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Ben Lovejoy

benlovejoy

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.

Connect with Ben Lovejoy

Tim Cook to ‘hint’ at upcoming Apple AI features during iPad launch – WaPo

Tim Cook to 'hint' at Apple AI features | Abstract shiny silver and colorful image

A new report says that Apple CEO Tim Cook will “hint” at upcoming AI features during next week’s Let Loose event.

New iPads are the main focus of the event, but there are possible reasons for suggesting that Apple might also use it to outline new artificial intelligence features ahead of a detailed briefing at WWDC

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Apple Watch AFib feature gets new FDA seal of approval

Apple Watch AFib feature visualized in Apple graphic

The Apple Watch AFib feature – which detects abnormal heartbeat patterns indicative of atrial fibrillation – has received a new tick of approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Doctors have already credited the health feature with saving lives.

While the FDA had previously granted clearance for AFib detection, that was a limited endorsement …

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Unfollow Everything lawsuit could change the way we use social media apps

Unfollow Everything | Back of a man looking out to sea

A court is being asked to decide whether or not Meta has a legal obligation to allow the use of Unfollow Everything – a browser tool which effectively empties your Facebook feed.

The idea behind the tool is that instead of being sucked into an effectively endless feed of posts from every friend, group, and page you have ever followed, you get to proactively choose the posts you read …

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Coldplay, Drake, Ariana Grande and other UMG artists return to TikTok

UMG artists return to TikTok | Crowd at concert

Songs from UMG artists are now again available to TikTok creators, after a dispute over royalty payments and AI policies was resolved.

This has seen the return of a lengthy list of artists, including Bad Bunny, Sting, The Weeknd, Alicia Keys, Drake, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Adele, U2, Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Coldplay, Bob Dylan, and Post Malone …

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Poll: Might some Apple AI features be announced during the iPad launch?

Apple AI features | Existing iPad Pro boxes shown

It’s clear that we’re going to see some exciting new Apple AI features this year, and the usual way for the company to announce major new iOS features would be to preview them at WWDC, and then launch them in September with the new iPhone line-up.

But there could be a couple of reasons to hope for some kind of preview of these new features on the new iPad Pro during the May 7 Let Loose Apple event

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AI hardware is like trying to invent the iPod after the iPhone

AI hardware: Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1

For some reason which utterly eludes me, 2024 seems to be the year of AI hardware. We’ve had the Humane AI Pin, the Rabbit R1, and even former Apple design chief Jony Ive reportedly seeking a billion-dollar bet for his own attempt.

Reviews of Humane were brutal, with those who tried it as unimpressed by its performance as they were bemused as to its purpose – and the Rabbit R1 isn’t faring too much better, with Marques Brownlee describing it as “barely reviewable” …

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Poll: Should Apple offer more colorful iPhone 16 Pro models?

Would you like colorful iPhone 16 Pro models? | Bright colors in water

A report earlier this month said that the color-infused back glass used on the non-Pro iPhone 15 models would be extended to the iPhone 16 Pro, and a new Weibo claim implies the same. This would bring new color options to the Pro and Pro Max.

Earlier reports have also suggested that we may see new color options for the titanium frame, as well as the glass back …

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Apple has ‘secretive’ advanced AI lab in Europe; poached specialists from Google

Apple advanced AI lab | Illustrative photo of engineer

A new report today says that Apple has created a ‘secretive’ advanced AI lab in Europe, and it’s this facility which is responsible for some of its most ground-breaking artificial intelligence work.

The same report suggests that most of Apple’s AI specialists have been poached from Google, though this isn’t a great surprise give the background of the Cupertino company’s AI chief …

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iPhone web browser choice gets one thing right, two things wrong, say developers

iPhone web browser choice | iPhone 15 models shown

Being prompted to make an iPhone web browser choice in Europe has seen an uptick in the use of third-party apps, but not everyone is happy about it.

The EU itself is investigating whether Apple’s implementation of the antitrust requirement goes far enough, and developers of third-party browsers say the process gets one thing right, and two things wrong …

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Best Buy Vision Pro app lets you see TVs, furniture, and more in your home

A new Best Buy Vision Pro app uses augmented reality to let you see how things like big-screen TVs, furniture, kitchen appliances, and more would look in your home.

Once you find something you like, you can also buy it from within Vision Pro by opening the product page in Safari and completing the purchase there …

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Elizabeth Warren on green texts: Apple is ruining relationships

Elizabeth Warren on green texts | Screengrab with green text icon

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.”

Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so …

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100,000 iPhones stolen instead of scrapped; Apple accused of shredding usable devices

iPhones stolen instead of scrapped | A shredding machine designed to recover metals

Almost 100,000 iPhones which Apple paid a contractor to scrap were instead stolen and shipped off to China, according to an in-depth report.

Apple sued the company concerned, but now appears to have abandoned the lawsuit, with the report suggesting this is to avoid publicly admitting that it orders the shredding of perfectly usable devices, in stark contrast to the company’s environmental stance …

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