Following today's Apple event that saw the 4-inch iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and new Apple Watch bands and pricing announced, members of the press have been invited for hands-on time with the new products.
The new iPhone SE looks almost identical to the iPhone 5s, beyond the switch to matte-chamfered edges and a color-matched stainless steel Apple logo on the rear.
The new 4-inch smartphone retains a 3.5mm headphone jack, despite rumors that Apple will switch to an all-in-one Lightning connector on the iPhone 7 due later this year.
A closer look at the iPhone SE's new matte-chamfered edges (Image: The Verge)
iPhone SE is available in the same four colors offered across most of Apple's newer product lineups: Gold, Silver, Space Gray, and Rose Gold.
16GB and 64GB models can be purchased for $399 and $499 respectively. The 16GB model is also free when subsidized with a two-year carrier contract. Financing plans are available from $17 per month.
The new iPad Pro also looks virtually identical to its larger 12.9-inch sibling, with the only noticeable difference being the tablet's smaller 9.7-inch screen akin to iPad Air.
A side-by-side comparison of the new 9.7" iPad Pro (right) and 12.9" iPad Pro (left) (Image: The Verge)
The smaller iPad Pro has adopted many of the same pro-level features, including an Oxide TFT display, Smart Connector, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, and the same positioning of other ports and buttons.
The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro comes in four colors: Silver, Gold, Space Gray and Rose Gold. Pricing starts at $599 for 32GB of storage with Wi-Fi only, while 128GB and a new 256GB option will be available for $749 and $899 respectively. Pre-orders begin March 24 and shipments to customers will start March 31.
Apple has introduced a Lightning to USB-C Cable to its online accessory store that lets users connect their iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to a computer’s USB-C port for syncing and charging.
Significantly, the cable can be used with an Apple 29W USB-C Power Adapter to take advantage of the fast charging feature on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but not the brand new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which lacks the fast-charge capability.
The new adapter will be a welcome option for iPhone and iPad owners who also own a 12-inch MacBook, which uses a 29W USB-C Power Adapter.
The cable comes in 1-meter and 2-meter lengths, costing $25 and $35 respectively, and both are shipping immediately. Apple’s 29w USB-C Power Adapter is separately available for $49.
Apple today released new software for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 2 from version 2.1 to version 2.2. WatchOS 2.2, which has been in testing since January 11, comes more than three months after the release of watchOS 2.1 and brings a couple of important new features alongside bug fixes and performance improvements.
The 2.2 update can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
WatchOS 2.2, along with iOS 9.3, introduces support for pairing multiple Apple Watches with a single iPhone. Both updates are required, and each watch paired with an iPhone running iOS 9.3 must have watchOS 2.2 installed.
There are few other outward-facing changes included in watchOS 2.2, but the update brings improvements and a new look to the built-in Maps app. Maps now supports the Nearby feature first introduced with iOS 9, allowing users to quickly locate local points of interest, and it has new buttons for quickly accessing directions to home and work.
Along with multi-watch support and a revamped Maps app, watchOS 2.2 also brings under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes to address issues that have been discovered since the release of watchOS 2.1.
Apple today released tvOS 9.2 to the public, marking the second major update to the tvOS operating system since the fourth-generation Apple TV was released in October. tvOS 9.2 has been in beta since January 11 and brings a slew of new features that were introduced throughout the testing period.
tvOS 9.2 can be downloaded over-the-air through the Settings app on the Apple TV 4 by opening the System section and choosing the Software Update option.
tvOS 9.2 brings two new text input methods -- dictation and Bluetooth keyboards -- to the fourth-generation Apple TV, making it much easier to insert passwords and search for content like apps, movies, and television shows. Bluetooth keyboard support is a major feature that was missing from previous versions of tvOS, a curious absence as the Apple TV 4 has supported Bluetooth gaming controllers since launch.
With dictation support, Apple TV users can dictate text for tasks like spelling user names and passwords instead of typing them in. Dictation capabilities are available in all countries where Siri is available on the Apple TV. Bluetooth keyboard support and dictation join the Siri remote and the Apple TV iOS app as ways to interface with the Apple TV 4.
In tvOS 9.2, apps can be grouped into folders, making it possible to create a more organized iOS-style Home screen, and there's also a new look for the App Switcher interface.
Full support for iCloud Photo Library is included, so Apple TV users can access all of their photos on the device, including Live Photos taken with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Photo Stream was the only available photo option prior to tvOS 9.2, and iCloud Photo Library can be turned on through the Settings app.
Siri's capabilities are expanded in tvOS 9.2, a change that may be the most welcome to most Apple TV users. Siri is now able to search the App Store, improving app discovery. Using Siri, searches can be made for specific apps or categories of apps, like social media or games.
After installing tvOS 9.2, Apple TV owners will be prompted to update their Siri Remotes with new firmware. The update will improve motion sensor performance within games and apps and it adds support for additional sound bar and receiver hardware.
Other new features in tvOS 9.2 include support for MapKit, so developers can incorporate maps into their tvOS apps, and additional Siri languages. Siri supports US Spanish (in the US only) and French Canadian (in Canada only). UK English, Australian English, and US English are available as options in the UK, Australian, and US Storefronts when English is set as the tvOS language.
With today's update, the fourth-generation Apple TV is gaining sorely needed features to improve the overall user experience, so Apple TV owners will likely want to install the new software right away.
Apple today released iOS 9.3 to the public, marking the third significant update to the iOS 9 operating system since it launched in September of 2015. iOS 9.3 has been in testing since January 11 with new features, refinements, and bug fixes added throughout the beta testing period.
iOS 9.3 is available immediately to all iOS 9 users as an over-the-air update. It can also be downloaded through iTunes on the Mac and PC.
As a major update to the iOS 9 operating system, iOS 9.3 introduces several new functions, important bug fixes, and feature refinements. Perhaps the biggest change is the introduction of Night Shift mode, designed to reduce the amount of blue light iOS users are exposed to in the evening by shifting the iPhone or iPad display to a warmer (yellower) color spectrum.
Apple today released OS X 10.11.4 to the public, marking the launch of the third update to the El Capitan operating system that was first released on September 30. In testing since January 11, OS X 10.11.4 comes two months after the release of OS X 10.11.3.
The OS X 10.11.4 update is available to all OS X El Capitan users and can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
OS X 10.11.4 introduces Live Photos support in the Messages app, expanding the number of ways Live Photos can be viewed on a Mac. Prior to OS X 10.11.4, Live Photos could only be viewed through the Mac Photos app. Live Photos in Messages are denoted by the concentric circle icon that marks a Live Photo, and a click on a Live Photo will bring up a mini photo viewer that will play the photo animation.
The update includes support for password protected Notes, a feature that is also available within iOS 9.3. With password protection, individual notes within the Notes app can be locked with a password that must be entered before content can be viewed. Also new is an option to import notes from other note-taking apps like Evernote.
Aside from the minor new features in Notes an Messages, OS X 10.11.4 includes no other obvious outward-facing changes, instead focusing primarily on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes to address issues that have surfaced since the launch of OS X 10.11.3. Here's a full list of features and bug fixes included, according to the release notes:
- Adds the ability to passcode-protect notes containing personal data in Notes - Adds the ability to sort notes alphabetically, by date created, or date modified in Notes - Adds the ability to import Evernote files into Notes - Adds support for sharing Live Photos between iOS and OS X via AirDrop and Messages - Addresses an issue that may cause RAW images to open slowly in Photos - Adds the ability for iBooks to store PDFs in iCloud, making them available across all your devices - Fixes an issue that prevented loading Twitter t.co links in Safari - Prevents JavaScript dialogs from blocking access to other webpages in Safari - Fixes an issue that prevented the VIPs mailbox from working with Gmail accounts - Fixes an issue that caused USB audio devices to disconnect - Improves the compatibility and reliability of Apple USB-C Multipart Adapters
Almost all of Apple's OS X El Capitan updates have been focused on improving performance rather than introducing new features and OS X 10.11.4 is no exception.
Apple today announced the iPhone SE, a new 4-inch iPhone that boasts many of the same features as the company's larger iPhone 6s.
The iPhone SE features the A9 chip and the same embedded M9 motion co-processor as Apple's flagship 4.7-inch phone, for double the CPU performance of the iPhone 5s, which was Apple's last 4-inch handset. The new phone also packs the same graphics capabilities of the larger iPhone 6s, meaning it has three times faster GPU performance compared to the iPhone 5s.
The iPhone SE features Apple's latest 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera. Thanks to the improved camera, 63-megapixel panoramas can be captured and 4K video at 30 FPS is supported. The new handset also features a 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime camera with a True Tone Retina Flash feature that lights up the display of the iPhone significantly more than usual, just before a photo is captured.
The iPhone SE features faster LTE and 802.11ac Wi-Fi at up to 150 Mbps and 433 Mbps respectively. The device supports up to 19 LTE bands and also comes with iOS 9.3, Apple Pay, VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling, new microphones, Live Photos support, always-on "Hey Siri" voice activation, and improved battery life.
The iPhone SE will be available to order from March 24 and begin shipping on March 31. First wave launch countries include the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
Prices begin at $399 for the 16GB version, while the 64GB version will cost $499. A two-year contract is free for the 16GB version and financing starts at $17/month for the same model. Four colors are available with matte chamfered edges: Silver, Gold, Space Gray, and Rose Gold.
The new iPhone SE will be available in over 100 countries by the end of May.
Apple today announced a new iPad in the iPad Pro family, debuting the 9.7-inch iPad Pro with all of the features of the existing 12.9-inch iPad Pro, including the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro even has a few improved features over the 12.9-inch version, including a True Tone display and better rear and front-facing cameras.
"iPad Pro is a new generation of iPad that is indispensable and immersive, enabling people to be more productive and more creative. It's incredibly fast, extremely portable, and completely natural to use with your fingers, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. And now it comes in two sizes," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has a new Retina display with True Tone technology, four-speaker audio system, blazing fast A9X chip, 12-megapixel iSight camera, 5-megapixel FaceTime HD camera, faster wireless, and support for Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. It is the ultimate upgrade for existing iPad users and replacement for PC users."
Described by Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller as "the ultimate PC replacement," the 9.7-inch iPad Pro uses the same display components as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro -- custom timing controller, photo alignment, and oxide TFT -- resulting in a display that's 40 percent less reflective and 25 percent brighter than the display in the iPad Air 2. It also has a wider color gamut with 25 percent greater color saturation for more vivid colors. Like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's display includes support for the Apple Pencil.
Unique to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is a True Tone display that uses four-channel ambient light sensors to measure the color temperature of the ambient environment, changing the temperature of the tablet's display to match. The feature goes hand-in-hand with Night Shift, the blue light reduction mode in iOS 9.3.
Measuring in at 6.1mm, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro weighs less than a pound. Design wise, it looks like a smaller 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with four speakers for improved audio and a Smart Connector for use with accessories like the new Smart Keyboard. Inside, there's an A9X chip that offers incredible performance and a long battery life, plus there's support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi With MIMO technology, faster LTE advanced, and the Apple SIM to connect to LTE networks while traveling.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has an improved 12-megapixel camera, with Focus Pixels for faster focusing, a better image signal processor, advanced noise reduction, and better face detection. It's the same camera used in the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, with support for 5K video, 63-megapixel panoramas, and Live Photos. There's also a rear-facing flash, the first flash included in an iPad. Apple has also improved the front-facing camera, introducing a 5-megapixel FaceTime HD camera with a front-facing Retina Flash feature.
The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro comes in four colors: Silver, Gold, Space Gray and Rose Gold. Pricing starts at $599 for 32GB of storage, with 128GB and a new 256GB option available for $749 and $899, respectively. Cellular models are also available in 32GB ($729), 128GB ($879), and 256GB ($1,029) configurations.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be available to order beginning Thursday, March 24, from Apple.com, and in Apple's retail stores, through select carriers and Apple Authorized Resellers on Thursday, March 31, in Australia, Canada, China (Wi-Fi models only), France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK, US Virgin Islands and the US.
The Apple Pencil for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro continues to be available for $99. The Smart Keyboard designed for the smaller tablet is priced at $149.
Apple is continuing to sell the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, dropping the price to $399, and the company has added a new 12.9-inch iPad with 256GB of storage for $1,099 for Wi-Fi only and $1,229 for Wi-Fi + Cellular.
At its media event in Cupertino today, Apple announced that iOS 9.3 will begin to rollout as a free update to users worldwide today. As previously announced thanks to betas of the software, the update will bring new features to iOS, mainly centering around Night Shift.
Updates to older apps like Apple News will see some small UI shifts to highlight breaking news stories, and the company announced that its CarPlay features will continue to appear on a wide array of vehicles in the coming year. Also briefly touched upon in iOS 9.3 was a featured called "Education," which will allow teachers and administration access to organizational features inside of classrooms on devices like the iPad.
At Apple's March 2016 event today in its Cupertino headquarters, the company announced a brand new band material for its Apple Watch: woven nylon. Apple also announced several new colors for other Apple Watch bands, including a black Milanese Loop. The Apple Watch will also see a price drop, with the Apple Watch Sport now starting at $299.
The new woven nylon bands, which are the signature addition to the new "spring collection" of Apple Watch bands, are priced at $49 and come in 7 colors: Gold / Red, Gold / Royal Blue, Royal Blue, Pink, Pearl, Scuba Blue and Black.
Other new bands include Red and Marine Blue Classic Buckles, Marigold and Blue Jay Modern Buckles, White and Storm Gray Leather Loops, Space Black Milanese Loop, and Yellow, Apricot and Royal Blue Sport Bands.
During today's "Let Us Loop You In" media event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, the company unveiled a new software framework called "CareKit" that will allow developers to build apps to "empower people to take on an active role in their care." iPhone apps that support the new framework will allow for users to easily track their symptoms and medication to help provide an overall wider view of their health.
The app will have a care card, symptom and measurement tracker, an insight dashboard, and the ability to share medical information with doctors and family members. Since CareKit will be open sourced, developers will be able to continue to iterate on the abilities of these first four modules designed by Apple.
• Care Card helps people track their individual care plans and action items, such as taking medication or completing physical therapy exercises. Activities can automatically be tracked and entered using sensors in Apple Watch® or iPhone;
• Symptom and Measurement Tracker lets users easily record their symptoms and how they’re feeling, like monitoring temperature for possible infections or measuring pain or fatigue. Progress updates could include simple surveys, photos that capture the progression of a wound or activities calculated by using the iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope, like quantifying range of motion;
• Insight Dashboard maps symptoms against the action items in the Care Card to easily show how treatments are working; and
• Connect makes it easy for people to share information and communicate with doctors, care teams or family members about their health and any change in condition.
Apple also announced a few updates to its ResearchKit framework that will allow developers to incorporate the study of genetic data into iPhone apps. Among the new fields of study allowed by the updates are postpartum depression, cardiovascular disease, and asthma. ResearchKit studies continue to expand and are now being conducted in Australia, Austria, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
Apple's "Let Us Loop You In" event kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time today, and we're expecting to see several product announcements including a new 4-inch "iPhone SE," an updated 9.7-inch iPad perhaps branded as an "iPad Pro," and a few updates for the Apple Watch line, although upgrades to the watch itself will not be coming today.
We're also expecting to see a full set of operating system upgrades today, as Apple has been beta testing iOS 9.3, OS X 10.11.4, tvOS 9.2, and watchOS 2.2 for several months now. Today's event is being held at the Town Hall auditorium on Apple's headquarters campus in Cupertino.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website and via Apple TV.
In addition to Apple's video stream, we will be updating this article with live blog coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the keynote unfolds. Highlights from the event and separate news stories regarding today's announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with Apple news and rumors.
Apple's online stores around the world are currently down in advance of the event.
Archive of Live Updates in Reverse Chronological Order
Ahead of Apple's court date with the Federal Bureau of Investigation tomorrow, Bloomberg has taken a dive into the company's history with the FBI to chart the buildup to the heated battle over security and encryption on smartphones. The timeline begins with Apple's introduction of iOS 8 in June of 2014, with Apple subsequently providing the FBI early access so the law enforcement agency "could study how the new system would change evidence-gathering techniques" ahead of the public release of iOS 8 in September of that year.
High-ranking officials at the FBI quickly learned that iOS 8 introduced a new form of encryption into the software that prevented any government agent, or Apple itself, from accessing data stored on the smartphone.
With that significant change in iOS 8, the relationship between Apple and the FBI began to destabilize, but the government didn't have enough backing to support legislation that would help it bypass the encrypted features of the new iOS. But with the San Bernardino terrorist attack last December, the FBI had a foothold to help it take the encryption issue public.
"The reason the relationship went south is the government was expecting some degree of accommodation on the part of the technology companies," said Timothy Edgar, the former director of privacy and civil liberties for the White House National Security Staff from 2009 to 2010. "They were expecting the companies to essentially back down and not go forward with new security measures that would make it impossible for you to access devices or communications. They were caught off guard by basically being told to get lost."
According to one of Bloomberg's sources, the government's first cause for concern with Apple's encryption actually began all the way back in 2010 when the company launched the encrypted video messaging service FaceTime, followed by iMessage in 2011. With the apps making it impossible for the FBI to even peek into criminal activity, the government was rapidly being made aware of "how much of a premium Apple put on privacy."
A few attempts at legislation that would allow the FBI to access encrypted data on smartphones with a court order were made sometime in 2013, but subsequently abandoned following the Edward Snowden controversy that year. According to Timothy Edgar, the former director of privacy and civil liberties for the White House, "there was a real split" in the administration regarding the encryption legislation.
When it became clear that the administration wouldn't support a new law that would help investigators gain access to iPhones and other devices, many FBI agents became frustrated and disappointed. Some recalled that the bureau was pilloried for not connecting the dots to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to Leo Taddeo, the former special agent in charge of the New York FBI special operations and cyber division.
That sequence of events and the subsequent San Bernardino shooting ultimately led the government to take the issue public and seek a court order for Apple to unlock Syed Farook's iPhone, leading to Tim Cook's non-compliance letter, and the court date with the FBI on March 22. According to Edgar, now a senior fellow at Brown University, "Lawyers think privacy is you can't listen to my conversation without a warrant; technologists think privacy is you can't listen to my conversation, period. It's hard to reconcile those two points of view."
Apple has said that if the courts rule in favor of the FBI in the encryption case, it's ready to take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. More recently, some Apple engineers have stated that if the company is forced to unlock the San Bernandino iPhone, they may decide to not comply with the ruling.
Check out Bloomberg's full story for more of the history between Apple and the FBI ahead of tomorrow's court date.
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.
A nearly five-year-old design patent trial between Apple and Samsung has reached a new level, as the U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear Samsung's appeal of a lower court decision that ordered the South Korean electronics maker to pay a $548 million settlement to its Cupertino-based rival in December.
According to Reuters, Samsung plans to appeal what it believes are "excessive penalties" for allegedly "copying the patented designs of the iPhone," including the smartphone's rounded rectangular bezel and colorful grid of icons. The 2011 lawsuit targeted select Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets.
Samsung has already paid the $548 million settlement to Apple, but it can obtain reimbursement if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses or modifies the original judgment. Apple had urged the high court to deny the appeal, accusing Samsung of raising issues that do not "deserve review" in an effort to prolong court proceedings.
The appeal will likely delay a damages retrial that was scheduled to begin later this month in the Northern District of California, according to FOSS Patents.
Manufacturers of counterfeit Apple products often go to great lengths to make their knock-offs look genuine, which brings the added risk of concealing potentially dangerous flaws in substituted electrical components.
In the past we've covered the efforts manufacturers go to when counterfeiting iPhone and iPad chargers, courtesy of product teardowns on Ken Shirrif's technology blog. Now, a new post on Shirrif's site offers a detailed teardown and analysis of the differences between a counterfeit MacBook charger and a genuine unit, providing a great example of how cosmetic similarities can hide major safety defects.
A counterfeit MagSafe 45W charger (left) and a genuine 60W charger (right).
Shirrif notes that counterfeit chargers he's examined in the past have usually had external flaws that give them away, but that this latest MacBook charger knock-off almost had him fooled, too.
The exterior text on this charger was correct, no "Designed by Abble" or "Designed by California". It had a metal ground pin, which fakes often exclude. It had the embossed Apple logo on the case. The charger isn't suspiciously lightweight. Since I've written about these errors in fake chargers before, I half wonder if the builders learned from my previous articles.
Only when Shirrif cracks open the charger are the differences laid bare. A real Apple charger is packed full of complex circuitry, but the counterfeit contains a fairly low density board that uses a simpler power supply with a dangerously small isolation gap between the AC input and the low-voltage output.
Shirrif also identifies a distinct lack of insulation tape between the two voltages on the circuit board, a metal grounding pin not connected to anything, and a fluctuating power output. See his post for the full comparison.
Three years ago, a Chinese woman was electrocuted by a counterfeit charger while charging her iPhone, highlighting the significant dangers these products pose to consumers. Users who suspect they have a counterfeit charger can take part in Apple's third-party charger takeback program to safely dispose of the adapters.
Apple's special event starts at 10 a.m. Pacific, with a live stream (spoiler free) available on Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV. MacRumors will also have full coverage of the event, with a live blog on our front page and updates in 140 characters or less through our @MacRumorsLive account on Twitter.
We'll also have specific coverage of today's announcements in separate news stories, and our community forums are a great place for readers to discuss the announcements before, during, and after the event. Be sure to keep tabs on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch sections for the latest discussions.
A flaw in Apple's encryption systems has been found that enables an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over its iMessage instant messenger service.
According to The Washington Post, the security hole in Apple's code was exploited by a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers, led by computer science professor Matthew D. Green.
Green reportedly alerted Apple to the problem last year after he read an Apple security guide describing an encryption process that struck him as weak. When a few months passed and the flaw remained, Green and his graduate students decided to mount an attack to show that they could break the encryption of photos and videos sent over iMessage.
The team succeeded by writing software that mimicked an Apple server and hijacked the encrypted transmission of the targeted phone. The transmission contained a link to a photo stored in Apple’s iCloud server as well as a 64-digit key to decrypt the photo.
While the students could not see the key's digits, they guessed them by a repetitive process of changing a digit or a letter in the key and sending it back to the target phone. Each time they guessed a digit correctly, the phone accepted it. The phone was probed in this way thousands of times until the team guessed the correct key and was able to retrieve the photo from Apple's server.
Apple said that it partially fixed the problem last fall when it released iOS 9, and will fully address the issue through security improvements in iOS 9.3, which is expected to be released this week. The company's statement read:
Apple works hard to make our software more secure with every release. We appreciate the team of researchers that identified this bug and brought it to our attention so we could patch the vulnerability. Security requires constant dedication and we're grateful to have a community of developers and researchers who help us stay ahead.
The news comes amid Apple's ongoing legal battle with the FBI in connection with the iPhone at the center of the San Bernadino shooter investigation. The FBI has requested help from Apple to unlock the phone, but the company has so far refused.
The FBI wants to access data stored on the iPhone in question, whereas the Johns Hopkins research focused on the interception of data transmitted between devices. However, Green believes that his team's work highlights the inherent security risks of the FBI's demands in the California case.
"Even Apple, with all their skills — and they have terrific cryptographers — wasn't able to quite get this right," Green told the newspaper. "So it scares me that we're having this conversation about adding backdoors to encryption when we can't even get basic encryption right."
Apple will face off against the FBI in court on Tuesday, one day after the company's March 21 event that will see the debut of the 4-inch iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. MacRumors will post a direct link to Apple's media event once it becomes available.
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.
Apple's March 2016 media event will be kicking off at 10:00 AM Pacific on Monday, and as is tradition some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Apple has become quicker about making event videos available for replay over the past several years, and videos are now frequently available within an hour of an event's conclusion.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts about Apple's announcements in this thread.
Video Posted: A direct link to the video file is now available, with no spoilers.
Ahead of Apple's court date with the Federal Bureau of Investigation tomorrow, 
A flaw in Apple's encryption systems has been found that enables an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over its iMessage instant messenger service.
