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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

Disney Epic Games partnership – and a return to the App Store?

Disney Epic Games partnership | Promo image

A Disney/Epic Games partnership announced this week may see the Fortnite developer return to the App Store despite the fractious relationship between Apple and Epic.

The collaboration will see new games featuring characters and stories across a range of Disney worlds, including Walt Disney, Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel …

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Apple joins AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) at request of White House

AI Safety Institute Consortium | Illustration of AI chip on circuit board

Apple is one of more than 200 companies and other organisations to join the US AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), at the request of the White House.

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidis are among the other companies to join the consortium in response to an executive order by President Biden to ensure that artificial intelligence is “safe, secure, and trustworthy” …

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Is Vision Pro a glimpse into the future of computing?

Is Vision Pro the future of computing? | Fernando Silva using Apple Vision Pro

Perhaps the primary question to be answered regarding Apple’s new spatial computer is: What is it for? And the bigger version of that question: Is Vision Pro a first step toward the future of computing?

Right now, in a world where relatively few people have even tried it, and even fewer of them have bought it, it’s clear that there’s nothing remotely approaching a consensus. Answers range from “Of course not, it’ll just be a short-lived gimmick” to “Absolutely, this will replace our Macs” …

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Apple AI work continues: Editing photos using text commands

Editing photos using text | An example of Apple's MGIE output, making a sunset more red

Apple’s AI work may be something of a slow-burn when it comes to Siri, but the company isn’t sitting back doing nothing. The company has just released an open-source AI model for editing photos using simple text commands – something which has been described as a breakthrough achievement.

Named MGIE – for Multimodal large language model Guided Image Editing – the model allows the user to use natural language to tell the editor what it is you want to achieve …

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New streaming sports service coming from ESPN, FOX, and Warner Bros Discovery

New streaming sports service | Sports stadium

It looks like sports fans are set for an extremely comprehensive all-in-one option. Disney-owned ESPN is partnering with FOX and Warner Bros Discovery to create a package of no fewer than 14 different channels.

The joint venture will offer access to thousands of games and events, across a diverse range of sports – and you’ll be able to bundle the new service with Disney+, Hulu, or Max …

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Zuckerberg’s AI announcement raises privacy and toxicity red flags

Zuckerberg's AI announcement | 3D representation of Meta logos

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI announcement has raised major concerns, after he said that the company had more user data than was used to train ChatGPT – and would soon be using it to train its own AI systems.

The company’s plan to use Facebook and Instagram posts and comments to train a competing chatbot raises concerns about both privacy and toxicity …

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Spotify paid users hit 236M, but company returns to losing money, amid Apple battle

Spotify paid users hit 236M | Mac app opening

Spotify reported a mix of good news and bad in its latest quarterly earnings report. The good news was that Spotify paid users hit 236M, up 4% on the previous quarter. Subscribers on the free ad-funded tier grew even more, up 5% to 602M.

The bad news was that the company, which managed a rare quarterly profit in Q3, returned to being a loss-making business in Q4 …

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Micro-LED Apple Watch Ultra might be pushed back even further, to 2027

Micro-LED Apple Watch Ultra | Existing model shown

A micro-LED Apple Watch Ultra has been variously predicted to launch in 2024, 2025, and 2026 – but a new report today suggests that it may slip to 2027, or even later.

The problem is said to be Apple’s hesitation over the high cost of the micro-LED screen, which suppliers have so far been unable to reduce to a more palatable level …

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Vision Pro review-in-progress describes some key wins & losses

Vision Pro review-in-progress | Headset on colorful background

Macworld’s Jason Cross sounds like he’s taking an approach along somewhat similar lines to my Apple product diaries with his Vision Pro review, saying that he’s going to take time before giving a verdict – and in the meantime share some of his early take-outs.

His initial thoughts describe some of the things that most impress him about the device – and some of the biggest problems he’s encountered so far …

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Casey Neistat Vision Pro video experience went from fun to feeling like the future

Casey Neistat Vision Pro | Wearing it in Times Square

A Casey Neistat Vision Pro video posted over the weekend was, he says, simply intended to be a piece of silly fun – wearing the device while catching metro trains and walking through Times Square.

But he said that in the course of making the video, he had a totally unexpected experience, which convinced him that this type of device is the future of computing …

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Vision Pro YouTube app now available from Apollo developer after Google refused

Unofficial Vision Pro YouTube app Juno

There’s no official Vision Pro YouTube app, as Google declined to create one, and also blocked the use of its iPad app, which could otherwise have been used.

But there’s now an unofficial YouTube app for Apple’s spatial computer, thanks to Christian Selig, best known as the creator of the now-dead Reddit client, Apollo

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Apple foldable could be an iPhone or iPad mini replacement, says confusing report

Apple foldable – iPhone or iPad mini (shown)

A supply chain report says that the first Apple foldable device could launch in 2026 or 2027 – later than some sources have suggested – but that it’s unclear whether it will be a folding iPhone or a replacement for the iPad mini.

Making sense of the report is challenging as there are so few details, and the author admits they don’t actually know what it means …

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