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.
With all signs pointing to Twitter Blue failing to appeal to more than a fraction of one percent of users, Musk is trying some new features: the ability to use bold and italics in your tweets, an increase in maximum tweet length, and “hours long” video …
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A South Korean company has made an Apple Pay patent infringement claim, arguing that it owns a 2005 patent for the mechanism used by Apple’s mobile wallet service.
The claim follows shortly after the launch of Apple Pay in the country, but the company doesn’t appear to have filed a lawsuit, or even contacted the Cupertino company …
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The value of Made in India iPhones tripled in Apple’s last fiscal year, according to a new report today, which says the country accounted for $7B worth of the company’s smartphones.
That represents an even bigger increase in the percentage of iPhones made in India, from just 1% in 2021 to almost 7% today …
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New Apple recycling targets have been set for batteries, magnets, and circuit boards, as the company works toward its 2030 environmental goal of making every product carbon-neutral.
Apple has an ambitious long-term goal to make all its products using only recycled and renewable materials, and today’s 2025 targets are a step toward this …
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Shifting MacBook production outside of China for the first time is one of Apple’s key strategic goals for its supply chain, with Vietnam reported to be first in line. A new report today indicates that companies with facilities in Thailand are also preparing for MacBook assembly.
Multiple Apple suppliers are said to be involved in discussions with the company, over both production of components and modules for the machines, as well as final assembly …
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An unlikely report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that the Apple Glasses launch could come as early as 2026 or 2027.
While the emphasis of the report is that Apple Glasses won’t be mass-produced before these dates, the idea that the product could be just three or four years out seems implausible based on what we’re expecting …
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CAD drawings seemed to point to the iPhone 15 Pro getting solid-state buttons, including an Apple Watch Ultra style Action button – but two sources now say that may not be the case.
For me personally, I have little interest in whether the buttons are mechanical or solid-state, but I would very much like that Action button …
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A “hastily arranged” hour-long interview with Elon Musk on a wide range of Twitter topics was broadcast live on Twitter Spaces.
In it, Musk says that he only went ahead with the purchase because he was forced to; it’s been a painful and stressful experience; he fired 6,500 of the 8,000 staff; he probably shouldn’t tweet after 3 a.m.; and that Apple now feels “comfortable” advertising on the platform …
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A growing number of AI-generated songs are being uploaded to Apple Music and Spotify, and music label Universal Music Group has said that these involve breach of copyright. Some of these songs are AI-generated covers of existing songs.
UMG has issued a large number of takedown requests, and has asked both Apple and Spotify to block AI systems from scraping melodies and lyrics from their services …
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Ahead of the opening of the first Apple Stores in India, it’s being reported that Apple banned 22 competing brands from an “exclusive zone” around the store. These brands include Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
The iPhone maker used a clause in the mall lease agreement to ban these brands not just from opening stores in the zone, but even from buying ad space there …
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Advertisers and ad-funded platforms like Facebook have been vocal in their objections to Apple’s app tracking policies, and the Cupertino company now faces antitrust investigations into the issue in two European countries.
A new report says that the French Competition Authority has found evidence of anticompetitive behavior by Apple in regard to app tracking, closely following a similar finding in Germany …
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The launch of Apple Silicon Macs back in 2020 was one of the longest-awaited developments in the history of Macs. The rumors date back to at least 2014, and with hindsight, the writing was already on the wall when Apple developed its own chip for the first-gen iPad and iPhone 4 back in 2010.
Apple’s hardware chief, Johny Srouji, said last year that the company itself had been working on the project for 14 years …
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Twitter Inc. – the company that owned the social network purchased by Elon Musk – no longer exists, according to a court filing. Instead, Twitter is now directly owned by a new Musk company, X Corp …
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A new supply chain report says that all four iPhone 15 OLED screens will use the latest generation of materials. For the iPhone 14, only the Pro models received the latest-gen Samsung tech, while the base models got the previous generation.
It’s important to stress that the report concerns the core materials used in the creation of the iPhone 15 OLED panels, with two features still expected to be reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max …
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There’s always been a significant difference in the low-light video and photo performance on iPhones. But a recent holiday really highlighted for me how dramatic that difference has become, especially when it comes to the telephoto lens on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
So much so that I would argue that low-light video performance really needs to be Apple’s next priority when it comes to the iPhone’s photographic capabilities …
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iPhone assembler Foxconn last week reported a 21% year-on-year fall in revenue in March, and we’re today learning Apple chipmaker TSMC revenue also fell in the same month – by 15%.
While there are reasons to be cautious about reading too much into these results, it is near-certain that they give at least some clue as to Apple’s current fortunes …
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A proposal to demolish an existing Apple building in Cupertino and replace it with new Apple offices on the same site faces a public hearing next week. The proposed new building will be twice the size and more contemporary in appearance.
The city’s planning commission has already recommended that the redevelopment be allowed to go ahead, but there will now be an opportunity for any public objections …
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A research study by Bitdefender revealed that security breaches were covered up by 30% of companies surveyed – and even more IT professionals were put under pressure to keep quiet about them.
This was the case even when there were legal obligations to reveal data breaches to affected customers and regulators …
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Apple has now rolled out the new Apple Maps features to six new countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. The new experience first launched in parts of the US back in 2018, and coverage has been expanded almost 20 times since then.
The new features include Look Around, lane guidance, Share ETA, and Natural Language Guidance …
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Apple remains one of the top-spending companies when it comes to TikTok ads, despite growing controversy about whether the app is a threat to US national security.
A separate report today reveals that the Chinese government engaged in an organized social media campaign to mock US concerns about the app, accusing Congress of technical illiteracy, hypocrisy, and xenophobia …
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Not long after Apple successfully blocked a UK antitrust action against the company, a German antitrust regulator has declared that the iPhone maker is a legitimate target for special measures designed to prevent abuse of market dominance.
The regulator found that Apple was a company “of paramount significance for competition across markets,” which means that it can be subjected to stricter controls on anticompetitive behavior …
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Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party – which is focusing on a wide range of US concerns about China’s activities and plans – will be meeting with a number of leading tech execs, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The meeting between Cook and the 10-member bipartisan delegation is set to take place on Friday, likely at Apple Park …
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There have been three Super Mario iPhone games so far, but an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto suggests we may not be getting any more …
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The Apple Music trademark owned by the Cupertino company does not cover live performances, following an appeal by a trumpet player…
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