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.
It’s clear from the increasing shipping delays and lack of in-store availability that iPhone 14 Pro sales are extremely high, compared to those of the base model iPhone 14. We already know one reason for this, but analysts suggests two further factors are at play.
This year’s iPhone launch is unusual for two reasons. First, only the Pro models get the latest processor – though this is probably not a major draw for many …
Expand Expanding Close
An Uber hacker who has gained access to a number of the company’s internal systems, including its Slack channels, claims to have full control of the company’s cloud-based servers and more. This includes the company’s servers on both Amazon Web Services and Google’s GSuite.
Incredibly, the attack appears to have mimicked the one back in 2016, which compromised the personal data of 57 million. This suggests that Uber failed to fix a massive security hole, enabling the same attack to be made six years later …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple Store iPhone 14 lines seen earlier were reminiscent of pre-pandemic days, as customers waited to collect the latest phone or Apple Watch. Apple has now shared some official photos of customers getting their hands on the new devices.
The company has so far shown Apple Store photos from Singapore and China, and typically adds photos from stores in other time zones as they open …
Expand Expanding Close
Smart home cybersecurity is a growing concern, as more Internet of Things devices come onto the market. Now the European Union wants to give device makers a legal obligation to ensure their products are safe from hackers, and to update them as needed to keep them that way …
Expand Expanding Close
Virtually the first thing I did upon upgrading to iOS 16 was search how to remove the Search button from the Home Screen. I totally understand Apple’s logic in adding it, but for anyone who already knows how to search on an iPhone, it’s just a completely unnecessary distraction …
Expand Expanding Close
An Apple Headset patent application describes how the device could enable users to see things that are invisible, or hidden from view. This could range from invisible gases, through physical objects hidden from view, to things like Wi-Fi.
This could have important safety uses, such as being able to see a dangerous gas leak, as well as more mundane things like visualizing the Wi-Fi coverage in your home as you experiment with router placement …
Expand Expanding Close
Execs from four tech giants were called before the Senate Homeland Security Committee yesterday. The Senate questioned Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter on safety, privacy, misinformation, and more.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was also seen in the building, but he did not appear before the committee …
Expand Expanding Close
There’s a very consistent theme to the base model iPhone 14 reviews: It’s not good enough to justify paying $100 more than the (now) $699 iPhone 13. If you want a new phone this year, spend the extra on the iPhone 14 Pro.
Indeed, of the early reviews, I’ve only spotted one which didn’t boil down to this advice …
Expand Expanding Close
Dictating on the iPhone is, I would confidently estimate, something I do more than typing. Siri is also the main way I control my HomeKit devices.
Any time I’ve mentioned either of these things, there are always comments from people saying how terrible their experience is with both, so I thought I’d share a few things I think make a difference.
If you’ve just updated to iOS 16, now is a particularly good time to give dictation another go, as you can now easily mix-and-match speaking and typing …
Expand Expanding Close
iPhone 15 Pro models will again be the only ones to get Apple’s latest chip next year, according to a new report today.
This would mirror the approach the company used for the iPhone 14, with the Pro models getting a new A16 chip while the standard and Plus models have last year’s A15 chip …
Expand Expanding Close
We saw yesterday how Apple may be making it hard for competing smartphone makers to replicate the satellite comms feature of the iPhone 14, and we’re now learning that the same may be true of Apple digital IDs – like state ID cards and driving licenses.
Details are emerging of Apple’s partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). These reveal that the iPhone maker not only got an agreement giving it first shot at trialling the tech, but has also had a key government patent for the system reassigned to Apple …
Expand Expanding Close
The Information has a lengthy Phil Schiller profile, following his shift from head of worldwide marketing to Apple Fellow back in 2020.
Based on interviews with unnamed colleagues, it’s something of a puff piece, but does contain some interesting snippets …
Expand Expanding Close
Even if you like to wait for new iOS and macOS updates to settle down before you take the plunge, you will want to update your iPhone and Mac asap, even if you opt to remain on iOS 15 for now. On iPhones, Apple is offering a choice between iOS 15.7 and iOS 16 when you update.
An update is urgent because iOS 15.7 (and iOS 16) and macOS Monterey 12.6 fix zero-day security vulnerabilities, which Apple says may currently be in active use by attackers …
Expand Expanding Close
AnTuTu iPhone 14 Pro benchmarks show dramatic performance improvements in tests designed to mimic real-life usage of the devices.
The improvements found are markedly better than expected following earlier benchmarks run in Geekbench 5 …
Expand Expanding Close
There have been conflicting reports on whether Apple will announce new MacBook Pro models at an October event, alongside new iPads. A new report today comes down in favor, stating that Apple suppliers are preparing to ship updated versions.
The report also notes a slowing in the shipment of existing MacBook Pro machines, though this is in the midst of a more general market decline …
Expand Expanding Close
Yet another Apple antitrust complaint has been filed, this time in Mexico. What makes this one unusual is that it has been filed by former head of the country’s telecoms regulator.
The oddity of a former regulator filing a complaint is likely explained by the fact that the individual in question is now a freelance consultant …
Expand Expanding Close
The iPhone 14 satellite comms feature will be hard for rivals to copy, even though other smartphone makers may be able to offer more limited services.
Our sister site SpaceExplored last week revealed that Apple was expected to use 85% of Globalstar’s capacity for the service, and a new report today says that this is a contractual agreement dating back to negotiations in 2019 …
Expand Expanding Close
The Meta Quest Pro headset is set to launch next month, and it’s believed to have many features in common with the upcoming Apple headset expected to be launched early next year. We already knew the name, and it now appears we know what both the device and its packaging look like, thanks to a careless employee.
A sample of the headset, its controllers, and retail packaging were left in a hotel room, bringing back memories of the time an Apple engineer left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar …
Expand Expanding Close
The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II takes place on September 19, and all UK Apple Stores will be closed on that date, as a mark of respect.
The date has been declared a bank holiday, the UK equivalent of a federal holiday, with most employees entitled to take the day off …
Expand Expanding Close
There’s been a lot of dismay expressed at iPhone 14 prices in the UK, EU countries, and elsewhere. Many are claiming that prices in other countries are much higher than in the US, and accusing Apple of price-gouging.
But while the price of the iPhone 14 and other Apple products is indeed eye-watering in many countries, that isn’t because Apple is trying to make more money …
Expand Expanding Close
A DOJ antitrust action against Google could see Apple lose billions of dollars a year from its Services revenue. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is challenging the legality of Google paying the Cupertino company a huge sum to remain the default search engine on iPhones.
While Apple is under antitrust investigation on a number of different fronts, this particular case is targeting Google …
Expand Expanding Close
The replacement of the iPhone mini with a Plus model opens up a big question around the likely split of iPhone 14 sales. I’d expect a lot of people to go for the Plus, but a supply chain survey indicates that Apple expects most early buyers to opt for one of the two Pro models.
Orders received by Apple suppliers indicate that the Cupertino company expects a full 85% of early iPhone 14 buyers to choose either the Pro or Pro Max, and fewer than 5% to opt for the iPhone 14 Plus …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple might be disappointed that a lot of what it announced yesterday leaked beforehand, but the company still managed to pull enough surprises out of the hat. Tim Cook punned beforehand that Far Out would be a stellar event, and he wasn’t wrong.
From the absolute UI genius of the Dynamic Island to the unexpectedly low price of the Apple Watch Ultra, it was an impressive event from start to finish …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple yesterday announced the four new iPhone 14 models, the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra, a new Apple Watch SE, and 2nd-gen AirPods Pro – and now has 11 new Apple videos to show them off.
From fast-paced headlines to the full keynote presentation, you can watch them all below …
Expand Expanding Close