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.
Facebook and Instagram boosts are a popular way for creators to give their posts extra reach by paying Meta to show them to more people. Apple has updated its App Store rules to say that any boosts purchased through the iOS apps must use in-app purchases (IAP), giving the iPhone maker a 30% cut.
Meta has called this an Apple tax on ads, and says that the Cupertino company is growing its own ad business while undercutting competitors …
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iPhone 14 Pro demand was much higher than Apple expected, according to Trendforce data. It says that the company’s orders to suppliers had initially been for 50% of iPhone 14 models to be one of the two Pro models, but this has now been boosted to 60% – and may go as high as 65%.
This appears to have been balanced out by much lower demand for the iPhone 14 Plus, says the company, before going on to talk about the differentiators we can expect for the iPhone 15 Pro over the base models …
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One unexpected bonus from yesterday’s updates is that more Nintendo game controllers can now be used with iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV …
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The AAPL Q4 2022 earnings report lands on Thursday, when the company will reveal its financials for July to September. Analysts are expecting good news, based on strong demand for the iPhone 14.
As has been the case since 2020, Apple is not expected to offer any official guidance for the holiday quarter, but Wall Street will be listening carefully for any clues the company may provide …
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One of Apple’s environmental goals was for its entire supply chain to be carbon-neutral by 2030. More than two years after the objective was announced, the company hints at being unhappy with progress, and has announced that it will now begin carrying out annual progress audits.
In an implied threat to suppliers that aren’t showing sufficient movement toward this goal, Apple said that it “will partner with suppliers that are working with urgency and making measurable progress toward decarbonization” …
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Apple financial services – like Apple Card and the new savings account – are mostly limited to the US at present, but the UK regulator is already launching an inquiry into potential antitrust concerns.
Amazon, Google, and Meta are also facing scrutiny over their own moves into the financial services arena …
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Alongside reviews of the new 10th-generation entry-level iPad, M2 iPad Pro reviews are also out – and here reviewers speak with one voice.
The bottom line is that it’s an incredible device, but more or less the same as last year’s M1 model, and very few people will benefit from the performance …
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iPad reviews have landed for Apple’s 10th-generation entry-level model, and they are somewhat mixed. The main feeling is that the price means the new model sits somewhat uncomfortably between the 9th generation – which Apple still sells – and the iPad Air.
Whether it’s worth the money is something on which reviewers don’t agree, some saying that this is the new default iPad, while others think you should go for the older model or the Air, depending on the features you want …
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Update: Although there was never any doubt, the Council of Ministers today ratified the earlier vote, which is the final step required to become law. It now simply needs to be signed and published to take effect.
We reported back in June that USB-C iPhones would become mandatory from 2024 for all models sold in Europe, as the European Union reached an agreement on a common charging port for all smartphones.
We said then that although a full vote of the European Parliament was required, it was certain to pass – and the EU has today confirmed that this did indeed happen …
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A new piece today argues that Apple chipmaker TSMC is at ever-growing risk from China, and questions the wisdom of the Cupertino company allowing itself to become wholly dependent on a single company.
With the US now actively seeking to hamper China’s own chip fabrication industry by imposing export controls on chipmaking equipment, there are fears that this greatly increases the chances of either TSMC or Taiwan as a whole suffering retaliatory measures …
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You wouldn’t think you’d need anyone to tell you how to charge your iPhone, but one TikTok user makes a good case for following his example …
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Update: Apple has now filed a second lawsuit, this one revealing that Masimo was given access to confidential information and source code. It accuses the company of infringing five Apple patents. More details at the bottom of the piece.
A lawsuit filed by Apple yesterday accuses medical tech company Masimo of creating an Apple Watch clone, in the form of the W1 Advanced Health Tracking Watch.
Masimo rejects the claim, and says that Apple is merely retaliating for its own lawsuit alleging patent infringements by the Cupertino company …
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A memoir by Irish singer-songwriter Bono reveals the story behind the free U2 album debacle, which saw both Apple and the band become the butt of jokes on social media, as well as the subject of considerable anger toward both parties …
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Security researchers have found a surprising method for exposing location data in otherwise secure messaging apps WhatsApp, Signal, and Threema.
While the method sounds imprecise, tests showed that it provided greater than 80% reliability …
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Two reports claim that billionaire Elon Musk plans massive layoffs when he takes ownership of the company. They say that the planned cuts to Twitter jobs amount to 75% of the workforce …
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CNN has pointed to upcoming tech earnings reports from Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Twitter – and suggested that they aren’t going to be pretty.
The site argues that this may be the quarter in which tech giants reveal that their seeming immunity to the broader economic climate is at an end …
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Maruta Manufacturing – which makes components for a wide range of companies, including Apple – says it expects the current smartphone slump to continue into 2023.
It predicts that consumers will hold onto their existing phones for even longer periods than they do now, though suggests that high-end phones may be the exception …
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Doorbell cameras like Ring offer a number of benefits to consumers, but have also normalized home and neighborhood surveillance, says a new report. In particular, they are effectively turning customers of services like Amazon into pseudo managers of delivery workers …
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The first-ever Apple Store strike took place in Australia on Tuesday, with additional working restrictions imposed by staff yesterday.
The strike lasted for just one hour in what was clearly intended to be a signal to Apple that union members are ready to take further action if their call for higher pay and improved working conditions goes unheeded …
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The global smartphone market continued its downward journey for the third consecutive quarter, according to the latest Canalys data – but Apple boosted its market share significantly.
Apple was the only company in the top five to grow its sales year-on-year, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone 14 …
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Yesterday saw the launch of the all-new iPad 10, as well as updated versions of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which makes for a rather extensive iPad line-up!
This could be viewed in two ways. Apple’s argument would be that the company now offers a model for every need, while a certain Apple co-founder might have been found drawing a 2×2 grid about now …
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Base-level iPad pricing got a steep rise yesterday, as Apple updated the $329 iPad 9 to the $449 iPad 10. But things are even worse for European buyers, with a £499 starting price in the UK, and euro pricing starting at €579 or €589, depending on the country.
Apple has also substantially increased the sterling and euro prices of the iPad mini, meaning it’s now more expensive than the iPad 10 …
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Google has become increasingly worried about Apple winning market share from Samsung, with increasing numbers of Android owners switching to iPhones, according to a new report today …
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The Apple unionization movement is taking place at a time when union membership is at an all-time low, but public support for unions is at the highest point seen since 1965.
While Apple is fighting hard against Apple Store staff forming and joining unions, a large-scale survey earlier this year suggests that embracing unions could help staff retention …
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