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 Unofficial Apple Weblog, more commonly referred to as TUAW, has made a return from the dead, almost a decade after it was closed down. Unfortunately, that’s not a good thing …
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Incoming students at Eton – the most famous of Britain’s private boarding schools, and whose alumni include many of the country’s prime ministers – are being told that they must leave their iPhones at home for the whole school year.
Their SIM will be transferred to a Nokia dumbphone which is only capable of phone calls and texts (and, I guess, Snake) …
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Just eight days after it was revealed that Apple Fellow Phil Schiller would join the OpenAI board as an observer, it’s now being reported that this won’t happen.
Instead, OpenAI will simply commit to regular meetings with Schiller and other partners and investors …
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The global PC market grew 3.4% in the second quarter, while Mac shipments grew significantly more, at 6% year-on-year.
Apple is also expected to play a significant role in accelerating growth in the market as a whole, thanks to the introduction later this year of Apple Intelligence …
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Apple chipmaker TSMC is beginning trial production of 2nm chips, set to be used in the iPhone 17 Pro and other Apple devices from 2025.
The test run begins next week, significantly earlier than expected …
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Apple’s plan to make iPads in India were put on hold after failed negotiations with the government over tax breaks, but the company is now reportedly making a fresh attempt.
It’s now more than a year after we’d expected iPad production in India to begin, and both sides will be hoping for a better outcome this time …
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A number of people have reported their Philips Hue bulbs suddenly switching to 100% brightness, seemingly randomly.
Update: While the problem was reported to relate to Matter compatibility, it’s now been confirmed that the issue is with Hue code – see statement at the end …
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Apple users are being warned to be alert to smishing texts – the name given to phishing attacks carried out by sending SMS messages – trying to capture login credentials for Apple IDs.
The links direct to a fake iCloud page, and for 9to5Mac readers this is really one to warn your friends about …
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A new breed of scambaiting AI systems are now being officially used by telecoms companies to protect their customers from fraud. The systems use more sophisticated versions of Lenny, a delightful simulation of a rambling old man keen to engage in lengthy conversation …
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Microsoft staff in China have been told that they must use an iPhone for authentication when logging in to company systems. From September, the use of Android smartphones as multi-factor authentication devices will be banned.
This will create a situation where an Apple device will be required despite the fact that staff are using Windows PCs …
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The iOS 18 betas have brought a number of worthwhile new features, but most of us are waiting impatiently for Apple Intelligence – in particular, the big Siri upgrade we’re expecting.
There’s been no sign of any significant AI features so far, and a report over the weekend suggests that even those on the developer beta won’t get to try the new Siri until next year …
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Microsoft Surface ARM laptops powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chip claim to match or beat Apple Silicon machines. Tests show that they (mostly) beat the MacBook Air, but not last year’s MacBook Pro models.
Comparative benchmark tests do reveal that the chip offers extremely impressive performance, leaving both Intel and AMD behind …
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Epic Games has accused Apple of deliberately delaying its attempt to launch its own iOS games store in Europe, and has raised it as a potential antitrust issue with the EU.
The Fortnite developer said that Apple was rejecting its app because the iPhone maker considered the Install and In-app Purchases labels and buttons too similar to those used in its own App Store …
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Device identifiers found in backend code could potentially identify four upcoming new iPads, ranging from an 11th-gen iPad with an A16 chip through to a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip.
It should be noted that actually identities and specs of the devices are informed speculation, and there is one oddity in the mix …
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Mt Gox customers will finally get some bitcoin back, a full decade after a large-scale theft led to the company announcing that it had almost no crypto left and filing for bankruptcy …
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If you’re finding that your Kindle won’t download books from your library, it’s not just you. It’s an Amazon bug that the company says may take another day or so to fix.
Update: The company was able to fix it faster than expected …
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Meta Quest’s attempts to compete with Vision Pro using a headset costing a fraction of the price continues.
We reported last month that the company was experimenting with freeform window placement in an attempt to match the flexibility of visionOS, and Mark Zuckerberg has today shown-off the latest version of this, with six windows …
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Apple Intelligence privacy is stronger than that of any other AI company, but even its security protections aren’t perfect once ChatGPT gets involved.
That’s the argument made by the security chief at Inrupt, the privacy-focused company co-founded by the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee …
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An attacker has obtained the phone numbers of 33 million users of the popular 2FA security app Authy, exposing them to an increased risk of phishing attacks.
Developer Twilio has confirmed the claim, and asked customers to take two precautions …
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We’re of course all eagerly awaiting the iOS 18 headline feature to hit the betas: Apple Intelligence. But sometimes the little things really count.
Steve Jobs famously said that design is not just how things look, but how they work. Jony Ive added that one hallmark of great design is when it looks stunningly obvious after it’s been done – and Apple just gave us two tiny but beautiful examples …
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The Life in Seven Songs podcast has been named by Apple as a top new show, and the latest episode sees the company’s former design chief Jony Ive talk about his background, and the joy and pain of working for the company …
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Right to repair compliance checks carried out in New York have revealed that many products covered by the law do not appear to be in compliance.
Three Apple products were checked, gaining scores ranging from A right the way through to F, suggesting that the company is not in full compliance with right to repair legislation in the state …
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A developer who asked Figma AI to help him design a weather app says that it just copied Apple’s own Weather app every time.
Update: See Figma response, below …
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Some Wise customer data was likely to have been obtained by the hackers behind the Evolve data breach back in May.
Multiple additional fintech firms may also be affected by the cybersecurity attack, and it’s possible that personal data may be leaked if companies refuse to give in to ransom demands …
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