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.
Advertisers and ad-funded platforms like Facebook have been vocal in their objections to Apple’s app tracking policies, and the Cupertino company now faces antitrust investigations into the issue in two European countries.
A new report says that the French Competition Authority has found evidence of anticompetitive behavior by Apple in regard to app tracking, closely following a similar finding in Germany …
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The launch of Apple Silicon Macs back in 2020 was one of the longest-awaited developments in the history of Macs. The rumors date back to at least 2014, and with hindsight, the writing was already on the wall when Apple developed its own chip for the first-gen iPad and iPhone 4 back in 2010.
Apple’s hardware chief, Johny Srouji, said last year that the company itself had been working on the project for 14 years …
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Twitter Inc. – the company that owned the social network purchased by Elon Musk – no longer exists, according to a court filing. Instead, Twitter is now directly owned by a new Musk company, X Corp …
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A new supply chain report says that all four iPhone 15 OLED screens will use the latest generation of materials. For the iPhone 14, only the Pro models received the latest-gen Samsung tech, while the base models got the previous generation.
It’s important to stress that the report concerns the core materials used in the creation of the iPhone 15 OLED panels, with two features still expected to be reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max …
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There’s always been a significant difference in the low-light video and photo performance on iPhones. But a recent holiday really highlighted for me how dramatic that difference has become, especially when it comes to the telephoto lens on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
So much so that I would argue that low-light video performance really needs to be Apple’s next priority when it comes to the iPhone’s photographic capabilities …
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iPhone assembler Foxconn last week reported a 21% year-on-year fall in revenue in March, and we’re today learning Apple chipmaker TSMC revenue also fell in the same month – by 15%.
While there are reasons to be cautious about reading too much into these results, it is near-certain that they give at least some clue as to Apple’s current fortunes …
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A proposal to demolish an existing Apple building in Cupertino and replace it with new Apple offices on the same site faces a public hearing next week. The proposed new building will be twice the size and more contemporary in appearance.
The city’s planning commission has already recommended that the redevelopment be allowed to go ahead, but there will now be an opportunity for any public objections …
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A research study by Bitdefender revealed that security breaches were covered up by 30% of companies surveyed – and even more IT professionals were put under pressure to keep quiet about them.
This was the case even when there were legal obligations to reveal data breaches to affected customers and regulators …
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Apple has now rolled out the new Apple Maps features to six new countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. The new experience first launched in parts of the US back in 2018, and coverage has been expanded almost 20 times since then.
The new features include Look Around, lane guidance, Share ETA, and Natural Language Guidance …
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Apple remains one of the top-spending companies when it comes to TikTok ads, despite growing controversy about whether the app is a threat to US national security.
A separate report today reveals that the Chinese government engaged in an organized social media campaign to mock US concerns about the app, accusing Congress of technical illiteracy, hypocrisy, and xenophobia …
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Not long after Apple successfully blocked a UK antitrust action against the company, a German antitrust regulator has declared that the iPhone maker is a legitimate target for special measures designed to prevent abuse of market dominance.
The regulator found that Apple was a company “of paramount significance for competition across markets,” which means that it can be subjected to stricter controls on anticompetitive behavior …
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Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party – which is focusing on a wide range of US concerns about China’s activities and plans – will be meeting with a number of leading tech execs, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The meeting between Cook and the 10-member bipartisan delegation is set to take place on Friday, likely at Apple Park …
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There have been three Super Mario iPhone games so far, but an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto suggests we may not be getting any more …
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The Apple Music trademark owned by the Cupertino company does not cover live performances, following an appeal by a trumpet player…
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A new report says that Apple tiger teams involving hundreds of employees are working on reexamining the company’s supply chain – all the way down to screws and plastic inserts.
The goal is to ensure backup suppliers for every component, as well as to reduce dependence on China …
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Foxconn revenue for March were reported today, and revenue for the iPhone assembler shows a year-on-year fall of 21.1%.
The company says that it also expects a decline during the current quarter …
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Two different credible leakers have provided conflicting reports on which iPhones will support iOS 17 – specifically, whether the iPhone 8/Plus and iPhone X will support the next major iOS update later this year.
The uncertainty also applies to iPadOS 17 on the fifth-generation iPad, and the first-generation iPad Pro …
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Samsung OLED production is likely to see dramatically increased demand as Apple makes the shift to OLED iPads and MacBooks – and has won government support for a $3B investment in its manufacturing capacity for the panels.
We’re expecting the next product to make the shift from LCD and mini-LED to be an iPad Pro, in the first half of next year …
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With Australia the latest country to act, we’ve now seen TikTok banned from government devices in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Belgium, the European Commission, Australia, and New Zealand …
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Mac shipments in Western Europe fell 22.8% in the final quarter of last year, according to the latest market intelligence data. This ties in with yesterday’s supply chain report that Apple subsequently halted production of the M2 chip for a full two months.
But while the news wasn’t great for Apple, it was even worse for the top-selling PC brands …
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Update 3:34pm ET: Apple’s System Status website is reporting another Weather outage: “This service may be slow or unavailable.”
Update 1:31pm ET: Apple says the problems with Weather have been resolved and the app is functioning as normal.
The Apple Weather app has been down for many users since around 1 a.m. ET. When the app is opened, no data is displayed – though there is one oddity …
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Apple was wrong about the potential of augmented reality headsets and glasses, says CEO Tim Cook, adding that Steve Jobs taught him to be willing to admit mistakes.
The rest of the lengthy GQ profile and interview covers familiar ground, and Cook’s usual talking points …
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Mint Mobile data plans are being upgraded, with most subscribers getting an extra 5GB of mobile data per month. The upgrade applies to what are currently 10GB, 15GB, and “Unlimited” plans – while 4GB subscribers get 1GB extra …
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There’s no letup in the Twitter verification mess, after Musk’s stated deadline for legacy verified accounts to lose their blue checkmark passed with little change. He’s now said they will be given more time, though this decision may have been forced on him …
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