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.
Despite the fact that most Apple Intelligence features are being held back for later, iOS 18 is still a pretty big update as it stands – as our full video run-through shows.
Having been using the beta for some time, I’ve highlighted below what I consider to be the top 10 iOS 18 features available today …
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The first Apple Watch Series 10 reviews are out, and those who got early access to the device seem generally impressed, despite seeing it as an iterative update.
Highlighted features include the slimmer design making a bigger difference than you might expect, new gloss black finish, large display, faster charging, new speaker capabilities, and a microphone with voice isolation …
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Setapp Mobile, a third-party iOS app store offering multiple apps for a single monthly subscription, is now available to anyone in the EU. It follows an invitation-only beta that launched back in May.
As with any third-party app store, Apple makes you jump through quite a few hoops to install it, but downloading apps from within it is then quick and easy …
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With the Camera Control button one of the headline features of the iPhone 16 line-up, developer Lux has announced that the Halide app will be able to take advantage of it.
You’ll be able to set the button to open Halide instead of the default camera app, and the company will be bringing additional functionality to the button very soon …
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We heard back in July that Apple chipmaker TSMC was running ahead of schedule on trial production of 2nm chips expected to debut in next year’s iPhone 17 – and a new report reiterates this.
However, it highlights the challenges involved with this ultra-small process, and says that TSMC cannot manage it without help …
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Three Apple Watches have received approval for detecting sleep apnea, just in time for today’s launch of the feature in watchOS 11.
The Federal Drug Administration approval was able to be granted swiftly on the basis that the way Apple is doing it is “substantially equivalent” to methods already approved by the FDA …
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A long-awaited Apple Watch blood pressure feature has been delayed by the design changes introduced in the Series 10, according to a new report.
The report doesn’t give any specific explanation, but says that Apple ran into issues when testing the health feature with the S10 …
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You’d think that dating apps would help people find better partners, given that they allow daters to expand their dating pool beyond the people they meet organically, but new research suggests that isn’t the case.
The research even suggests that online dating may have negative effects on society as a whole, by reducing social mobility …
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When we ran a poll before the keynote, more than 9,000 of you voted, and almost exactly half of you said that you didn’t plan to buy an iPhone 16.
Among those who did, the iPhone 16 Pro Max was the clear leader, with the two base models seeing almost no love at all …
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I said before the keynote that I expected to be ordering an iPhone 16 Pro Max, and that was going to be largely down to the functionality of the Camera Control button. This turned out to be an even stronger draw than I’d expected.
Despite the button itself inevitably leaking beforehand, Apple did manage to keep a lot of its functionality secret …
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Apple has today announced that iPad apps can be sold through third-party app stores in the EU from September 16
It follows the introduction of alternative app store for iPhones within the bloc, and there are now five of these available …
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Apple’s latest theft-prevention measure went live for beta testers yesterday: Activation Lock for iPhone components.
The move is likely to generate some controversy, as it introduces another barrier to DIY repairs using parts harvested from broken devices, but the company is also working on a solution to that …
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A new report says that used iPhone sales are up 28% on the same period last year as owners liberate funds for an iPhone 16 purchase, with the peak seen on the day after the keynote.
The data suggests that the iPhone 16 is set to be a more popular upgrade than either the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 – with one surprising twist …
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Security researchers came up with a pretty wild Vision Pro exploit. Dubbed GAZEploit, it’s a method of working out the passwords of Vision Pro users by watching the eye movements of their avatars during video calls.
They’ve put together a YouTube video (below) to demonstrate how tracking the avatar’s eye movements accurately detects the virtual keys the Vision Pro user is looking at when typing …
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It was May 2022 when Ikea proudly announced its Diregera hub, bringing Matter support to the company’s smart home line-up. Some two years later, and rather later than scheduled, that upgrade is finally available.
But better late than never, as Matter support means that you can now control any compatible Ikea smart home product via Apple’s Home app …
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When Apple issues the firmware upgrade needed to use AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid, it will put the company into direct competition with existing over-the-counter (OTC) products.
Most OTC hearing aids offer Bluetooth headphone functionality, so a single device will serve both functions either way, but AirPods will offer two significant advantages …
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If you’re planning on using Apple trade-in to upgrade to an iPhone 16, you’ll want to quickly book it in for repair if it has any damage.
As one of my fellow tech writers discovered, Apple doesn’t just deduct the necessary repair fee from the value of your device (which could cost as little as $29 if you have AppleCare) – the company instead declares your phone worthless in its online estimate …
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Apple software SVP Craig Federighi says that the Private Cloud Compute servers used for Apple Intelligence features are really basic – and with good reason.
The exec says it’s one of a number of decisions the company made to ensure that it’s AI cloud servers form a “hermetically sealed privacy bubble” with your iPhone …
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One of the upgrades coming to the iPhone 16 line-up is faster wireless charging, and you may be tempted to upgrade to a new MagSafe charger, coupled to a beefier charging brick, to take advantage of the 25W charging speed.
But just because you can charge your phone faster doesn’t mean that you should …
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Apple’s announcement about the upcoming AirPods hearing aid capability hasn’t just upset the share price of existing brands – it’s also likely to lead to some social norms being challenged.
In addition, the uncertainty of whether someone wearing a pair of AirPods means that they either can or can’t hear you is likely to create some comedic moments …
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Meta has admitted to scraping all public Facebook and Instagram posts made since 2007 in order to train its generative AI model, adding to the privacy contrast with Apple Intelligence.
While the admission was made during a public enquiry in Australia, the company’s statement applies globally …
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Tech analyst Omdia said back in May that Apple is “highly likely” to launch its first OLED MacBook Pro models in 2026, despite some reports that the switch would happen in 2025.
Two more analysts have now expressed the same opinion, stating that Apple will stick to mini-LED screens for next year’s models …
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Apple’s announcement of the new AirPods Pro hearing aid feature has triggered a fall in the stock value of major standalone hearing aid brands.
The Cupertino company had long been expected to add hearing aid features to AirPods, and Monday’s event revealed the details …
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An AT&T ‘free’ iPhone 16 promo invites both new and existing customers to “get the new iPhone 16 Pro, on us, with eligible trade-in, guaranteed.”
As is usual with such offers, however, the headline giveth and the small print taketh away – with two big catches …
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