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.
While Twitter verification was intended to confirm the identity of public figures, X verification is available to anyone who takes out a paid subscription to the service – and the European Union has decided that breaks the law …
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A massive AT&T data breach has seen hackers able to steal the personal data of almost every customer the company has – a total of some 110 million Americans.
In an incredible security fail, the stolen data includes not only customer phone numbers, but also records of who contacted whom – a potential privacy minefield …
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The flow of Vision Pro apps dropped dramatically after an initial flurry at launch, says a new report, with many top iOS developers yet to bring their apps to the platform.
The spatial computer is battling the Catch-22 of not having a killer app to drive sales, and therefore not having a large enough market to attract developers …
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Vision Pro is available today in Apple stores in five more countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.
The global rollout of the spatial headset kicked off on June 14, with pre-orders opening in three countries …
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Health and fitness tracking is the primary pitch of the Apple Watch, but has the time now arrived for the option of a more compact device in the form of an Apple Ring?
Samsung yesterday unveiled its Galaxy Ring, which collects health data (including sleep tracking), in a device with a claimed battery life of seven days …
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Apple trade-in values in the US have been reduced for some devices, but most of the cuts are relatively small. For iPhone 14 models, for example, the reduction is either $10 or $20.
The biggest cuts are for Macs, where the worst case is a $90 reduction in the case of the iMac …
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Market intelligence company IDC has been monitoring US Vision Pro sales, and says the current data indicates they will plummet by 75% this quarter.
The firm believes the device won’t achieve 500k sales in its first year, and that only the launch of a cheaper model can drive growth …
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Apple has warned a significant number of iPhone users across 98 countries that they appear to have been targeted by “mercenary spyware attacks” which could compromise almost all the personal data on their devices.
The company says it can never be 100% certain in its conclusions, but has a high degree of confidence that it is correct, and urges message recipients to take the security warning seriously …
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A previously unreported lawsuit regarding hidden cameras in Airbnb properties reveals that the company generated 35,000 support tickets by customers complaining about surveillance devices …
See company response at the end
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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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