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.
The controversy over Apple’s fees for apps which are sold outside the App Store continues, with both Epic Games and Spotify objecting to the company’s latest attempt to comply with EU antitrust laws.
Spotify has described Apple’s latest fee structure as “confusing and unacceptable,” while Epic Games has called the fees “illegal” …
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The new Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 looks like the company is aiming to compete with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro within China. The M-Pencil also looks eerily familiar in its white finish,
Certainly on paper, the screen specs appear to match, with a tandem OLED construction running at 120Hz …
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A whitehat hacker has demonstrated the use of an invisible laser beam to detect what a MacBook user is typing, from a distance, through a window, without being able to see the keyboard …
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A prompt injection attack on Apple Intelligence reveals that it is fairly well protected from misuse, but the current beta version does have one security flaw which can be exploited.
However, the issue would be very easy for the company to fix, so this will almost certainly be done before the public launch …
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Analysts have claimed that Apple may charge for some of the more advanced Apple Intelligence features at some stage, with fees of $10-20 per month.
One possibility, they say, is that the company would require an Apple One subscription for access to the full set of AI features …
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Two new Sonos products are ready to ship, according to the company, but the launches have been delayed by ongoing problems with the company’s app. This likely includes a set-top TV box intended to compete with Apple TV.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence repeated his apology to Sonos owners for letting them down with the new app, and said that putting this right is the company’s number one priority …
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A disability campaigner has highlighted what he says is a huge accessibility breakthrough with Voice Control in the latest iPhone and Mac betas.
He said that what may sound like a small improvement is a massive improvement to those who, like him, rely on voice to control their iPhone, iPad, and Mac …
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that in future some subreddits could be paywalled, as the company seeks to devise new sources of income.
Huffman raised the prospect during an earnings call in which he said Reddit would also be testing AI-powered search results later this year …
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Apple Maps real-time transit information has now gone live in Tokyo, providing access to live timings for more than 20 railway, bus and tram lines.
Apple notes that iOS 18 will also bring topographic maps to Japan, allowing hikers, cyclists, and others to see the elevations of their planned routes …
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The cause of the CrowdStrike mess has been revealed by the company, together with the steps it has taken to ensure nothing similar can happen again.
The company is facing a deluge of lawsuits over the estimated $5B worth of financial losses incurred by its clients, but the small print in its contract may protect it …
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The Senate has passed two major child protection bills that could have a dramatic impact on how social media apps operate. Update: Congress went into recess before the KOSA Act could reach a vote in the House, and a Wired report suggests the House Republican leadership may not prioritize it when lawmakers return.
If the bills make it through the House to become law, then social media apps would have to make it possible for users to disable algorithmic feeds – with other changes also required …
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Google has for years made billions of dollars worth of payments to Apple in return for being the default search engine on Apple devices. A court ruling yesterday appears to have declared those payments illegal under antitrust law.
But while that would be a setback to the company’s impressive Services revenue, in the scheme of things it wouldn’t amount to much more than a blip …
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A Redditor has discovered built-in Apple Intelligence prompts inside the macOS beta, in which Apple tells the Smart Reply feature not to hallucinate.
Smart Reply helps you respond to emails and messages by checking the questions asked, prompting you for the answers, and then formulating a reply …
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Slow growth for Apple Music and some other streaming services has for the first time been publicly acknowledged by the world’s biggest music label, Universal Music Group.
While UMG believes it to be a temporary slow-down, some in the industry think it more likely to be a permanent change …
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AAPL stock fell 10% at market opening this morning, to less than $200. It followed weekend filings by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, disclosing that the conglomerate had reduced its holding by half. Update: In less than an hour, the slump was reduced by around half, seeing the stock around 5% down.
The reason for the sell-off isn’t clear, but commentators are urging calm, and suggesting that it doesn’t signal a loss of faith in the company’s future prospects …
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The prospect of a TikTok ban in Europe now appears somewhat less likely, after developer Bytedance agreed to permanently withdraw its illegal rewards program …
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Mark Gurman this weekend doubled down on his view that the new Apple Watch SE is likely to made from plastic rather than aluminum.
That raises the prospect of the company either reducing the price, or adding in new features at the same price – but Apple may well see colorful case options as the key selling point …
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After first trying out the new Siri capabilities, and exploring the new Writing Tools, next in line for me on the Apple Intelligence front was the new call transcription and summary feature.
This was a feature I’d been keen to try, not least because it could completely transform the experience of interviewing someone by phone …
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Some 15,000 Intel job cuts have been announced by the company, as it implements a $10B cost-reduction program to try to resolve its financial difficulties.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told employees that revenues have not grown in the way the company hoped, with a belated acceptance that Apple’s Mac business is gone forever one likely factor in that reality-check …
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Apple is trying to pressure WeChat – the world’s most popular app – into blocking a payment loophole for in-app purchases. If app owner Tencent fails to comply, Apple says it would block essential updates.
The report says the same threat was made to ByteDance’s Douyin, the local version of TikTok, which subsequently complied. But three months later, Tencent is still refusing …
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There have been a number of reports about the batteries in the iPhone 16 line-up, and a new one corroborates an earlier report of a 5% boost in the iPhone 16 Pro Max battery capacity.
It also supports an earlier report of a gain for the smaller iPhone 16 Pro, though suggests a somewhat larger capacity …
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A “sophisticated and alarming” Mac malware attack is being carried out in the guise of free versions of popular apps like the screen recording utility Loom, cryptocurrency manager LedgerLive, and MMO game Black Desert Online.
It appears to be a well-organized attack, with the fake Mac app offers promoted through a combination of legitimate-looking Google ads and phishing emails …
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Having yesterday tried out the Siri improvements brought to us in iOS 18.1, I next decided to test the Apple Intelligence Writing Tools: Proofreading, rewriting, and summarizing.
Just for fun, I took a recursive approach to the task, and first asked AI to proofread yesterday’s piece …
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The US government is taking potential AI dangers more seriously, following its decision to create an Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) earlier this year, with Apple as a member.
A proposed new law would outlaw the use of deepfakes, and a government body will be carrying out safety checks on the next version of ChatGPT before it is released to the public …
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