Apple's unveiling of the iPhone 5se has reportedly been pushed back to March 22, the same day as the FBI hearing at a court in Riverside, California.
The Cupertino brand has a legal run-in with the government regarding an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Investigators are requesting the company to build a backdoor of sorts to bypass the device's security measures, and a federal judge ordered Apple to comply with the authorities' demand soon after.
The latest Apple-related news comes from South Korean website UnderKG. According to an unidentified source it cited, the reveal of the iPhone 5se has been pushed back a week. Apple employees were also advised to keep March 22 free for the presumed event.
For those who don't know, the iPhone 5se was originally scheduled to make a public appearance on March 15 and hit the shelves three days after on March 18. If the report holds true, then the smartphone will probably become officially available on March 25.
The legal kerfuffle that Apple faces is the likely reason why the company needs more time to get things ready, but it does seem odd how it's on the same day as the court hearing.
One interesting theory here is that Apple deliberately let the schedules coincide to take some attention off the case and shift it to the new iPhone. At any rate, Apple CEO Tim Cook and the company's employees will be up and about on the fateful day.
Of course, that's just pure speculation at this point.
As a reminder, the iPhone 5se is expected to house iPhone 6-level components, such as an A8 chip under the hood, and sport the size of an iPhone 5, measuring at 4 inches. It's also believed to have some of the latest Apple features, including Apple Pay.
On that note, there's even a possibility that the upcoming device will be a cut above the iPhone 6, as some rumors indicate that it could have an A9 chip instead, the same processor found in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Also, Apple is purportedly going to showcase the 9.7-inch iPad Air 3 with the Smart Connector and a four-speaker system at the event, including the Apple Pencil.
