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.
Apple has helped 50 students pursue their dreams of a career in the music industry, supporting them in recording and promoting a single.
The initiative is part of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI), working through two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) …
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If there’s one type of company you definitely don’t want to see left vulnerable to hackers it’s an identity verification service with access to photo ID documents like driver’s licenses – but that’s exactly what appears to have happened with AU10TIX.
The cybersecurity company’s past or present clients include PayPal, Coinbase, X, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn, Upwork, and Fiverr …
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A major international roaming outage is causing lost mobile connectivity for Americans around the world. The problem is affecting all three major US carriers – AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Some are speculating that the problem may have been caused by a mistake made during work to change the way that carriers support legacy data standards …
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I bought the original Apple Watch back in 2015, not expecting to keep it, but of course was wrong. Nine years later, I was still wearing one – though I had managed to limit myself to just two upgrades over the years.
Fast-forward another couple of months, however, and that has changed – all thanks to a couple of random events …
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Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair is now available in 32 European countries, the company announced today.
It follows the US launch back in December of last year, as the iPhone maker continues its U-turn on DIY repairs …
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A new market intelligence report says that US Mac market share grew by 22.4% in the first quarter of the year, dwarfing the 5% growth for the US PC market as a whole.
It’s likely that the launch of the new MacBook Air models back in March played a key role in this growth …
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Meta has just made a significant enhancement to its Threads fediverse integration – though there are still some key limits to what is possible in the app …
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One of the many differences between Meta Quest headsets and Vision Pro is the far more flexible windowing arrangements possible on Apple’s device.
But Meta is now testing an approach which comes much closer to emulating Vision Pro’s approach, and you can get early access by joining the beta program …
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We won’t be able to experience Apple’s approach to ChatGPT integration until a later iOS 18 beta, but owners of some of the latest Volkswagen cars are being offered what sounds like a very similar experience.
A number of VW cars already have a built-in AI voice assistant, and the company has announced that its capabilities are now being supplemented by ChatGPT …
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Vision Pro comfort is one of the biggest limiting factors for the device right now. Many owners say that the weight makes itself known in even moderate use, and my own experience was that I felt both the weight and heat in session lasting around an hour.
But the company may have a solution for either this or future Apple Vision products, as outlined in a newly-granted patent …
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A deal between the UK and US has seen Wikileaks founder Julian Assange freed from a British jail. A plea deal was agreed with the US Department of Justice which will see him serve no prison time in the US …
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Work still hasn’t started on a major Apple campus some six years after the company announced the plan, and a new report says that work on the project has now been further delayed by “up to four years.”
That could mean a full decade between Apple’s announcement and construction work starting, with the opening date even further out …
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The White House is reportedly concerned that three Chinese companies operating cloud services in the US could pass the personal data of US citizens to Beijing.
A report citing sources familiar with the issue says that the US Department of Commerce is carrying out an investigation …
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Digital artist and developer Kabel Cadle has spotted a handy new feature in iPadOS 18. For the first time, you can format external drives on an iPad, choosing between three different format options. Update: The same option is also available on the iPhone in iOS 18.
This brings the device closer in line with the Mac’s Disk Utility app, though it doesn’t yet offer the Restore and First Aid features …
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It’s been consistently reported that Apple has been struggling to develop a lower-cost version of the Vision Pro, and that the solution might need to be a tethered Apple Vision product – with either an iPhone or a Mac providing the required processing power.
While some may see that as a big deal, there are three reasons why I’d consider it an acceptable compromise to bring the price down to a more affordable level …
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When asked why Apple Intelligence won’t be available on older iPhones, the company has so far said that the chips simply weren’t sufficiently powerful to provide a good experience. Responses would take too long on older chips.
But many have said that if their phones weren’t up to the task, why not just use Apple Intelligence servers – aka Private Cloud Compute? After all, that’s what already happens with a lot of Siri requests today. We now have an answer to this …
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Apple has fixed a Vision Pro bug which would have allowed a website to fill your room with an unlimited number of virtual 3D objects. Those objects – flying bats in the proof of concept – would then persist even after you quit Safari.
The bug was discovered by a cybersecurity researcher who says Apple took a lot of care to protect against this type of exploit, but it forgot one thing …
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When Apple first launched AirPods back in 2016, it also introduced a whole new accessory setup process, designed to avoid the usual pain point of Bluetooth pairing.
For almost eight years, it seemed like the company wanted to keep this exclusive to its own headphones, with competitors unable to take advantage of it. But all that changes in iOS 18 …
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Both the EU and Australia have backed down on separate proposals to force tech companies to carry out CSAM scanning within messaging apps, which would have meant breaking end-to-end encryption.
It’s the latest development in the ongoing battle between tech companies and politicians who don’t understand how encryption works …
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The possibility of a smartphone ban in schools in Apple’s home state of California looks increasingly likely after Governor Gavin Newsom added his support.
The move follows an opinion piece by the US Surgeon General proposing a warning label on social media apps, given the mental health risks they pose to adolescents.
Update: New York’s governor has signed into law two bills restricting social media for kids
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Apple has applied for a patent on a swappable hi-tech rear cover for a smartphone, with an iPhone rear display and additional cameras among the potential applications listed by the company.
The application also appears to describe a way to offer case-like protection without the bulk of a conventional iPhone case …
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I’ve tried a lower-end headset, and I’ve tried a higher-end headset, but the US-only launch of Vision Pro meant I was having to wait impatiently for my chance to go hands-on with Apple’s spatial computer here in the UK.
I wasn’t going to have very much longer to wait, with walk-in demos likely available on June 28, but UK-based developer Maze Theory offered me a chance to try one a little earlier …
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The Apple versus Qualcomm battle was fought fiercely for years, before circumstances forced the iPhone maker to agree a last-minute settlement.
But some Qualcomm shareholders were as unhappy as Apple about the chipmaker’s business practices, and they’ve finally managed to persuade the company to pay compensation …
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How Apple Intelligence will work in China remains unclear, as the company has to navigate the country’s generative AI regulations.
A new report says that Apple concluded it was unlikely to get approval to use a system developed outside of China, suggesting that more of the off-device AI will be powered by Chinese companies …
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