salary …
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The Reddit API backlash continues, with moderators finding a new way to protest: They’ve come up with a simple way to demonetize their subreddits, to ensure the company cannot profit from them.
The latest development has seen moderators removed, and then reinstated, with the company refusing to explain the U-turn …
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AirPods Adaptive Audio is Apple’s latest take on active noise cancellation and transparency modes. The idea is that it allows in the external sounds you’re likely to want to hear, like someone speaking to you, while blocking unwanted noise (like vacuum cleaners or Coldplay albums).
But as well as improving your music listening experience when walking down the street, or sitting on a plane, Adaptive Audio could well prove the best solution when listening to live music …
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Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program was the company’s first attempt to turn hardware into a subscription product, but it certainly won’t be the last. To me, there’s a very obvious opportunity here for an Apple Vision Upgrade Program.
In my view, this would be a win for Apple and consumers alike …
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A new TikTok Candle Media partnership will create opportunities for “underrepresented” creators and authors, according to the two companies. This will include a new program with a media company founded by actor and producer Reese Witherspoon …
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While CEO Steve Huffman may be dismissive of the thousands of subreddits going dark to protest his planned API changes, new Reddit usage metrics show that the protests had a definite effect.
Analytics data shows that daily visits dropped steadily as the protest unfolded, and average session length fell to the lowest level in three years …
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It’s been reported in the past couple of days that there’s a problem with the Vision Pro trademark, with some noting that it’s already been registered in China by Huawei.
There have been breathless claims that this might force Apple to change the name of the device – but those reports are based on a very incomplete understanding of the situation …
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The Vision Pro display resolution is one of the many benefits of the device over its rivals, and we yesterday explained the technology that makes it possible – and how it differs from AR/VR headset displays used by other companies.
We didn’t know at the time that they would be used in Apple’s spatial computer, but Sony actually showed off the displays a full year ago – and it turns out I was being a little unfair to the Cupertino company…
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We last week highlighted the four differences between the 2023 Mac Pro and 2023 Mac Studio – with the Mac Pro PCI card slots as the most significant of these. We also talked about what you can’t plug into these slots. Apple has confirmed this, and listed the cards you can use.
Of the seven slots, one is occupied by the Apple I/O card – though you can remove this if you don’t need any of the five ports this provides …
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