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.
We’ve been seeing growing interest in the formation of Apple Store unions by retail staff, frustrated by stagnant wages at a time of rising inflation, or other working conditions issues.
The prospect of unionization is one which often fills management with fear. This isn’t surprising given the confrontational nature of most management-union relationships. But there is a much more cooperative model out there, and Apple currently has a golden opportunity to adopt it …
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Apple has today been granted a patent for a graphical display concept it calls virtual paper, and two things struck me about it – one about its origins, the other about what it may tell us about future Apple design language.
The patent is for a visual representation of paper in three-dimensional form, which is, of course, the type of user interface most applicable to the upcoming Apple mixed-reality headset …
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Apple has reportedly started development work on a new type of display for foldable iPhones or iPads. The technology described is similar to that used in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3.
One of the challenges of creating robust foldable screens is making them thin enough to survive continual folding and unfolding for a number of years …
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The White House has announced deals struck with 20 internet service providers to offer cheaper broadband for tens of millions of Americans – with millions qualifying for a $30/month cap for unlimited data. The initiative was made possible by bipartisan support …
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The Financial Times has a set of a dozen Jony Ive possessions Apple’s former design chief thinks you should buy. You won’t be surprised to learn that most are extravagant, such as the $123 platinum-plated pencil eraser seen above, but one of them does start at just a few dollars …
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Apple remote working has been a bone of contention for many US workers after the company insisted that almost everyone should return to the office at least three days a week. But there is one US team who is making extensive use of remote working: US engineers managing production in China.
Apple engineers are said to be using a combination of live-streaming video and augmented reality, with iPads the main device in use …
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More details have emerged following eye-opening video footage of MacBook Pro workers breaking through barriers and fighting with guards at a Quanta plant in Shanghai.
While frustration at highly-restrictive ‘closed-loop’ production practices was the key issue for workers, it appears that two other factors played a role …
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Video footage (below) has been shared, showing hundred of MacBook Pro workers breaking through COVID barriers intended to keep them inside a Chinese plant. Some can be seen fighting with guards dressed in white protective coveralls.
The plant, owned by Quanta Computer, is operating under strict lockdown conditions which go even further than the “closed-loop” production system used at many facilities making Apple products …
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Pro-choice and privacy campaigners are warning that app data and other personal data pulled from smartphones could be used to prosecute women who have had abortions …
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Apple’s secrecy when it comes to product development is one of the defining characteristics of the company. But a former Apple HR exec said that it came at a high price: engineer burnout and frustration. Ultimately, he argues, it stifled innovation within the company.
Chris Deaver, who was a senior HR business partner at Apple from 2015 to 2019, says that the company tried an experiment with the development of AirPods Pro, to see whether it was possible to create a more collaborative working environment while still ensuring secrecy …
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The UK antitrust body, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), will be given legal powers enabling it to fine Apple and other tech giants billions of dollars. This is an apparent second U-turn in British government plans.
The CMA’s powers will now go even further than originally announced, allowing it to fine companies 5% of their daily global turnover per day …
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Drunk driving kills one person every 52 minutes in the US – which is a good reason for Apple to be exploring a Car Key breathalyzer feature, which would refuse to unlock your car if you’re over the legal alcohol limit.
The US Patent & Trademark Office has today published an Apple patent application for this functionality …
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A joint research paper by Nvidia and Stanford University describes a technology that could be key to the difference between the bulky Apple VR headset we’re expecting to see in late 2022/early 2023 and the type of thin Apple Glasses likely to launch several years later.
One of the key challenges facing any true glasses-like AR device is the physics of display optics …
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David Walden, one of a small team of computer scientists who developed a system fundamental to the development of the internet, has died …
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A “massive” Facebook hiring freeze has been announced, which the company says will affect “almost every team across the company.”
Parent company Meta told employees that four factors were behind the decision, and that Apple’s introduction of App Tracking Transparency was the first of these …
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The Chinese city of Zhengzhou – known locally as iPhone City as it’s home to the world’s largest iPhone factory – has been placed into immediate lockdown following the discovery of COVID-19 infections.
This will have an immediate effect on iPhone 13 production, and also impacts Apple’s preparations for later iPhone 14 assembly …
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Intel last week provided an update on its 14th-generation Meteor Lake processors due to launch next year, but it seems that there may have been a crucial change to the company’s plans.
Intel has said as recently as last week that it would fabricate the chips itself, using a 7nm process, but a supply-chain report today claims that the company will instead outsource the work to TSMC, so it can benefit from the same 5nm process used for Apple’s M1 chips …
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We’ve all been there, right? You’re sitting on the sofa wondering how to create creature sound vocals and not been sure where to turn for help. Well, don’t worry, Apple has you covered with a special Today at Apple session …
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The Star Wars sound design is every bit as iconic as its visuals. Darth Vader’s breathing, the bleeping dialogue of R2-D2, the buzzing of light sabers, Chewbacca’s roars, the Starfighter lasers – all of these sounds and more are instantly recognizable and immediately evoke the related visual imagery.
Apple has shared a 16-minute Behind the Mac documentary on how George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch facility creates the sound effects that help bring the Star Wars universe to life, and the role which Macs play in this …
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A recently-announced change by Amazon might seem to open up the possibility of reading Apple Books on Kindle devices – but sadly this won’t be the case …
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One of the catch-22s of the global component shortage is that chips for chipmaking machines are one of the items in short supply, say execs from Intel and Apple chipmaker TSMC.
Buying new chipmaking machines was never a speedy process, given their complexity and delicacy, but lead times before the pandemic were measured in months. Now, say chipmakers, that time can be as long as 2-3 years …
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The UK antitrust body that last year decided that Apple and Google have too much power is itself set to be denied the legal powers it expected to be given.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expected to be granted what is known as statutory powers, but it’s today being reported that the government has shelved this plan …
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Taiwanese media reports that Apple asked Foxconn to begin recruiting iPhone 14 assembly workers earlier than usual in China, alongside boosting recruitment of those working on iPhone 13 production at its Zhenzhou plant.
Foxconn has responded by boosting its recruitment bonus by 30% in what is generally an off-season for iPhone production …
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Apple’s antitrust mess keeps getting worse, with today’s Apple Pay announcement as the latest example. The company is now under fire on so many flanks in so many countries that it spends half its PR life trying to defend its stance – and legislation is ultimately going to force it to change anyway.
To me, the most baffling thing about the company’s stubbornness on this issue is that the mess could so easily be resolved, and my bet is that it wouldn’t even cost the company much money.
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