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.
A Bloomberg report over the weekend suggested that Apple has created a new Answers, Knowledge and Information team as part of its Apple Intelligence efforts.
While that might not sound like a huge deal, effectively just catching up with what others are doing, I actually think it’s about the smartest thing the company could be doing right now in terms of addressing Siri’s reputation …
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed plans for paid subreddits earlier this year but now says that the initiative has been de–prioritized.
However, he says that the company still believes in the opportunity, suggesting that a Reddit paywall of some kind will be introduced at some stage …
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T-Mobile last year announced that it was buying most of US Cellular, in a deal said to be worth a total of $4.4B. That deal has now completed.
T-Mobile says that USCellular customers will stay on their existing plans “for now,” adding that they will later be able to choose to switch to one of the carrier’s unlimited plans …
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We’ve already had a first look at what is alleged to be the battery for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, but a new photo gives us a really good sense of just how thin it is.
The photo shows the battery side-by-side with that of the iPhone 17 Pro …
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Alongside an iPhone Fold expected to launch next year, Apple has long been reported to be working on a foldable iPad with an 18.8-inch display. There have, however, been very different estimates of the timeline for the product – and the latest report isn’t good news.
Estimates have so far ranged from late next year to sometime in 2028, and an analyst who previously expected a 2026 unveiling has now changed his mind …
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Apple uses two different forms of encryption for your iCloud data – a strong form for particularly sensitive data like the Health and Journal apps, but a weaker one for a lot of other data you still wouldn’t want falling into the wrong hands.
Fortunately the company gives you the option of switching to strong encryption for all your iCloud data, and while there are a few steps involved, it’s a worthwhile security and privacy safeguard …
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I’ve been using iOS 26 since the first developer beta, and now that the public beta is out, it seems a good time to share my early views of the biggest shake-up to the look and feel of the iPhone user interface for a great many years.
Of course, betas will beta, and there have been a few glitches along the way, but I have to say that only one of my apps won’t run, so I’ve been able to get a pretty good feel for everyday use ..
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Apple has frequently argued that it is reasonable for it to have monopolistic control over the sale of iPhone apps because it vets them for safety and security. This has been called into question over scam apps accepted into the App Store, and the same questions are being asked regarding the Tea app.
The so-called dating advice app has been revealed to have major security vulnerabilities, which have exposed private chats and personal data of tens of thousands of women …
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Most US iPhones are now made in India rather than China, as Apple rejigs its supply chain to avoid tariffs on products imported into America from China.
The strategy will certainly be of significant help to Apple at present, but there are two reasons why this could prove to be only a temporary solution …
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Apple encourages security researchers to seek out and report vulnerabilities in its devices and apps, in return for which it pays bug bounties of up to $2M.
However, one security researcher who reported a Safari vulnerability Apple graded as Critical, and gave a severity score of 9.8 out of 10, says they were paid only $1,000 …
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Update 11:19 a.m. PT: Here’s a statement from an Apple spokesperson: “Apple Support has only posted Apple content. We are working with Weibo to understand how this happened.”
What seems to have happened here is that a Weibo client-side bug caused the text of the Apple Support post to be mismatched with the Samsung video.
Original story below.
An official Apple support account on China’s Weibo social network managed to accidentally post a promotional video for a Samsung folding phone.
The embarrassing mistake coincided with a new analyst report on the expected price and timing for Apple’s own move into this market, with an upcoming iPhone Fold …
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We’re just a day away from the AAPL Q3 2025 earnings report, covering April to June. Apple said it expected single-digit growth, and analysts expect this to be toward the lower end of the scale.
Digging into the detail, the consensus view is that both iPhone and Mac revenue will be up year-on-year, while iPad earnings will be down …
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Video streaming platform TikTok is finally introducing community fact-checking, in the form of TikTok Footnotes – the equivalent to X’s Community Notes. This is initially available in the US only.
The company has also announced new parental controls, aimed at giving oversight of both TikTok consumption and uploads by teens …
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A new analyst report suggests that Apple will increase prices for three iPhone 17 models, when compared to iPhone 16 pricing.
The report suggests two reasons for the increase, and indicates that the price of the base model will remain unchanged, with a starting price of $799 …
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A new Apple Manufacturing Academy has been announced by the company, launching in Detroit on August 19. The iPhone maker says it will offer free training in “smart manufacturing” for small and medium businesses from across the country.
The initiative is working in partnership with Michigan State University, and will include Apple engineers among the trainers …
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One of the most popular uses for the Cash App is collecting payments from groups of friends, whether that’s an immediate need like paying a restaurant bill or a future one, like collecting money for a shared gift.
The company has today announced a new feature which lets you ask friends to contribute to a money pool even if they don’t use the app …
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Spotify has posted its latest earnings report, stating that both paid and free users were up more than 10% year-on-year, but the company returned to making a loss …
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Two major security vulnerabilities in the Tea app – which claims to make dating safer for women – have exposed the private chats and personal data of at least tens of thousands of users.
The app, designed to allow women to share “red flags” for men they had dated, claimed four million active users after it hit the top slot in the App Store last week …
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9to5Mac is brought to you by Incogni: Protect your personal info from prying eyes. With Incogni, you can scrub your deeply sensitive information from data brokers across the web, including people search sites. Incogni limits your phone number, address, email, SSN, and more from circulating. Fight back against unwanted data brokers with a 30-day money back guarantee.
Apple has a reputation for prioritizing the privacy of its customers, and that commitment begins right at the chip design level.
Here’s a look at the eight layers of Apple security protecting the personal data stored on both your Apple devices and in iCloud …
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Apple at one time considered adding a camera to the Apple Watch, but it looks like Meta may get there first. A new report suggests the company may unveil the upcoming wearable at its September event.
A Meta smartwatch with a camera was spotted in development back in 2021, but was said to have been put on pause the following year. However, a new supply-chain report says the project was revived and is now close to launch …
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Yesterday saw the emergence of three rumors about the iPhone 17 Pro camera system. The source for them has no track-record, so it’s entirely possible that all three are nonsense, but it’s at least plausible that they would have access to the claimed information.
Two of the rumored features would be welcome, even if one sounds rather unlikely. But the third is something I’m very much hoping is dead wrong …
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The UK has become the first major country to introduce a legal requirement for internet age verification, but it affects all websites and apps worldwide. Additionally, the US has recently revived a bill very similar to the British legislation.
While the law was presented as a way to prevent children accessing adult websites, the reality is very different, and we’re already seeing the privacy risks of good intentions being turned into bad legislation – with iMessage and FaceTime in the firing line …
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Apple this week launched a new AppleCare One plan – a way to buy AppleCare+ for multiple devices for one monthly fee.
The exact coverage it offers depends on the mix of devices you have, and the cost depends on how many, but you’ll almost certainly save money over buying separate plans for each. Does this mean you should subscribe? That depends …
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We learned earlier this month that a new Apple store was coming to Osaka, Japan, and the company has today shared photos ahead of Saturday’s official opening. Accessibility is cited a key factor in the store design.
Apple says that the Today at Apple workshops offered there will include one on taking advantage of Apple Intelligence features …
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