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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 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.

Connect with Ben Lovejoy

Back Market calls for end to fast tech, projected onto London’s flagship Apple Store

Back Market calls for end to fast tech, projected onto London's flagship Apple Store (shown)

If you want to promote the idea of buying refurbished tech rather than new, displaying your message on one of the world’s most iconic Apple Stores is a pretty good way to do it. Back Market projected its message on the exterior wall of London’s Covent Garden Store.

The projected message “Let’s end fast tech” is arguably mis-targeted, as Apple products are generally known for their longevity, but Back Market is calling for more thoughtful purchases and better re-use of discarded tech …

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Apple could remove AirDrop from EU iPhones as legal battle heats up

Apple could remove AirDrop from EU iPhones as legal battle heats up | AirDrop contacts exchange shown

The legal battle between Apple and the European Union is showing no signs of easing up. A possible consequence of the latest round is that Apple could end up removing AirDrop functionality from iPhones sold in the EU.

Apple has appealed a key part of the Digital Markets Act that would require it to make certain features available to third-party companies, and given its hardline attitude so far, there could be significant consequences if it loses the case …

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At least Apple Intelligence doesn’t tell addicts to take meth …

At least Apple Intelligence doesn't tell addicts to take meth | Two AI figures look at each other

The leisurely pace of Apple’s AI efforts has come under increasing fire, with the company accused of being behind the curve. But a new study on the dangers of AI chatbots suggests that other companies are not being cautious enough.

OpenAI had to recall a recent ChatGPT update, after it tried too hard to agree with users, resulting in an experience which was both absurd and awkward – but the problem is bigger than that …

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Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs admit to ‘dark’ side of tech, in joint interview

Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs admit to 'dark' side of tech, in joint interview | Low-key photo of iPhone

Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs – founder and president of the Emerson Collective, and Steve’s widow – have acknowledged that the iPhone played a role in the “dark” side of technology.

Ive has also said that his mysterious hardware AI device would not be happening without the support and investment of Powell Jobs …

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Whatever side you favor in Apple’s court battles, can we all agree on this one thing?

Whatever the App Store antitrust battles, can we all agree on this one thing? | 3D App Store icon

Apple has for years been fighting antitrust battles all around the world, most of them concerning the App Store, and most of them coming down to a single issue: having monopoly control over the sale of iPhone apps.

Opinions on both sides of the debate are strongly held, and there’s little sign of that changing anytime soon – but it seems to me that there is one thing we could perhaps all agree on …

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iOS 26 is a huge improvement – but there’s one big problem

iOS 26 is a huge improvement – but there’s one big problem

One of the bigger leaks from Bloomberg is that what we’ve all been anticipating as iOS 19 will instead be branded as iOS 26 (aka 2026).

In other words, Apple is switching from sequential naming to year-based naming. I think that’s a great idea – but not the silly car-maker business of using next year, for a very practical reason …

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Federal court blocks Trump tariffs; worst-case iPhone cost would exceed $4k

Federal court blocks Trump tariffs, as worst-case iPhone cost exceeds $4k | Apple slide reading 'No' in huge letters

The ongoing saga of potential tariffs on iPhones continues. After Trump threatened Apple with an additional 25% tariff on iPhones, the worst-case scenario could see the cost of the most expensive model in the line-up exceed $4,000.

However, a federal court has ruled that the president doesn’t actually have the legal authority to impose tariffs at all, let alone the most extreme ones he has threatened, and has vacated the executive orders issued so far …

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Logic Pro update adds guitar and piano stems, new sound packs – and can even recover tracks you didn’t save

Logic Pro update adds guitar and piano stems, new sound packs – and can even recover tracks you didn't save | Screengrabs on Mac and iPad

Apple has today updated Logic Pro for both Mac and iPad, with an improved stem splitter now able to separate guitar and piano tracks from existing recordings, new sound packs, and even the ability to rescue you if you forgot to save a track.

The Learn MIDI feature has also come to iPad for the first time, letting you easily assign functions to knobs, faders, and buttons on MIDI devices …

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Even as a minimalist, I’m looking forward to a more dimensional iOS 19

Even as a minimalist, I'm looking forward to a more dimensional iOS 19 | Overlapping, translucent colorful rings graphic

While I’m neither religious nor extreme about it – my entire belongings do not fit into a backpack – I’m still one of the most minimalist people I know. Where both household items and design are concerned, I’m relatively close to the less-is-more end of the scale.

But even I ended up feeling that iOS 7 had taken things a bit too far. I did enjoy the very stark aesthetic for a time, but I’m very much looking forward to something a little more interesting in iOS 19

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iPads get Apple Self Service Repair support, for relatively recent models

iPads get Apple Self Service Repair support, for relatively recent models | iFixit teardown of M4 iPad Pro

Apple’s Self Service Repair program first launched for iPhone back in 2021, after the company did a u-turn on the right to repair. It expanded to MacBooks in 2023, and from tomorrow will be available for iPad too.

Support will be limited to relatively limited models. Apple has also recently launched a Genuine Parts Distributor program, which allows any repair business to order components directly from the company …

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Nothing CEO says Apple no longer creative; smartphone future is a single app

Nothing CEO says Apple no longer creative; smartphone future is a single app | Apple logo in a colorful glass shape

Nothing Technology numbers ‘father of the iPod‘ Tony Fadell among its key investors, but Carl Pei – CEO of the British smartphone company – thinks today’s Apple has grown boring.

Pei also believes the future of smartphones is a single app that knows you well, but thinks it will take 7-10 years to reach that point …

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ChatGPT and Mac app integrations point to an exciting future

ChatGPT and Mac app integrations point to an exciting future | Mac keyboard with glowing AI key

The long-term promise of Apple Intelligence and next-gen Siri is that it will be able to access all our apps, and the data stored in those apps, to become massively more helpful.

ChatGPT has effectively given us a preview of this type of capability through its integration with a handful of Mac apps, and I’ve been putting it to the test …

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The io device is mysterious and important – what could it be?

The io device is mysterious and important – what could it be? | ChatGPT's imagining shown

Jony Ive and Sam Altman yesterday released a strong candidate for most frustrating video of the year: promising a completely new concept in AI hardware, but giving very little clue as to what it might be.

I transcribed the video to see whether I could spot any clues, in conjunction with other things the two have said. I think we can draw some pretty safe conclusions about what it’s not – and there are one or two clues about what it is

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Apple logins with plain text passwords found in massive database of 184M records

Apple logins with plain text passwords found in massive database of 184M records | Close-up photo of the inside of a hard drive

Apple login credentials were among a massive database of 184 million records found sitting unprotected on a web server. Other logins included Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, and PayPal.

The owner of the database is unclear, but the security researcher who discovered it says that it amounts to “a cybercriminal’s dream working list” …

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