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.
One of the questions raised by the iPhone 16e naming is whether it points to an annual update to the entry-level iPhone, with an iPhone 17e following next year.
A leaker who got early wind of the the iPhone 16e name says there are already signs that this may be the case, with a codename believed to reference next year’s model …
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In a world in which privacy is a hot-button issue, we might have expected Brits to be outraged that their government was responsible for Apple withdrawing Advanced Data Protection from the UK. In reality, it’s gone largely unremarked.
A new Bloomberg piece suggests that’s because people care far less about privacy than they claim. While I do think there’s some truth to that, it’s not the primary reason …
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A new market intelligence report indicates that Mac market share grew at a faster rate that the top three PC brands during the final quarter of last year.
Apple also dominates the AI-capable computer market, with a 45% share against 15% for the nearest Windows PC competitor …
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At least nine US states are considering legislation that would make app store owners like Apple and Google responsible for age verification before giving access to apps with minimum age requirements. Currently the legal responsibility lies with developers.
The issue is most applicable to social media apps, which typically have a minimum age of 13, and is an approach advocated by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg …
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Susan Kare is the artist best known for creating the original Macintosh iconography which played such an important role in making the computer appear friendly to non-tech users. The Happy Macintosh, Dogcow, and error bomb were among her creations.
She already offered a range of prints and other artworks based on those pixelated memories, and has now added to them with some similarly-styled keycaps in silver and gold …
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A months-long iPhone 16 ban in Indonesia finally looks set to be lifted, after Apple reportedly agreed to increase its billion dollar investment in the country. The launch of the iPhone 16e would have further added to pressure on the Cupertino company to agree a deal.
The latest report says that Apple will sign an agreement with the Indonesian government later this week, with an official lifting of the ban set to be announced immediately afterwards …
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Apple famously likes to take its time with most forms of new tech, preferring to be best rather than first, and that’s been true of a folding iPhone.
The company reportedly hasn’t been impressed with the quality of Android models to date, with one issue in particular most bothering the iPhone maker …
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Meta community notes are expected to launch within the next couple of months, after the social network announced it would be ending its own fact-checking program because facts are so 2015. You can now apply to be a contributor to these, signing up on one of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Meantime, X owner Elon Musk appears to be threatening the impartiality of his platform’s community notes, announcing plans to “fix” the feature …
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While there have been some differences of opinion between leakers in the past, three high-profile ones have all endorsed the same CAD drawing of the complete iPhone 17 line-up.
The drawing shows the three completely different camera layouts expected for the base iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Air, and the two iPhone 17 Pro models …
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A technicality had previously given the impression that Apple approved of a porn app being made available to iPhone users in the EU via a third-party app store.
That lead to some misleading headlines, but Apple has now solved the problem by changing three words in the email sent to developers …
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I guess I’m far from alone in having non-techy friends ask my advice on which Apple device to buy. I always start by asking what’s important to them, and what they want to do with it.
For Macs, my advice changed significantly after the launch of the M1 MacBook Air. Prior to that, my answer to the question “which Mac should I buy for basic tasks like email, web, and writing” was quite often “buy an iPad and keyboard instead” …
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NSO’s Pegasus spyware is one of the most frightening privacy threats an iPhone owner can face. Without you taking any action at all, it’s able to completely take over your phone, accessing almost all of the personal data stored on it, and some versions have been able to activate cameras and microphones.
Pegasus exploits zero-day vulnerabilities – security holes Apple doesn’t yet know about – but the iPhone maker has another way to fight back …
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The iPhone 16e represents a huge change from the third-gen iPhone SE it replaces. A modern design, OLED screen, Face ID, latest(ish) A18 chip, Apple Intelligence, 48MP camera sensor, 26-hour battery, USB-C, C1 modem, and more.
But there’s one other huge difference, and it’s this one which I think makes the latest entry-level iPhone a crucial experiment for the Cupertino company …
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Apple achieved a major milestone yesterday, when it launched an iPhone with its own in-house modem instead of a Qualcomm one: the C1 chip.
This has been a key goal for the company for a great many years for two reasons, so finally ticking the box is a pretty big moment …
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The rumors turned out to be correct, even if most were styling it with a capital E rather than a lower-case one: the iPhone SE 4 is officially named the iPhone 16e.
One question is what the e stands for. Apple has often been vague about the meaning of suffices like S, R, and SE when appended to various iPhone models, but it did provide an answer this time …
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Trump’s 10% tariff on all imports from China – payable in addition to any existing duties – is now in effect, and is starting to be reflected in US prices.
The tariff is paid by US businesses and consumers when goods arrive from China, with companies forced to choose between passing it on to consumers in the form of higher prices, or absorbing the costs and taking a hit to their profit margin …
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Wireless reverse charging is a long-awaited feature which we know Apple has been working on for a long time, and which it partly implemented back in 2020. However, it hasn’t been fully activated in any iPhone model, despite widespread adoption in Android smartphones.
Our own sources have indicated that Apple is working on a more advanced version, and a new report says that the feature is currently being tested in prototypes of the iPhone 17 Pro …
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Apple CEO Tim Cook recently revealed that a product announcement will be happening today, and it seems 99% certain that’s the 4th-generation iPhone SE – which some reports have suggested will instead be named the iPhone 16E.
A leaker with a decent track record has added his vote to the iPhone 16E (or 16e) naming, though his post is effectively third-hand …
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Apple’s plan to boost iPhone production in India from an estimated 15% of global production today to 25% by 2027 is being deliberately hampered by the Chinese government, according to new reports.
China is reportedly using a mix of three measures to make it harder for Apple’s manufacturing partners to transfer production to India …
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We reported yesterday the launch of the Grok 3 chatbot, which is only available if you have an X Premium+ subscription. That cost $22/month at the time, but that’s now been more than doubled to $50/month – though X seems a little confused about its own prices …
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A new render aims to visualize a potential iPhone 17 Pro design, with a full-width camera module replacing the current offset square.
3D artist and developer Asher Dipprey previously shared the renders in a video, which was restricted to his Patreon members …
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Plans for a Reddit paywall of some kind have now been confirmed by CEO Steve Huffman, after hints about it last summer.
Huffman confirmed the plan for paid subreddits during a pre-recorded Ask Me Anything video shown during the company’s earnings call …
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Social network X is blocking links to shared contact details on encrypted messaging app Signal. Links to signal.me are blocked even in direct messages …
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A new report suggests that Apple and Meta could end up competing in the humanoid robots field. The social media company is said to be making “significant investment” in this product category, with a focus on household chores.
But if Apple does proceed with its own reported domestic robot plans, the Cupertino company could have a huge advantage …
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