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Chinese clone-makers already have functional ‘iPhone 6’ knockoffs for sale

NowhereElse.fr has posted some pretty amusing pictures today of working iPhone 6 clones from China. These devices use the rumored specification and schematics of the actual iPhone 6 that we have seen so much over the last few months, but obviously use off-the-shelf internals and don’t run iOS.

Although unconfirmed what knockoff OS these devices are running, it is most likely a skinned version of Android with a custom launcher that imitates the appearance of iOS 7. The Google Play store is already full of iOS 7 Home Screen and app clones.

The real thing is expected to be announced by Apple in September, featuring larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch displays.

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Comments

  1. mpias3785 - 10 years ago

    It boggles my mind that the Chinese government allows this to continue. Apple is far from the only victim and I’m sure this counterfeiting is aggravating manufacturers all over the world and isn’t exactly endearing China to other governments.

    • dvinder42 - 10 years ago

      It doesn’t boggle mine. Very few original ideas/products originate from China. The legal structure permits people to fake/knock off/copy products and ideas without any fear.

      • Gregory Wright - 10 years ago

        What do you expect from a communist country? China does not respect the human rights of its people it certainly does not respect business rights. Damn communists bustards.

      • mpias3785 - 10 years ago

        It isn’t a matter of respect it’s a matter of common sense. Sooner or later it’ll start with economic sanctions and escalate from there.

  2. jedimindtrick99 - 10 years ago

    If you know it’s not the real thing, why would you by it? Cheap people seem to think they are smart cause they ‘know how to save’ which is bogus, you get what u pay for, & the fact is they lose out in life

    • alexthibo - 10 years ago

      Because apearance is often more important for people than what they really have or are. We live in a society where yo need to respect a model and be cool to get respect.

    • whatyoutalkingboutwillis - 10 years ago

      because they don’t want to be saying “by bye buy” to their money.

  3. jakexb - 10 years ago

    It’s crazy that Apple regularly gets taken to court in China for questionable infringements on vague patents and then this stuff just happens and nobody cares.

    • whatyoutalkingboutwillis - 10 years ago

      Apple does not own this design and are not officially affiliated with it, therefore meaning that the chinese company haven’t copied Apple.

      • No they do not own the design, but they own the software, logos, structure, applications and so on. So when fake-manufacturers like these make fake iPhones running Android with a fake iOS 7 theme to it, it actually breaks the copyright law as the company who sells the fake iPhone claims it as theirs. Just removing an Apple logo on the back or removing the “i” from iPhone does not justify anything.

        If companies were to be sued for design similarities, everyone could sue anyone. Just imagine how much companies takes designs, concepts, ideas and so on from each other. Apple will never lose a tiny court in China over fake iPhone manufacturers claiming the design as theirs.

        Apple has more trouble with companies like Samsung since those are high-value court cases with a lot of money involved in it.

        People even thought Apple would sue Samsung for making a gold S5 (considering Apple did it before them)

  4. Steffen Jobbs - 10 years ago

    That is so freaking sad. What would be the purpose of copycatting an iPhone 6? No A8 processor, no iOS, no Touch ID, no sapphire display, no Apple Apple store. It would be just a shell running Android. They might as well buy a flagship Android smartphone instead.

    • jeremyposluszny - 10 years ago

      Does Android even posses a flagship phone? lol

      • jorge1170x - 10 years ago

        Obviously your worldview is frozen in a pre-2012-ish state, because that’s when the iPhone stopped being the clear leader the became nothing more than an also-ran “flagship”, (a flagship that quickly evolved into the favorite choice of children and Grandmothers alike, mind you). There’s lots of people like me that used to give Apple their money freely when it was clearly on top, but I will never fall back into that trap, no matter what feature they can come up with.

  5. thinkman12345 - 10 years ago

    A chink in Apple’s armor!

    • mpias3785 - 10 years ago

      I’m horrified that I laughed at that.

      • jorge1170x - 10 years ago

        Horrified? Why, because now the politically-correct thought police are about to come knock down your door? Please man, you laughed because it was damn funny (and clever)!

    • Andrew Messenger - 10 years ago

      best comment.

  6. Lee (@leemahi) - 10 years ago

    That might really be ios! That gray toggle button on the picture of the settings menu, thats an Accessibility option on ios to turn on and off the iphone without the manual sleep button. If android has that faked too, then damn.

    • mpias3785 - 10 years ago

      Not a chance. There’s too much custom silicon in iPhones that Apple tells no one about. Long gone are the days of reverse engineering a few chips and copying a couple ROMs and POOF you have a clone. These are cheap (the key word being cheap) low quality copies that only superficially resemble the genuine products. Like the $10 Rolex watches I used to see for sale on street corners in NYC.

    • jorge1170x - 10 years ago

      Not iOS, but the Chinese have become really good at making the whole interface/experience look like much, much more than a typical Apple launcher or “skin”. It’s intended to feel like you’re using an iPhone through and through. Just watch any youtube video comparing any recent “goophone” to its Apple counterpart.

  7. cristinegab - 10 years ago

    I want iPhone 6 but I don’t have money to buy that. :(

  8. cristinegab - 10 years ago

    I want iPhone 5 but I really don’t have money . :(

  9. cristinegab - 10 years ago

    How I wish.. I think this phone is very beautiful, .

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.