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.
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 …
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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 …
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The controversial Apple data center in Guiyang, China, has been hit by the latest citywide COVID-19 lockdown to be imposed by the government.
The data center is currently taking emergency measures, including closed-loop operation, in an attempt to keep the iCloud server online …
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Apple Watch Ultra preorders opened as soon as the store came back online yesterday, but if you didn’t place yours right away, you could be in for a bit of a wait.
Those who got in early will receive their Watches on September 23, just over two weeks away, but others could be waiting either three to four weeks or six to seven weeks …
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The Apple Watch Series 3 has finally been discontinued, some five years after it was launched back in 2017. The watch had remained on sale right up to the day before the event.
While Apple positioned the elderly model as an ultra-budget option, priced at just $199, the S3 had become something of an embarrassment in the lineup …
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Apple has announced a new Apple Watch SE, with a display 30% larger than the previous model.
The new model is available in silver, midnight, and starlight – together with a color-matched nylon composite back which reduces the weight of the watch …
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Ring doorbell security has been a source of controversy for some time, but the company finally appears to be taking privacy issues seriously. It is now supporting end-to-end encryption of video footage for wireless as well as wired products.
The change will finally address security flaws which have been highlighted as far back as 2019 …
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Apple machine learning projects span almost every aspect of the company’s activities, but in a new speech at an AI conference, a senior exec spoke specifically about the benefits for accessibility and health.
Ge Yue, Apple VP and managing director of Apple Greater China, gave her speech at the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai …
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Something many expect Apple to announce today is a satellite text feature, designed for use in emergencies in isolated areas where no cellular coverage is available. But if so, Huawei has just beaten Apple in announcing the feature, noting that it will be available in the Mate 50.
However, the US embargo on Huawei products means that Apple would still be first to a US launch …
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The Apple Store is now down ahead of today’s Far Out event, but if you were hoping to buy an iPhone 12 mini direct from Apple, you may continue to be able to do so.
The company added refurbished models to its online store back in July, and new stock was added just ahead of today’s event. A restock so close to the iPhone 14 launch suggests that the company may be planning to keep the mini available for sale …
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The ability to edit tweets in order to correct typos has been top of the list of requested features for many years. Testing finally began earlier this month, and Twitter has now shared a few more details.
We already knew that there would be a 30-minute time limit between tweeting and editing the tweet, and that an edit history would be available to highlight any abuse of the feature …
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While we knew that around $50B was being made available to promote US chip fabrication, it’s only today that we’re learning the actual CHIPS Act details. The bill itself did not specify how the money would be split.
Specifically, we now know that a little over half the total will be made available to help produce advanced chips in the US, while the rest of the money is being divided between two further initiatives …
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A new European Union San Francisco office has been opened, aiming to better liaise with US tech giants on new antitrust laws …
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We’ve already had one recent OLED iPad screen report speculating on the type of display Apple will use, and today we get another.
This one suggests that the OLED iPad will adopt an advanced new twin-layer design, and Apple display suppliers Samsung and LG are both said to be making plans to produce the new panels …
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A day before the Apple event, the latest rumor is a programmable Apple Watch button, letting owners decide what it does.
Right now, the suggestion relates specifically to the upcoming Apple Watch Pro, but it’s a feature I’d love Apple to add to all models …
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There have been plenty of signs lately that the Apple ad business is growing fast, and that the company plans to turn it into a significant source of revenue. But while there is plenty of money to be made, some are accusing Apple of making a U-turn – and even Machiavellian-level plotting to take business from companies like Google and Facebook.
The latest report suggests that Apple has quadrupled its hires for ad roles in the past couple of years, and one research group has suggested the company’s ad business could be worth $30B a year by 2026 …
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Leaked third-party cases suggested that the Apple Watch Pro design would include an additional button, on the opposite side to the existing Digital Crown and side button – and this is now backed by a claimed CAD render.
The computer aided design (CAD) image also shows the flatter display we’re expecting from the new rugged Apple Watch model …
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A couple of sources have posted images of third-party cases designed for the upcoming Apple Watch Pro. The cases could point to an additional button on the new rugged Watch, on the opposite side to the Digital Crown and side button.
The addition to the Apple Watch lineup is believed to be aimed at sports and outdoor activities, a market that is currently dominated by Garmin …
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I never used to upgrade my iPhone every year, but have done so for the last three: the iPhone 11, 12, and 13. I’m fully expecting the iPhone 14 camera improvements to see this trend continue.
A new look never hurts, and this year the Pro models will be getting this in the form of a pill-shaped cutout. I took advantage of a simple but clever way to preview this on my own phone …
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A Netflix ads plan – in which subscribers pay a lower monthly fee in return for watching ads – will reportedly launch much earlier than previously expected.
The launch is said to have been brought forward from sometime early next year to November of this year. It’s believed the company wants to introduce the ad-supported tier before Disney does the same in December …
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The Apple Store unionization movement is showing no signs of slowing, with the Penn Square store in Oklahoma City the latest to seek to join a union.
Around 70% of staff have applied to join the Communications Workers of America union, and they say they are prepared for any union-busting tactics Apple may deploy …
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The iPhone US market share hit an all-time high last quarter, giving it more than 50% of the total US market for the first time ever, according to a new market intelligence report.
Apple also dominates global premium smartphone sales, accounting for 78% of the $1,000+ segment worldwide …
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We argued only this week that the sale of smartphone location data is out of control, and a new report today provides a perfect illustration. It found that location data was pulled from a number of popular smartphone apps for use by US police, without the knowledge of app users – or even the companies who created the apps.
Billions of location records from some 250 million phones were searched by more than 20 US government agencies, after the private data was purchased from a company called Fog Data Science…
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A proposed new EU smartphone repair law has been opposed by a trade association representing Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone makers. The law is intended to reduce electrical waste as part of an environmental protection program.
The law would require companies to ensure that they continue to make at least 15 key spare parts available for five years from the launch of a phone. It would also necessitate a minor improvement to Apple’s requirements for free battery replacement…
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