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 new WhatsApp message threads feature appears to be on the way, after it was discovered in an app beta.
It follows a flurry of new features launched last month, comprising colorful chat themes, linked social media accounts, and ChatGPT support extending to images and voice messages …
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The UK competition watchdog has effectively told Apple that it must allow free and open competition between iPhone web browsers, but at the same time Safari cannot be better than its competitors.
Update: The final report is now out, with no change to the CMA’s stance.
Apple has responded by stating that making new features available within WebKit “would lead to free-riding” by developers creating competing browsers …
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John Gruber is one of the more high-profile Apple commenters, and generally takes a pretty upbeat view of the company, so it was a big surprise to see him launch a blistering attack on the iPhone maker.
Referring to Apple advertising Siri features which don’t yet exist, he argues that the company is “in disarray if not crisis,” is making “bullshit” claims, and has “squandered” its reputation with “a fiasco” …
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The upcoming iPhone 17 Air is expected to be all about sleekness – getting the thinnest iPhone ever, though at the expense of specifications.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo surprised everyone earlier this year when he suggested that the device may be even thinner than expected, and his view has now been echoed by another leaker …
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One of the most attention-grabbing aspects of the new M4 MacBook Air was the announcement of a new color: sky blue. While I’m of the view that gadgets should be silver or black, plenty of people clearly welcome the idea of more colorful MacBook Air models.
Only, reviewers all seem to agree that the new blue color isn’t very, well, either blue or colorful. So is it time for Apple to offer some truly colorful MacBook Air finishes … ?
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There have been a couple of previous reports suggesting that at least one iPhone 17 model will run cooler, thanks to a hi-tech liquid cooling system known as a vapor chamber. This has today been backed by a third one – though it’s uncertain which models will get the new feature.
While Apple chips have grown progressively more powerful each year, they can run hot when performing demanding tasks like running graphic-intensive games, forcing the device to reduce power …
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If you haven’t already ordered an M4 MacBook Air, you can still buy one today for immediate pickup, as orders go live for the new Macs and iPads.
The new sky blue base model seemed likely to be in high demand, but quick checks on countries in timezones where stores are open shows immediate availability …
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The first M4 MacBook Air reviews are out, and the consensus view appears to be that while it may not be an exciting update, it’s a lot of tech for the money – and is the Mac most people should buy.
The other thing reviewers agree on is that the new blue color is a whole new level of subtle, so don’t expect too much of a change in look from the silver …
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A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that iOS 19 could be getting a completely new look, in the biggest change since iOS 7 back in 2013. A similarly dramatic change is expected for macOS 16.
While the report is light on detail, the few clues it provide does make it sound like the upcoming software updates could almost a complete reversal of the flat look we’ve had for more than a decade …
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President Trump last month attacked the bipartisan CHIPS Act, seeking to dismantle it, and a new reports says that the White House now appears to have started work on doing so.
A chipmaker’s industry association – whose members include TSMC – held a call in which they expressed concerns about the impact on their plans for new US plants …
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If there’s one piece of advice that bears repeating about AI chatbots it’s “Don’t use them to seek factual information – they absolutely cannot be trusted to be right.”
A new study demonstrated the extent of the problem – but did show that Apple made a good choice in partnering with OpenAI’s ChatGPT for queries Siri can’t answer …
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By this point, we’re seeing a very consistent story emerging in terms of the iPhone 17 design for each of the four models – and a new video with 3D-printed mockups helps bring those designs to life.
The designs are based on CAD drawings first shared by Majin Bu and since endorsed by two other Apple leakers …
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The long wait for a smarter Siri is to get even longer, with some indications that the new features we were originally expecting in iOS 18.4 may now be pushed back to iOS 19.
Apple hasn’t provided any real explanation, but two theories have so far been put forward, and now a developer and data analyst has suggested that security concerns may be a third reason – and by far the biggest problem …
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Apple’s website is teasing a new Crocker Park retail store in Westlake, Ohio, with a three-sentence addition to the store’s listing.
Expand Expanding CloseGet ready. Great things are in store. A brand-new Apple Store is coming soon …
Multiple sources have reported Apple working on an 18.8-inch foldable iPad or MacBook, and a leaker today reports that there’s a prototype of the device with Face ID embedded beneath the display.
While more than one supply-chain source has pointed to signs of an 18.8-inch folding display, differing views have been expressed about whether the intended use is for an iPad Pro or MacBook …
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Reddit posts will be less likely to break the rules of a given subreddit, thanks to a number of changes the company is introducing to its apps.
These include the ability to ask an AI to check your post before you submit it …
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DuckDuckGo AI answers were first added to the privacy-focused search engine back in 2023, and have now finally exited beta – but you can still switch the feature off.
Also out of beta is free, private access to your choice of AI chatbot …
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While Apple has been in no hurry to launch a folding iPhone, it does now seem like we’re getting closer to the day when it finally happens.
Folding smartphones are never cheap, but a new report today suggests that the price could be even higher than some have anticipated, namely “above $2,000 and $2,500” …
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Apple’s first modem, the C1 chip, had one notable omission: there’s no support for mmWave 5G, the ultra-fast variant of 5G.
While I expressed my view at the time that this was no big deal, given that there’s been very limited rollout by carriers, it seems there may be a very specific reason for the decision …
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As expected, Apple today announced the M4 MacBook Air. It’s a spec-bump update, with unchanged design aside from a new color, so it’s not a compelling upgrade for existing owners of any Apple Silicon model.
However, if you’ve been considering a MacBook Air purchase as either your first model or a replacement for an older Intel one, this is a really good time to press the button …
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Update: CNBC reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has dismissed its lawsuit against the three lead banks, as the White House downsizes the consumer rights agency.
A high rate of Zelle scams originating from social media contacts has led JPMorgan Chase Bank to block payments made through social media networks and messaging apps. Chase said that Zelle was intended as a method of transferring money to family, friends, and other trusted contacts, and should never be used to make online purchases …
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Digg – once known as “the homepage of the internet” – is making a come-back, after being bought by its co-founder Kevin Rose in partnership with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
It’s an interesting move given that Reddit was a competitor who pretty much inherited that “homepage of the web” accolade. Also ‘interesting’ is the pair’s belief that most moderation can be done by AI …
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Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) is a privacy feature very few people have been using. Non-techies had never heard of it, and even some geeks hadn’t enabled it.
So Apple standing up to the UK government’s attack on ADP might not seem a big deal – but I’d argue that it’s way more important than it might seem, for three reasons …
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Yesterday’s TSMC announcement of a $100B investment in the US was notable for its lack of any specifics – including whether any of the money had been announced previously.
But a new investment note suggests that it could even represent a backwards step when it comes to making Apple chips in the US …
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