News & Reviews:   Apple iPhone SE

While Apple has never said that any of their iPhones are water proof or water resistant, on occasion, some iPhones have taken a splash or dip and survived. ZachStraley decided to put the Apple iPhone 5S, iPhone SE and iPhone 6s to the test, by dunking all three in water for an extended period of time. Suffice to say, the iPhone SE not only survives but seems to be able to work right out of the water. Check out the video to see how the other two iPhones fared.

While the upcoming Apple iPhone SE may have the same tech specs or hardware as the higher-end (and higher-priced) iPhone 6s, it turns out that the smaller iPhone SE may be better, at least where AnTuTu is concerned. A recent testing showed that the iPhone SE scored 134358 in AnTuTu while the iPhone 6s managed 129990. 

Both scores are absolutely awesome though, beating out most other phones but it appears that the iPhone 6s Plus remains the highest of the three at 137420. The iPhone SE is currently available on order at the Apple Store in the US, but it has yet to arrive at the Apple Malaysia Store. The Apple Malaysia Store has stopped selling the iPhone 5S but there are still no specific Malaysia release dates or pricing details just yet. Stay tuned for more updates.

While we still wait for the Apple iPhone SE arrival in Malaysia (God knows when), Apple has provided several iPhone SE review units to some well known publications such as TechRadar, The Independent, iMore, The Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, and Mashable. The reviews and first impressions are positive so far, mostly praising the device's powerful hardwares, especially smartphone's improved batttery life; since Apple smartphones are known to not able to last a day.

With the reveal of the Apple iPhone SE, iOS 9.3 was also released publicly through iTunes and all iOS 9 users as an over-the-air update. There are quite a few updates from iOS 9.3, but we will be taking a look at the main feature of the update – Night Shift.

Just after a day from Apple's announcement of the Apple iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Maxis has already put up their “Register of Interest” page for the iPhone SE in their website. For interested customers, all they have to do is input their name and email to submit the form and wait for further instruction. According to Apple, the iPhone SE will be released on 31 March 2016 but it will start in the US first, Malaysia is likely to get the device as well by the end of May. 

Apple has just launched their most powerful 4-inch smartphone with the Apple iPhone SE. Featuring an Apple iPhone 5S design with new colours like gold and rose gold, the iPhone SE will likely replace the iPhone 5S from $399 (RM1611) for the 16GB storage version and $499 (RM2015) for the 64GB storage version.

It will offer the latest Apple A9 processor with M9 motion co-processor, a 4-inch Retina display with 1136 x 640 pixel resolution, 12MP iSight camera, Touch ID fingerprint scanner and more. No Malaysia release dates yet but it is expected to go on pre-order on 24 May 2016 and arrive in 110 countries by the end of May (which should include Malaysia).

If you're searching for some Apple iPhone 7 rumours on Google, there's a good chance that you'd come across numerous sources of the device having dual cameras on the back. Taiwanese site Apple.club.tw (translated) just recently shared some images of a dual-camera module that could potentially be on the iPhone 7 Plus, matching several claims from few months ago. 

So finally, Apple has announced there will be indeed an event on 21 March dispelling the event date rumours. We have no idea what Apple is planning, but with all the previous rumours of the Apple iPhone SE, a 9.7-inch iPad Pro and a new second-generation Apple Watch, we won't be surprised if one of them make an appearance. 

Numerous renders about the Apple iPhone SE are appearing online now, including 9to5Mac's own depiction and another from OnLeaks thinking it should resemble the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 mash-up together according to rumours. 

Apple can't seem to make up their minds, as just over the weekend, once known as the Apple “iPhone 5se” it is re-dubbed as the iPhone SE. Also, the rumoured 15 March Apple event is rescheduled to 21 March instead, at least according to Buzzfeed, Re/code and other sources.