MacRumors

Multiple rumors about the iPhone 5se have suggested the device will resemble the iPhone 5s, but its exact design has been difficult to nail down because the same rumors have also pointed towards a curved iPhone 6-style display, hinting at two design styles that don't mix well.

Case maker's design drawings and schematics shared today by 9to5Mac and OnLeaks (via iGen.fr) give us a clearer picture of what the iPhone 5se may look like, depicting a design nearly identical to that of the iPhone 5s.

The iPhone 5se's dimensions are essentially the same as the dimensions of the iPhone 5s, measuring in at approximately 123.8mm tall, 58.6mm wide, and 7.6mm thick. In 9to5Mac's rendering, created from information obtained from a case maker, the power button has been moved to the side of the device, while OnLeak's schematic still has a power button at the top of the phone.

There's also conflicting information provided about the camera. The schematic depicts a protruding rear camera with a pill-shaped flash, while 9to5Mac says the iPhone 5se camera matches the camera of the iPhone 5s. It is unclear which is correct, but both agree on the general design of the device.

As for rumors of an iPhone 6-style curved cover glass, the iPhone 5se is said to have a display that curves slightly at the edges, but the curve isn't as dramatic as on Apple's newer devices.

In line with our sources have been saying since January, the case maker tells us that the edges of the device and the front glass panel are slightly curved around the edges, but not as curved as the sides of the iPhone 6 and 6s. Schematics shown on website iGeneration also show these curves, but do not show the relocated power switch.

The iPhone 5se will reportedly come in standard iPhone colors -- Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, and Gold -- which will make it nearly indistinguishable from an iPhone 5s at a distance. Its similarity to an iPhone 5s may explain why we have yet to see part leaks for the device despite its imminent launch date.

Case makers often put a lot of time and resources into nailing down the design of products ahead of their launch because being first to market with accessories for a new iOS device can be quite lucrative. Design drawings and schematics aren't accurate 100 percent of the time, but they often provide a clear look at upcoming product designs.

Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 5se at an event that's planned for March 15, with a launch set to take place just a few days later on March 18. Other features rumored for the iPhone 5se include an A9 processor, an improved camera, and NFC to enable Apple Pay.

The most recent beta of iOS 9.3, provided to developers and public beta testers earlier this week, fixes a bug that caused 64-bit iPhones and iPads to be disabled or "bricked" when the date was set to January 1, 1970.

Discovered in mid-February, the "1970" bug occurs whenever an iOS device's date is manually set to 1970, resulting in a continuous reboot cycle. Speculation has suggested the reboot loop is the result of an integer underflow that causes the iPhone to reset the date to the maximum value, a huge number that iOS devices may be unable to process.

With iOS 9.3 beta 4, the date on the iPhone or iPad can't be set beyond December 31, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. ET, which equates to 1/1/01 at 12:00 a.m. GMT. That effectively puts an end to the 1970 bug, which was used to trick some people into bricking their devices.

The beta also introduces a fix for devices that had been disabled by the bug. As explained on the MacRumors forums, devices stuck in boot loops were able to be restored to working order through a restore using iOS 9.3 beta 4.

This update fixed the 1970 date bug. Had two retail units stuck in boot loops do to some pricks setting the date to 1970 and restoring in DFU mode did not help. But restorting to this BETA update made both devices go back to normal.

Previously, there was no clear fix for devices that had been affected by the bug aside from disconnecting the battery, requiring users to go to the Genius Bar at an Apple retail store or attempt risky self-repairs. Apple promised a fix in an "upcoming software update," which appears to be iOS 9.3.

iOS 9.3 is currently only available to developers and public beta testers, but we may be nearing the end of the beta testing period. Apple has said the software will debut in the spring, and it's likely we will see it launch to the public following the company's rumored March 15 event where it is expected to introduce the iPhone 5se, the iPad Air 3, and new Apple Watch bands.

ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir recently sat down with Apple CEO Tim Cook for an interview airing tonight that covers Apple's ongoing dispute with the FBI.

In the interview, Cook will outline the reasons why Apple is objecting to the court order that would require it to help the FBI break into the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California.

Over the past two weeks, Apple and the United States government have been embroiled in a monumental dispute over privacy and encryption, stemming from the FBI's request that Apple develop new software to help it hack the passcode on Farook's iPhone 5c. Apple has refused to do so, saying the request sets a "dangerous precedent" that could lead to an overall weakening of encryption policies that endangers the privacy of tens of millions of American citizens.

Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.

We are challenging the FBI's demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.

Since the request was made public, Apple and the FBI have engaged in a very public sparring match. The FBI called Apple's refusal a "marketing strategy," while Apple shared details on an Apple ID password change that may have prevented the FBI from obtaining the desired information through an iCloud backup.

The interview will air on World News Tonight at 6:30 Eastern Time. Shortly after, the full show will be available on ABCNews.com.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee debuted its Gionee Elife S8 at Mobile World Congress this week, and the new device mimics the iPhone in both look and functionality. Available in silver, gold, and rose gold shades, the Elife S8's exterior design more closely resembles an Android device than an iPhone, but it does have a similar rear camera, a 5.5-inch screen, a body that's 7mm thick, a fingerprint sensor, and an aluminum body.

Most notably, it includes a pressure-sensitive display with built-in software features that look a lot like 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s. As described by BGR, the Elife S8 steals both Peek and Pop and Quick Actions from Apple. Pressing on an icon on the Home screen brings up a list of shortcuts, as seen in the image below. For example, a press on the camera app includes Quick Actions to take a snapshot, video, or selfie.

There are also Peek and Pop gestures for previewing content, and a press on the left edge of the screen brings up a list of "Edge" apps. This differs from Apple's multitasking functionality, but it's the same general idea. Several hands-on reviews of the Elife S8 have noted the "too close for comfort" similarities between 3D Touch and Gionee's pressure-sensitive display.

The Gionee Elife S8's other features include an octa-core Mediatek MT6755 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage with a micro SD card slot, a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It's priced at ~$500 and will be available to consumers in two months.

Gionee is not the first Android phone to include 3D Touch-like features. The Huawei Mate S has a pressure-sensitive display and launched ahead of the iPhone, but it does not attempt to copy the look of iOS or its specific implementation of 3D Touch. A pressure-sensitive display was also one of the features rumored for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, but the two phones launched earlier this week without the feature.

Siri will make its long-anticipated debut on Mac in OS X 10.12 later this year, following over three years of testing, according to 9to5Mac. The report claims Siri will have an icon in the OS X menu bar, and users will also be able to set a keyboard shortcut and configure other settings through System Preferences.

When a user clicks the Siri button, a dark, transparent Siri interface will appear in the top right corner of the screen, as shown in our mockup by Michael Steeber. This interface will feature colorful sound waves to indicate speech input. The interface design in testing is not finalized and may still change before the summer introduction, according to sources.

When the Mac is connected to power, users will also be able to make "Hey Siri" voice commands akin to the latest iPhones and iPads. Siri is expected to be one of the headline features of OS X 10.12, codenamed "Fuji," alongside other minor user interface tweaks. The changes will allegedly not be as significant as OS X Yosemite in 2014.

Apple launched Siri on the iPhone 4s in 2011, and it has since expanded the feature to select iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Apple Watch models. The virtual assistant can be used to make web searches, launch apps, look up sports scores, play music, check the weather, set calendar appointments, and more.

OS X 10.12 will likely be announced at WWDC in June ahead of a public launch in the fall.

Facebook today announced the rollout of its long-requested expansion of the simple "Like" button, with the introduction of "Reactions" onto its web and mobile platform. The update, meant to give users an easier and more diverse way to react to a friend's post, will begin slowly rolling out to Facebook users worldwide today.

To use Reactions, all you have to do is hover over the traditional Like button on the web (or tap to hold on mobile), and choose from six different animated emoji reactions if a simple thumbs up is not enough. Including Like, the other five Reactions factor in Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry.

We understand that this is a big change, and want to be thoughtful about rolling this out. For more than a year we have been conducting global research including focus groups and surveys to determine what types of reactions people would want to use most. We also looked at how people are already commenting on posts and the top stickers and emoticons as signals for the types of reactions people are already using to determine which reactions to offer.

Specifics on the introduction of Reactions to the mobile app were not given, but presumably the iOS and Android apps will see a slow rollout of Reactions alongside their web-based counterpart. Facebook said its early beta tests of Reactions "have received positive feedback so far," so it's confident users will see the use in an assorted mix of emotive responses in lieu of the previous solitary thumbs up button.

Check out Facebook's blog to see Reactions in action.

Today marks what would have been Steve Jobs' 61st birthday, and Apple fans around the world are once again remembering the late Apple co-founder and former CEO on Twitter and in our discussion forums.

Coincidentally, today also marks the 16th birthday of MacRumors, launched by Arnold Kim on February 24, 2000 -- before OS X, iPods, iPhones, iPads, and more. As always, we express our gratitude to the readers, contributors, volunteers, sponsors, and all those who allow us to continue sharing the latest Apple news and rumors.

Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976, and the roots of the company were based in the garage of his childhood home in Los Altos, California. He worked at Apple for 25 years, over two separate stints between 1976 and 2011, in addition to founding NeXT in 1985 and funding Pixar in 1986. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011 following a lengthy illness.

The early iOS 9.3 betas removed key functionality from the Apple Pencil, an unpopular move that eliminated its ability to be used for navigation. There were rumors suggesting the feature removal was intentional, but Apple today told The Verge that's not the case.

Apple has confirmed that the features that have been removed in iOS 9.3 will be returning in the next beta, and that they have been temporarily pulled as the company works on improvements.

"We believe a finger will always be the primary way users navigate on an iPad, but we understand that some customers like to use Apple Pencil for this as well and we've been working on ways to better implement this while maintaining compatibility during this latest beta cycle," a spokesperson said. "We will add this functionality back in the next beta of iOS 9.3."

Since the first iOS 9.3 beta, the Apple Pencil has not been able to be used for tasks like selecting text, scrolling, swiping between apps, accessing menus, and general editing functions in non-drawing apps. These are all features that are available in iOS 9.2, and their absence from four betas in a row led customers to think the removal was both permanent and intentional.

The inability to use the Apple Pencil for navigating has been frustrating for iPad Pro owners, and many of our own MacRumors readers said they would not upgrade to the new operating system if it meant being unable to use the iPad Pro outside of drawing apps.

DisplayMate Technologies has declared that Samsung's new Galaxy S7 has the "best smartphone display" it has ever tested, making a strong case for Apple's rumored shift to OLED displays within the next two to three years.

The in-depth display shoot-out found the Galaxy S7 display to be significantly better than the Galaxy S6, including increased brightness by up to 29 percent, improved screen visibility in bright environments, and more efficient power consumption.

The Galaxy S7's display now matches or exceeds the larger Galaxy Note 5's display in terms of brightness, color accuracy, and contrast rating in high ambient light. The results are impressive given the Galaxy S7's display area is scaled down by 20 percent.

The Galaxy S7 also uses sub-pixel rendering, which improves image sharpness by treating red, green, and blue sub-pixels as individual image elements. DisplayMate says the technology can make the screen appear to have up to 3 times the resolution of traditional pixel rendering.

The improvements are directly tied to Samsung's advancements in OLED display technologies, which have a number of significant advantages over LCD panels, including being thinner and lighter with thinner bezels, faster response times, better viewing angles, and always-on mode.

Many of the OLED performance advantages result from the fact that every single sub-pixel in an OLED display is individually directly powered, which results in better color accuracy, image contrast accuracy, and screen uniformity.

Because of their very flexible power management capabilities, OLEDs are not only more power efficient than LCDs for most image content, but they now deliver much higher peak Brightness than LCDs because of this. However, for mostly all white screen content LCDs are likely to remain brighter and more power efficient for a while.

Overall, OLED technology is becoming increasingly competitive with LCD technology. DisplayMate noted that LCDs remain more power efficient when displaying mostly white content, such as text on a white background, but OLEDs are more power efficient for more typical mixed image content.

iPhones have used various LCD display technologies since the original model launched in 2007, but multiple reports claim that the first OLED-based iPhone will be released by the end of 2018. By then, the display technology will likely have advanced even further, making it a suitable option for Apple.

Apple has reportedly been "consulting with display makers" about OLED technology to eliminate potential drawbacks, which currently range from shorter lifespans to higher manufacturing costs than LCD displays. Apple's only current OLED product is the Apple Watch, which has a much smaller 1.4" (38mm) to 1.7" (42mm) screen.

Read more about OLED displays in DisplayMate's Galaxy S7 shoot-out.