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.
A leaker last month indicated that the iPhone 17 Air would get a “binned” version of the A19 Pro chip, with only five graphics cores instead of six.
They’ve today reiterated this, affirming another of the compromises buyers will have to make if they want Apple’s slimmest ever iPhone …
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Fortnite returned to the App Store in the US back in May after a federal court ruling, and is now set to return to iOS in Australia through the Epic Games store after a similar judgment there.
While Epic Games celebrated the ruling, the fate of the app in other countries still remains far from certain – and its availability in the US may be temporary …
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The Matter standard – which brings HomeKit compatibility to a far broader range of devices – is getting a significant upgrade.
The latest version will enable the production of lower cost HomeKit-compatible smart home devices, as well as slicker control over your existing ones …
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iOS 26 is giving us a glass-like UI, but Apple’s long-term vision for the iPhone hardware is what former design chief Jony Ive referred to as a “single slab of glass.”
A new Apple patent application appears to refer to work on this, describing a “six-sided glass enclosure” …
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We learned back in June that Apple is working on a new entry-level MacBook, to be powered by the A18 Pro chip rather than an M-series processor. This would be the first time the company has ever offered a MacBook below $999.
A new supply-chain report says that the first stage of production is scheduled to begin sometime next month, with full-scale manufacturing potentially in progress by the end of the year …
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A leaker with a decent track record has backed reports of higher pricing for the iPhone 17 line-up compared to the iPhone 16, but says that Apple will be cushioning the blow somewhat.
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at 128GB flash storage, but the base iPhone 17 Pro is said to offer 256GB storage – effectively a $100 value …
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One of the bullet points in Apple’s announcement of its increased US manufacturing spend made a big, but very non-specific, claim. Apple said that it was working with Samsung on an “innovative new technology which has never been used before anywhere in the world.”
Although the company was being mysterious, we likely know what that means – and it’s great news not just for the iPhone 18, but also for future iPhones beyond it …
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There have been a number of reports of senior AI researchers leaving Apple, and the latest of these indicates the problem may be bigger than previously known.
One AI recruitment company has suggested there is a crisis of confidence within Apple, with tech rivals now considering it open season on poaching the company’s engineers …
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After Apple committed to an additional $100 billion in US manufacturing spend and presented Trump with a trinket for his desk, the president declared that the company would be exempt from his planned 100% tariff on chips imported into the country.
Apple chipmaker TSMC says it too will be exempt from these tariffs thanks to its plants in Arizona …
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A report says that Trump will shortly make an announcement from the White House claiming that Apple will spend a further $100 billion on US manufacturing over the next four years.
Apple has so far not confirmed the announcement, which would bring its total domestic spending promise to $600 billion …
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It seems scarcely a week goes by now without receiving at least one job scam message on either iMessage or WhatsApp.
Meta has now introduced two new tools to help you identify scams, whether they arrive as individual messages or as posts to group chats …
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We yesterday highlighted what is quite possibly the smallest user-facing change in the latest iOS 26 beta: the ability to revert the camera app slider to its previous direction.
While this is in itself a very tiny change, I do think it ought to be a guiding principle for Apple’s approach to user interfaces …
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Three Chinese tablet brands have all enjoyed dramatic growth over the past year as they try to compete with the market-leading iPad. While even their combined shipments can’t compete, their growth rate suggests they could become a threat within a year or two.
However, iPadOS 26 looks set to change the game significantly, making it harder than ever for competing brands to catch up …
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We’ve previously suggested Tuesday, September 9 as the most likely date for the iPhone 17 event, and a new report says that internal documents held by carriers confirms this.
That would mean pre-orders on September 12, shipping on September 19 …
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I’ve always thought that the iMac G4 was one of the most beautiful products Apple has ever made. It’s now more than two decades old, but I still think it looks as futuristic as it did on the day it launched.
I’d also say that Apple’s 2025 Mac operating system looks somehow just right on this 2002 machine, as ably achieved by self-described tinkerer Colby Sheets …
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A Bloomberg report over the weekend suggested that Apple has created a new Answers, Knowledge and Information team as part of its Apple Intelligence efforts.
While that might not sound like a huge deal, effectively just catching up with what others are doing, I actually think it’s about the smartest thing the company could be doing right now in terms of addressing Siri’s reputation …
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed plans for paid subreddits earlier this year but now says that the initiative has been de–prioritized.
However, he says that the company still believes in the opportunity, suggesting that a Reddit paywall of some kind will be introduced at some stage …
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T-Mobile last year announced that it was buying most of US Cellular, in a deal said to be worth a total of $4.4B. That deal has now completed.
T-Mobile says that USCellular customers will stay on their existing plans “for now,” adding that they will later be able to choose to switch to one of the carrier’s unlimited plans …
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We’ve already had a first look at what is alleged to be the battery for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, but a new photo gives us a really good sense of just how thin it is.
The photo shows the battery side-by-side with that of the iPhone 17 Pro …
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Alongside an iPhone Fold expected to launch next year, Apple has long been reported to be working on a foldable iPad with an 18.8-inch display. There have, however, been very different estimates of the timeline for the product – and the latest report isn’t good news.
Estimates have so far ranged from late next year to sometime in 2028, and an analyst who previously expected a 2026 unveiling has now changed his mind …
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Apple uses two different forms of encryption for your iCloud data – a strong form for particularly sensitive data like the Health and Journal apps, but a weaker one for a lot of other data you still wouldn’t want falling into the wrong hands.
Fortunately the company gives you the option of switching to strong encryption for all your iCloud data, and while there are a few steps involved, it’s a worthwhile security and privacy safeguard …
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I’ve been using iOS 26 since the first developer beta, and now that the public beta is out, it seems a good time to share my early views of the biggest shake-up to the look and feel of the iPhone user interface for a great many years.
Of course, betas will beta, and there have been a few glitches along the way, but I have to say that only one of my apps won’t run, so I’ve been able to get a pretty good feel for everyday use ..
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Apple has frequently argued that it is reasonable for it to have monopolistic control over the sale of iPhone apps because it vets them for safety and security. This has been called into question over scam apps accepted into the App Store, and the same questions are being asked regarding the Tea app.
The so-called dating advice app has been revealed to have major security vulnerabilities, which have exposed private chats and personal data of tens of thousands of women …
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Most US iPhones are now made in India rather than China, as Apple rejigs its supply chain to avoid tariffs on products imported into America from China.
The strategy will certainly be of significant help to Apple at present, but there are two reasons why this could prove to be only a temporary solution …
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