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 two technothriller novels , a romcom novel, and an SF novella series.
He is old enough to have owned the original Macintosh. He currently owns an M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air 11, 12.9-inch iPad Pro (LTE 256GB), iPhone 13 Pro Max (256GB), Dell Ultrawide 49-inch monitor, an Apple Watch (Series 4 WiFi) and multiple HomePods – he suspects it might be cheaper to have a cocaine habit than his addiction to all things anodised aluminum.
He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.
He’s known for his op-ed and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review:
He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.
He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.
If @benlovejoy-ing him on twitter, please follow him first so that he can DM you if appropriate. If you have information you can pass on, you can also email him. If you would like to comment on one of his pieces, please do so in the comments – he does read them all.
British developers have been told that their billion dollar class action lawsuit against Apple can proceed, after the iPhone maker failed in its second bid to have the case dismissed.
Developers behind the antitrust case are seeking repayment of up to £785M ($995M) in commission on apps, in the latest move against Apple’s monopoly on the sale of iPhone apps …
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The three best-selling smartphones in the world last quarter were all last year’s iPhones, with two older Samsung models taking 4th and 5th place, according to a new market intelligence report.
The world’s best-selling smartphone in Q4 2024 was the base model iPhone 15, capturing 3% of the total global smartphone market …
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It was recently reported that the iPhone 17 Pro chassis would be aluminum rather than titanium. This would mean Apple dropping something it touted as a major selling point of the Pro models just last year.
A leaker with a decent track record is now disputing this, however, saying that Apple will “of course” stick to titanium for next year’s premium models – though the dispute could all be down to ambiguous terminology …
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Growing concerns have been expressed that the Sonos app might in future require a subscription, as the company reported revenue down for the second year running – and a former employee has now added fuel to the fire.
Of particular concern is that all actions initiated in the app now go through a Sonos server, rather than being executed locally, giving the company complete control of everything users do …
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An Apple patent has revealed that future iPhones could effectively get multiple Action buttons, as all three buttons on the left side of the phone become user-configurable.
The same patent indicates that similar capabilities may come to other Apple devices, including both iPads and Macs …
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Apple has sponsored a 300-foot high Wallace & Gromit animation, which is being projected daily onto the walls and chimneys of Battersea Power Station, home to the company’s UK headquarters.
A set of eight iPhone 16 Pro Max models was used to create the 6,000-frame stop-motion animation, which will be on display every night until new year’s eve …
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A law enforcement agency has said that both Instagram and TikTok are increasingly being used to recruit money mules, who are either knowingly or unknowingly helping criminal gangs to launder money.
Those caught face prison sentences of up to 14 years, and are also likely to be banned from holding or opening a bank account …
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Apple has increased its iPad trade-in values, with iPad Pro models seeing a $35 increase in the maximum value possible.
However, all other models have seen the upper limit on their trade-in values increased by just $5 …
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Things haven’t exactly been going to plan with TSMC’s Arizona chip plants, but the company is claiming that the second plant could be making 2nm chips in the US as early as 2028. Previously announced plans talked only of 3nm chips by this date.
However, the Taiwanese government acknowledges that 2nm chip production in Arizona could be delayed to 2029 or 2030 …
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A mistake saw British iPhone users yesterday receive a range of severe weather alerts, one of them citing “severe high temperatures” of 39F (4C). Some of the alerts warned of a “significant threat to life” …
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Note: This report contains links to reports about teenage suicides
Australia has followed France in imposing a social media ban for kids, and other countries are expected to follow. The French government is now pushing for an EU-wide ban.
Social media platforms are of course pushing back as they face losing a demographic seen as key to their future, and questions are being raised about how the ban will be enforced …
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will now be going after more scammers after it closed a significant loophole in the law.
The agency says the expanded scope of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) will be of particular benefit to seniors, who disproportionately fall victim to fake tech support calls …
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A heartwarming new Apple holiday video entitled Heartstrings showcases the new hearing aid feature offered by AirPods Pro 2.
It shows the experience of a father being transformed from hearing only muffled sounds as his family opens gifts, sings songs and tells him they love him to being able to clearly hear everyone …
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Apple held out for a long time on switching from text messaging to RCS (rich communication services), but finally announced that it would be doing so as part of iOS 18. The move brings many iMessage-like features to text messages between iPhone and Android users.
Mobile carriers also need to support the switch, and UK telco Three has just texted customers to announce that it will be doing so from next month …
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Update: Australia has now voted to ban social media use by children under the age of 16. In a 9to5Mac reader poll on the issue, the vast majority of you thought the US should do the same – see the end of the piece.
The impact of social media use by kids is perhaps one of the hottest topics in tech. There’s significant evidence that social media apps like Instagram can be harmful to the mental health of children, while others argue that it can also enable social connection.
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Popular video conferencing platform Zoom agreed to pay $85M in compensation back in 2021 after it was revealed that the company lied to users about the type of encryption it offered. It has now offered to pay an $18M fine to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to settle an investigation into the same security and privacy issue.
Zoom disclosed the offer in a regulatory filing …
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It’s been six years since Apple first introduced Screen Time in iOS 12, allowing us to see just how much time we spend using our phones, while also allowing parents to set limits for their kids. The feature was extended to Macs a year later.
Apple has also introduced additional features intended to make our devices less addictive, but a recent study suggests that our screen usage may be higher than ever …
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TikTok has announced that it is responding to new legislation in the UK and EU by introducing a ban on the use of beauty filters by those aged under 18. The ban will be implemented worldwide …
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month announced a review of the customer service offered by ISPs (internet service providers), stating that this was often so poor it made it hard for consumers to switch providers.
But ISPs have responded through a lobbying group, claiming that they offer “effective and user-friendly” customer service and therefore new regulations are not needed …
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has expressed concern over lack of manufacturer commitment to software updates for smart devices, citing the risk that security flaws won’t be fixed, or that products will cease to function altogether.
This echoes concerns we’ve been raising for the past couple of years about us never really owning the smart products we buy …
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A tweet claiming that Microsoft Office uses the content of customer documents to train its AI systems raised a lot of eyebrows, but the tech giant says that it’s a simple misunderstanding.
A Linux account with hundreds of thousands of followers tweeted the claim …
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Apple is noted for taking its time when it comes to entering new product categories, but a 2008 patent shows that the company had been working on Vision Pro for at least 15 years before it finally launched.
Both the patent drawing and the description of the device are remarkably consistent with the product that finally launched in 2024 …
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A recent report suggested we might see an Apple security camera launch in 2026, and more than 80% of you said you’d be likely to buy one.
We argued that we can expect Apple Intelligence features to be included, and a newly-granted patent backs that view …
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We’ve known for some time that the iPhone 17 Air will require compromises to pull off the ultra-thin design, but a new report yesterday suggests buyers may be sacrificing even more than we thought.
That Apple is willing to pare back the device so severely tells us a lot about the company’s thinking – and not just about this specific model …
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