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.
Folding phones have been one of the first significant form factor changes to smartphones for some time – but Apple has so far resisted the temptation to join the party.
That’s no surprise: the company’s modus operandi with new developments is to wait and watch as other companies launch their versions, then aim to leapfrog them with a version that does it right …
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The Financial Times argues that Apple will face increasing pressure from activist investors, as the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) allows more shareholder resolutions to proceed to a vote.
It notes that while (former) big investors like Carl Icahn once held the biggest influence on Apple, these days it is more small investors with a popular cause …
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Apple’s ecosystem is perhaps the most valuable asset the company possesses, after its brand, so eyebrows were raised when Google yesterday announced plans to replicate many of the key elements of that ecosystem.
While some Apple fans were outraged at what they saw as blatant copying of Apple features, my view is that this is good news for Android and iPhone users alike …
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A Messages read receipts bug means that recipients may be able to see when you’ve read a message, even if you have the feature switched off in your settings …
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It was yesterday reported that Facebook owner Meta had abandoned work on its own AR/VR OS, but the company responded, saying that it was still working on the project, and that it was growing the team, not cutting it.
However, the wording used by Meta strongly suggests that this is a face-saving statement …
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It’s an open secret that Google pays Apple a multibillion-dollar sum each year to be the default search engine on Apple devices. In other words, the search engine that is used when you simply type your search term into the combined address/search bar.
Neither company discloses the amount, leading to various estimates over the years. But a new class action lawsuit may reveal the actual sums …
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A simple technology that enables 911 livestreaming is proving invaluable in letting emergency services see for themselves the nature of an emergency when someone calls them …
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There was a time when tech news was full of talk about long-range wireless charging using a technique known as RF power harvesting – using radio waves to charge devices around the home, without the need for charging pads.
While companies like Energous and Powercast made big promises for the tech, what’s currently possible in the real world is far more modest. But Samsung has demonstrated that trickle-charging a TV remote by Wi-Fi is possible today, and the very compact nature of the tech means that it could similarly be used to keep AirTags charged …
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A new deal has been reached in the odd FAA 5G battle, with mobile carriers agreeing to a further delay to the rollout of additional 5G spectrum, despite yesterday saying they would not do so …
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The Masonite M-Pwer Smart Door provides a new option for those wanting to integrate smart home tech into a front door. Instead of buying and installing all the technology separately, simply fit a smart door with everything already built in.
The good news is that you get everything you’re likely to need, and it’s all mains-powered to eliminate the hassle of battery replacement …
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Bags with Find My tech built into them seem likely to become a trend this year, with Targus leading the way with its upcoming Cypress Hero Backpack.
The bag – which is big enough to accommodate a 16-inch MacBook Pro – is due to go on sale in the spring or summer, priced at $150. The company first teased it late last year …
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A new Kuo report yesterday suggested that we can expect new AirPods with lossless audio support – more specifically, an AirPods Pro 2 model that allows users to listen to ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec).
This was given additional weight by Apple’s AirPods lead hinting to What HiFi that the company may have plans for achieving the wireless bandwidth needed for lossless audio. However, while I do think this is a likely development, I don’t think we should get too excited about it …
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The latest Bloomberg report says that we could see the upcoming Apple Silicon Mac Pro by WWDC in June. The M1 Max MacBook Pro has already given some indications of just how powerful the new machine is likely to be, making it an eagerly awaited product for high-end video production.
However, a new analysis of what we can likely expect says that the 2022 model may be less upgradable than its predecessor …
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A summary of the way that various tech giants last year sought to address the needs of people with disabilities shows that Apple’s accessibility record is better than that of most companies – but did make things worse in one respect.
The piece summarizes the accessibility wins and losses of Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Twitter …
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There are no signs of the global chip shortage easing any time soon, and one of the reasons behind it appears to be getting worse, not better.
Industry experts say that a shortage of qualified staff is a growing problem, especially the highly qualified engineers needed to design new chips and solve manufacturing problems for ever more complex ones …
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A settlement reached in an Apple Store bag search dispute has been given provisional approval by a court. The judge said that the agreement was not perfect, but on balance it was good enough to be allowed to proceed.
The case related to the fact that Apple required retail store staff to submit to bag searches after they had clocked out, meaning that the 10-15 minutes they spent waiting inside the store for these searches was unpaid …
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The Tumblr iOS app now blocks more than 400 search terms in order to reduce the risk of Apple banning it from the App Store. It follows a former Tumblr developer expressing frustration at the app review process.
Some of the terms are clearly designed to block access to porn – such as ones for sexual body parts – but others seem bizarre …
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We’re today learning more about what prompted the Foxconn iPhone plant shutdown in southern India – and it makes for truly gruesome reading.
We learned yesterday that Apple ordered Foxconn to suspend production at the plant, and placed the company on probation, until it resolved problems with living conditions in the company dormitories. It’s only today, however, that we’re getting the full picture of just how appalling those conditions were …
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As if things weren’t already enough of a mess with the various incompatibilities involved in the supposed USB-C standard, HDMI is about to get more complicated too …
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While Wi-Fi 6 is starting to make some headway, some are already looking ahead to far faster Wi-Fi 6E speeds. Although theoretically a small advance, Wi-Fi 6E is likely to offer far higher speeds in real-life use …
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iPhone production in India has again been disrupted as a result of worker complaints. Assembly was suspended at a Wistron plant last year following a riot over underpaid wages, and production has now been halted at a Foxconn plant after Apple upheld complaints about worker accommodation.
It is common in both India and China for seasonal iPhone workers to be recruited from considerable distances, and to live in company-supplied dormitories for the duration of their contract …
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If there’s anyone who should know about how to get the most accurate Mac speech recognition, it’s someone who’s an ex-BBC producer and also quadriplegic – so he’s heavily reliant on dictation.
Colin Hughes, who has previously shared his thoughts on Apple’s accessibility features, says that using the right microphone can transform the experience of dictating on a Mac or PC. He’s been helping one manufacturer get it right and says that the result is the best mic he’s ever found for speech recognition.
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An analyst argues that high-tech exercise bike and treadmill company Peloton is struggling to compete with Apple today, and things are only going to get tougher in the future…
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The record AAPL highs keep coming, with yesterday’s closing value of $180.33 the fifth time the stock has broken a new record this month alone.
AAPL Investors shows that the stock set new records on December 6, 7, 8, 10, and 27. This follows six records last month.
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