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.
More than 90 civil rights groups around the world have signed an open letter objecting to what they call iPhone surveillance capabilities, asking Apple to abandon its plans for CSAM scanning.
Additionally, they would also like the iPhone maker to drop plans for the iMessage nude detection, as this could place young gay people at risk.
Expand Expanding Close
The Apple engraving service – available as a free option when ordering one of six product categories direct from Apple – has been accused of political censorship in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Apple aims to ban offensive words and phrases, and in the US bans 170 words. In China, however, the number of banned words and phrases is more than a thousand, and includes many political references…
Expand Expanding Close
Update: Apple mentions a second check on the server, and a specialist computer vision company has outlined one possibility of what this might be – described below under ‘How the second check might work.’
An early version of the Apple CSAM system has effectively been tricked into flagging an innocent image, after a developer reverse-engineered part of it. Apple, however, says that it has additional protections to guard against this happening in real-life use.
The latest development occurred after the NeuralHash algorithm was posted to the open-source developer site GitHub, enabling anyone to experiment with it…
Expand Expanding Close
A developer claims to have reverse-engineered the NeuralHash algorithm used in Apple’s CSAM detection. Conflicting views have been expressed about whether this would enable the child sexual abuse material detection system to be defeated…
Expand Expanding Close
One of the many worrying developments in the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan is that US face recognition and fingerprint devices and databases have been seized by the Taliban. They were apparently left behind during the hurried withdrawal of US forces, leaving coalition collaborators at risk from reprisals.
However, a human rights organization says there are measures Afghans can take to try to protect themselves, and that Face ID can play a role in this.
Expand Expanding Close
We recently learned that Samsung is gearing up to make OLED screens for the 2022 iPad Air using a new advanced manufacturing technique, and a fresh report says that LG is doing the same.
Apple is expected to upgrade the iPad Air to an OLED screen next year…
Expand Expanding Close
The T-Mobile hack reported earlier this week has now been confirmed by the company. Some of the details differ from claims made by the hacker, but the carrier has admitted that 47.8 million records were taken – and not just from customers. You could be at risk if you have ever even applied for a T-Mobile account, whether or not it was ever opened…
Expand Expanding Close
If you are one of those who dislike the switch in business model of apps from outright purchase to monthly or annual subscriptions, you’re going to hate the latest development…
Expand Expanding Close
Security company Corellium is offering to pay security researchers to check Apple CSAM claims, after concerns were raised about both privacy, and the potential of the system for misuse by repressive governments.
The company says that there are any number of areas in which weaknesses could exist, and they would like independent researchers to look for these…
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday’s close saw a new AAPL all-time high, as the stock finally broke through the $150 barrier, something that had been expected to happen last month.
AAPL closed at $151.12, the seventh time this year the share price has set a new record.
Expand Expanding Close
Reports that we’ll see a September iPhone 13 launch are given increased confidence by supply-chain checks on the number of units already assembled in readiness, says an analyst. All four models are expected to have September availability.
Additionally, there are more signs pointing to a 1TB storage tier…
Expand Expanding Close
A handcuffed woman thought she had a good way to call for help during a home invasion: her Apple Watch. While the Watch did indeed allow her to contact her mother to ask her to call the police, things didn’t go entirely to plan…
Expand Expanding Close
Update: T-Mobile has confirmed a security breach, but says it doesn’t yet know the extent of it. Statement below.
A hacker is selling what they claim is personal data from 100 million T-Mobile customers in the US, stating that this means full records for each customer, including social security numbers…
Expand Expanding Close
Update: This bill did not get as far as a vote.
This bill was introduced on June 23, 2020, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
A bill proposed in the US Senate would effectively make it a legal requirement for Apple to build a backdoor into iPhones. It would make it illegal for Apple and other tech giants to use strong encryption for either devices or cloud services …
Expand Expanding Close
Long-term AAPL investors, who have seen the value of their stock rise substantially over the years, should give back to Apple, suggests one of them.
Financial adviser Paul Lane says that he always spends money on buying the latest and greatest iPhones and iPads each year…
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has won a partial victory over patent troll Optis, when a $506M award was reduced to $300M in a retrial over damages.
However, the battle between Apple and Optis continues, as the latter continues attempts to claim as much as $7B from the iPhone maker …
Expand Expanding Close
Many of us would like to see an iPhone with USB-C port in place of Lightning, so that we can finally have a single charger type for all our main Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The European Union is trying to pass a law that would make this mandatory, despite the fact that it would be completely pointless…
Expand Expanding Close
Update: Within minutes of writing this piece, an interview was posted where Craig Federighi admitted that Apple should have handled things differently.
One thing about the CSAM scanning controversy is now abundantly clear: It took Apple completely by surprise. Which is a surprise.
Ever since the original announcement, Apple has been on a PR blitz to correct misapprehensions, and to try to address the very real privacy and human rights concerns raised by the move …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has released a music video by lead actor Emilia Jones as a promo for the film CODA, which is available today in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ …
Expand Expanding Close
The Zens 4-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger was announced last month as a complete charging solution for iPhone 12, Apple Watch, AirPods, and iPad.
At $150, it’s not a cheap option, so raises the question: Is it worth it … ?
Expand Expanding Close
A range of new TikTok teen protections are designed to make the app safer to use, and less likely to eat into sleep time…
Expand Expanding Close
Two hidden AirTags allowed the CEO of a cybersecurity company to successfully locate and recover his electric scooter, after it was stolen from outside a New York restaurant.
He said that the police officers he approached for help with the recovery had never heard of AirTags, and initially refused any assistance …
Expand Expanding Close
Foxconn’s Q3 forecast hints at potential iPhone 13 component shortages, following an earlier warning by Apple that supply constraints with Macs and iPads would extend to iPhone production this quarter.
The company is also reported to be using a new iPhone camera assembly process to reduce costs …
Expand Expanding Close
We’ve heard reports now about a bunch of iPhone 13 camera improvements, and assuming that they turn out to be true, I think Apple is going to be selling one to me.
I’ve often said that my iPhone is my least-important Apple device. If I had to rank my iDevices by how much they matter to me, my MacBook Pro would top the list, followed by iPad, then iPhone …
Expand Expanding Close