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.
Almost two years after Apple first showed off a video promoting the new Siri and lots of exciting new Apple Intelligence features, that future has finally arrived – at least in first beta form.
The company had a lot of ground to make up. Obviously, the test will be how well the new features work in real life usage, but let’s start with what seemed to me to be the most important things the company announced …
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Ahead of yesterday’s keynote, we asked you how optimistic you were about what the company was likely to announce. The executive summary was that there was absolutely no consensus.
Votes were split very evenly between very optimistic, somewhat optimistic and not very. So now that you’ve heard what Apple had to say, what were your impressions … ?
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Each new iOS update comes with new features for existing AirPods, but this year’s announcements were a little light …
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If Apple truly does deliver on its new Siri and other Apple Intelligence features, then you’re very likely to want to upgrade to iPadOS 27 if your device supports it.
Apple does aim to provide OS updates for each of its devices for as long as possible, but the demands of the new features mean that only the most recent models will support the upcoming update …
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![How optimistic are you about today's new Siri announcements? [Poll] | Image shows the upcoming Siri app in a render on an iPhone](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/03/siri-app-icon-iphone-home-screen-close-angle.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1600){kind=icon}
Top billing in today’s WWDC 2026 keynote will be Apple’s reveal of exactly what we can expect in terms of new Siri features in iOS 27. We know what we should be expecting, but there may be important small-print about limitations and timings.
Clearly things have not gone well to date, but will this be the day when Apple announces a clear turnaround for the checkered history of its revitalized intelligent assistant … ?
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‘Free phone’ scams are becoming increasingly common, and there’s now a new one to watch out for. With this version, a brand new phone is left on your doorstep and – unusually – the scammer didn’t use your money to buy it.
This is just the latest in a long line of scams involving new phones delivered to your home …
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Hackers managed to trick Meta’s AI-powered support bot into allowing them to take over a number of Instagram accounts, including some high-profile ones. This included accounts belonging to the White House, US Space Force, and security researcher Jane Wong.
Update: Meta has now revealed that around 20,000 accounts were compromised and has explained the steps it has taken in response …
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I’ve recently completed what must be a strong contender for the longest-running saga in selling one home and buying another. I won’t bore you with the details, but the entire process from start to finish was two years almost exactly to the day. I have sadly sacrificed my former spectacular city view but let’s just say it was a good move.
I set an ambitious target of a fortnight for completing all the main home improvement work on my new apartment, and so far seem to be getting pretty close. This includes much of my new smart home setup …
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A report a year ago said that we could expect an Apple Vision Air product in the second half of 2027. This was expected to address both of the issues that have led to the Vision Pro being such a niche product.
This week brought two reports suggesting that we may have to wait significantly longer for a Vision Air, if indeed we ever see one at all …
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Earlier this year, the Apple Card Savings account earned an interest rate of 3.65%. This was cut in April to 3.5%.
The rate has just been cut for a second time, and there may be more significant reductions further ahead …
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Late last year a leaker suggested that the trend of the Pro model iPhones getting thicker would continue with the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
However, a new report today gives the thickness as 8.75mm, which is exactly the same as the iPhone 17 Pro Max …
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It’s more than 18 months since I wrote an opinion piece suggesting that while the wait for the new Siri is frustrating, the privacy payoff would be worth it.
A lot of time has passed since then, and of course user frustration at the ongoing delay has grown significantly. While goodwill has undoubtedly been lost, a recent announcement does provide some hope that privacy may still rescue the company’s tarnished reputation in AI …
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Apple has announced that it will be opening Europe’s first Apple Developer Center later this year and has provided a sneak peek inside the facility.
Situated in Berlin, Germany, it will be the company’s fifth developer center after Cupertino, Shanghai, Singapore, and Bengaluru …
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Apple has agreed to reveal its revenue in India so that the government can calculate how much it should be fined for antitrust violations.
The company was found guilty of exploiting its dominant position in iPhone apps back in 2024, but the company initially refused to reveal financial data within the country. That potentially left it facing the world’s last largest antitrust fine of a massive $38 billion …
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Some users are experiencing beachballs or lagging performance on their Macs on macOS 26.5, and it seems the culprit may be Apple Intelligence photo scanning in the background.
High battery usage also appears to be an issue for some of those seeing these symptoms …
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Microsoft has announced that it’s ending support for older Macs and iPhones in Microsoft 365, Office 2019, and Office 2021.
From next month, those using older versions of macOS and iOS will still be able to open Office documents to view them but won’t be able to edit or create files …
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Tests to determine whether Google’s agentic AI system Gemini Spark can deliver on the promises made on stage at last month’s I/O event shows that, for the most part, it can.
Since this is the model Apple will be using to power the new Siri, that’s equally good news for the Cupertino company and its customers …
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If you use the ChatGPT desktop app on Mac, you’ll be forced to update it sometime between now and June 12. That’s due to a security breach involving two OpenAI employee devices. As of June 2, the company is emailing users to remind them to accept the update when offered.
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It’s long been rumored that the iPhone 18 Pro Max battery capacity would be the largest ever seen in an iPhone, with a report back in February suggesting that it could get close to 5200mAh.
The same leaker has now reported on the iPhone 18 Pro capacity and is suggesting that we will see only very modest gains over last year’s model …
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The dates for Amazon Prime Day 2026 have now been announced, with the company stating it is bringing the event forward from its traditional July timing in order to avoid clashing with a couple of major events.
Amazon had previously announced earlier timings but not stated the dates. The company has now said that it wanted to avoid the FIFA World Cup and the 250th anniversary US Independence Day …
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The Controller for HomeKit app has just been updated with a new AI feature which the developer is promoting with the phrase “just say it”.
The idea is that you use natural language to describe what you want to happen and the AI will automatically create the required HomeKit scene, workflow, and/or automation …
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White has been reported to be one of the confirmed colors for the upcoming iPhone Ultra, and a new dummy model gives us a very basic idea of how it might look.
While the automatic translation of the text accompanying the photo claims it to be a prototype of the device, I’m certain that it’s simply a dummy model created by a third party …
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It was clear that the launch of the MacBook Neo at just $599 took most Windows PC makers by surprise. However, Dell appears to have had a strong suspicion of what was coming as the company has just launched its own direct competitor, (sort of) starting at the same price.
Apple also has a new rival when it comes to Apple Silicon. Nvidia has just announced its first ever PC chip which also aims to provide a similar leap forward in performance …
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We learned last month that Apple TV would be airing the first major live sporting event shot entirely on iPhone – specifically, a set of fifteen iPhone 17 Pro Max models.
A new piece has given us a behind-the-scenes look at the setup for this, with MLS, saying that it offered a number of benefits over conventional cameras – though there is a rather sizeable asterisk …
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