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.
The ongoing TSMC US chip plant battle continues to rage, over the company’s plans to bring in hundreds of Taiwanese workers to speed up construction. The plant is slated to make chips for older Apple devices.
The latest development has seen a popular Taiwanese YouTube channel accuse US workers of laziness, with anti-American insults also posted to a local Facebook group …
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Enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has seen Wells Fargo and several other banks fined a total of $549M for using personal end-to-end encrypted messaging accounts to discuss company business.
The SEC said senior bank officials used personal iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal accounts when making business decisions …
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A group of white hat hackers are competing to make AI go rogue – with the backing of the White House. The contest, at this year’s Def Con event, is intended to expose vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence systems, so that their developers can work on fixes.
A smaller event has already seen AI systems expose personal medical data and help plan a bank robbery, while some AI systems don’t seem to need any help from hackers, as they promote eating disorders …
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Sony, which makes all of the iPhone camera sensors, has now effectively said that it thinks iPhone sales won’t grow this year. This marks a change to its previous view that the smartphone market would recover in the second half of this year.
The company said that demand for smartphones is slowing in China, and worsening in the US – echoing Apple’s own warning not to expect growth from the iPhone 15 launch …
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Yet another app clampdown in China looks set to cause problems for developers both inside and outside the country, but with small developers from the US and other foreign countries hit hardest.
A new law will require all developers to “file business details” with the Chinese government, in what some are saying amounts to requesting permission to make an app available through the App Store …
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Between our sources and those of Bloomberg, we’d already narrowed down the iPhone 15 event date to one of two dates, and the Mark Gurman now says that “signs are increasingly pointing to September 12.”
Gurman also reports unsurprising confirmation that the event will use what is now Apple’s usual hybrid format …
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The Matter and Thread standards are supposed to ensure that a huge range of smart home devices can work seamlessly together, mirroring the benefits offered by HomeKit compatibility. But this isn’t the case, say multiple manufacturers.
The main benefit of Thread is that smart home devices can not only talk to each other, but one can pass on commands to another, boosting reliability. There is, however, a problem …
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Claimed photos of iPhone 15 USB-C port components have been posted by two Twitter accounts, though their provenance is unknown. They are shown on the right, alongside our render.
One of the accounts is that of an engineer who appears to have a significant amount of expertise with Apple devices, posting videos of modifications they have made …
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While some rolled their eyes when Apple described Vision Pro as a spatial computer, instead of a headset, I didn’t. That’s because, to me, having virtual Mac monitors in front of my eyes, no matter where I am, is by far the most exciting use case for the device.
At a minimum, it could transform the way I work when away from my home office – and in the longer term, it could potentially be a great way to work even when at home. So when I discovered I could try out this idea on the Meta Quest 2, I couldn’t wait to do so …
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Security researchers have demonstrated that MacBook Pro keyboard audio can reveal what you are typing, with an accuracy of between 92% and 95%. They say the attack is a practical one on things like Zoom calls …
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Controversy over the first ever US TSMC plant aren’t going away – especially plans for around 500 Taiwanese construction workers to be flown in. Update: Indeed, things got worse.
A petition has been created, calling on senators and members of Congress to block the visas needed to bring in their foreign workers …
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WhatsApp group voice chats are now being tested, after an earlier vague report of something then referred to as audio chats …
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There has been a couple of sketchy suggestions over the weekend suggesting that the iPhone 15 Pro storage tiers may max out at 2TB, with one of them a reference to the lineup starting at 256GB instead of 128GB.
While this idea might relate to earlier reports that Apple will be increasing the price of this year’s Pro models, we would urge caution given the sources …
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An Apple patent granted last week described a wide range of potential Vision Pro accessories, and another specifically describes a hardware device designed to turn your desk – or other flat surface – into a virtual Magic Trackpad, with full gesture support.
At first glance, the patent is a somewhat odd one: using one piece of physical hardware to help emulate a virtual version of another piece of physical hardware, but we can see some potential benefits to Apple’s approach …
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US-made TSMC chips may cost more than the same ones made in Taiwan, suggests a new piece today, following an interview with company chairman, Mark Liu. The Arizona plant will make chips for older Apple devices.
Asked about the risks of China invading Taiwan, Liu suggested that this mostly depends on the state of diplomatic relations between the US and China …
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Yesterday’s earnings numbers didn’t contain any major surprises, but there were a few interesting takeouts from the analyst call which followed. This includes the fact that CEO Tim Cook uses his Vision Pro every day.
It was also revealed that most iPhones are now purchased through the iPhone Upgrade Program, trade-in, or some kind of instalment plan, and this is part of the secret to Apple’s success in a difficult economy …
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Yesterday’s earnings report revealed mixed news for AAPL Q3 2023, starting with a fair chunk of bad news.
Jason Snell has done his usual sterling work in transforming all the numbers into a series of colorful charts, letting us see all the key information at a glance …
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Update: Bloomberg today reports that both Apple and Samsung have responded to the sudden announcement by halting laptop imports into India. This is likely to be a temporary pause until a license is issued, but there’s no way to know how long this may take.
A new policy announced today means that Macs and iPad imports to India will require a license. The policy takes “immediate effect.”
The move appears to be part of the country’s Made in India strategy, which uses a carrot-and-stick approach to encourage brands to set up local manufacturing plants for their products …
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While all four iPhone 15 models are expected to get the 48MP stacked sensor tech used in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, next year’s iPhone 16 Pro cameras may again pull ahead of the base and Plus models.
A new supply chain report today isn’t specific on the details, but reading between the lines does seem to point to a new Sony tech that roughly doubles the low-light sensitivity …
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A newly published Apple patent describes how Vision Pro displays use technology designed to reduce both motion sickness and eyestrain.
While motion sickness is a known concern with head-mounted displays, an eyestrain issue caused by the illusions they create is something I hadn’t encountered before …
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Meta is blocking news links in Canada, as it did previously in Australia, following the introduction of new legislation. The development is being described as an “everyone loses” outcome …
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South Koreans under 30 years of age are switching from Android to iPhone in substantial numbers, according to a new report.
The shift is significant in a country where patriotic support for local brand Samsung is usually extremely strong …
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There’s so far been very little information on any Apple plans to launch an AirPods Max 2 – a new generation of its most expensive headphones – but it’s clear that a major update is needed.
Ming-Chi Kuo’s report back in January said nothing more than that an “updated version” is planned, and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said only that new colors might be in the works.
But owners and would-be purchasers likely expect a lot more …
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Family Sharing lets parents limit Screen Time for kids, but in China, the government is proposing to impose tough limits by law …
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