I’ll say it now, before anyone gets their hopes up: this is most definitely not an iPhone 5. Those blurry, Big-Foot-esque shots from last week still may very well be the real deal, but this is not. This is yet another fake iPhone out of Shenzhen, China — but here’s the twist: its design is supposedly stolen straight from that of the actual iPhone 5.
Skeptical? That’s completely reasonable. Fake iPhones are a dime-a-billion in Shenzhen — but one ripping off a top-secret handset that hasn’t even properly photographed, much less announced? That’d be a new trick.
Weighing in on this one too much seems a bit silly; disputing the accuracy of a Chinese fake supposedly based on something few have ever seen would just about reach the limits of futility. Instead, I’ll just leave a few observations as food for thought, and let you take it as you will. Drop a comment with your thoughts.
- The volume rocker is one long piece (a la the iPhone 3GS), as opposed to two buttons (as found on the iPhone 4.) This matches up with the aforementioned Big-Foot shots, as that device clearly has a one-piece rocker.
- Coming in at just 7mm thick, this would fit quite well in any of the supposed iPhone 5 cases that have leaked over the past few weeks. For years now, these leaked cases have been the first hint of what’s to come.
- Word of the rounded edge of the back has long been floating around the rumor mill. That equally rounded front seems a bit strange, though; it forces the display to have a rather thick bezel (whereas all past rumors indicated the bezel was hair-thin), and makes the screen seem a good bit smaller. If this design is anything near legitimate, the rounding of the front seems like one place where the cloners may have practiced some.. artistic freedom, so to speak.
Okay, I lied: I’ve gotta weigh in on this a bit more. My bet? It’ll share some similarities with the real deal (the back being rounded, for example, seems quite likely at this point), but the differences will be vast enough that the fake will seem strikingly … well, fake. It seems like whoever built this took the supposed leaked case specifications that have been floating around and worked backwards, then cut some corners to be able to use the materials they had at hand to get the job done.
Real or not, high-fives to GizChina for diggin’ up this rather crazy clone.
