This week’s top stories: iPhone SE diary, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, Hermès Apple Watch bands, new iOS apps & more

Our top stories this week include our hands-on coverage and real-world testing of the new iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7-inch, as well as the latest on what to expect from the next generation iPhone 7 and iPhone sales going forward. Apple also attracted some attention with the announcement of new Hermès Apple Watch bands this week, and we had a handful of notable iOS and Mac app launches and updates.

Stories surrounding the Apple and FBI controversy over encryption came to a slow as the FBI officially confirmed the hack it discovered does not work with the iPhone 5s or later iPhones. Head below for the handy links to all of this week’s top stories. 

iPhone

This week we kick things off with Ben’s latest iPhone SE diary installment and our continued hands-on coverage and final diary for the iPad Pro 9.7-inch (decision time). We then move on to some news surrounding future iPhone sales predictions– will Apple be able to recover from ‘peak iPhone’ this year?–  and lastly some hints at possible upcoming iOS features, the new Hermès Apple Watch bands, and more.

• iPhone SE diary: It’s day 5, and my decision is already made
• Opinion: The three things I think Apple needs to do to unlock the full potential of Touch ID
• Poll: Should Apple introduce new color options for the iPhone 7?
• No recovery from ‘peak iPhone’ this year, total shipments “likely below 200M units” – KGI
  
• iTunes metadata suggests ability to hide stock apps on iPhone and iPad coming soon

iPad

• The best iOS apps for taking notes with Apple Pencil + iPad Pro
• Top new 9.7″ iPad Pro features + a few not-so-great features [Video]
  
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro diary: Decision time, and my limited street cred is gone forever…
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro teardown finds Samsung RAM, smaller battery, and same low repairability

Apple Watch

• Apple announces Apple Watch Hermès bands coming April 19th w/ new colors, from $340

AAPL

• Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls on Apple to make products in US, pay ‘fair share’
• Apple Stores to transition from traditional plastic bags to paper in latest environmental move

Security

• New iPhone 6s passcode bypass lets handlers access Photos and Contacts; here’s how...
• Apple fixes Siri passcode bypass flaw and Night Shift + Low Power Mode trick
• President Obama still not allowed to use an iPhone, but White House tech update means...
• Following Apple’s lead with iMessage, WhatsApp rolls out end-to-end encryption for all
• FBI officially confirms hack it used does not work with the iPhone 5s or later iPhones
• The TSA paid $336k (or maybe $1.4M) for a random number generator app for an iPad

Apps

• Sony’s Remote Play feature for playing PS4 games on Mac is launching tomorrow
• Reddit’s long-awaited official iOS app finally here w/ three months of free Reddit Gold
• Microsoft releases Hub Keyboard for iOS with Office 365 integration
• Starz hits Apple TV for $8.99/month, Twitter scores live NFL “Thursday Night Football”
• 1Password 6.2 for Mac adds automatic login naming + upgraded data importer
• Google Chrome experimenting w/ native Mac OS X push notifications, here’s how to enable it
• Microsoft introduces Evernote, Facebook and Wunderlist integration in Outlook...
• Microsoft releases updated Translator app for iPhone w/ offline support & Safari extension

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This week’s top video:

• Top new 9.7″ iPad Pro features + a few not-so-great features [Video]
• Apple shares new behind-the-scenes video of iPhone 6s Siri ad with the Cookie Monster