While Apple has relaxed its grip on a few things recently, no, the image above isn’t a sign that One Infinite Loop has let all hell break loose.
Apparently, it’s an example of an alternate-reality iPhone the friend of blogger Steve Cassidy over at the UK’s PC Pro bought for £25 (about $38) — in a pub, no less. The dual-SIM, dual-battery thing apparently looks and feels much like an iPhone (apart from the icons, which look too bizarre even for a jailbroken unit), says Cassidy, down to the “iPhone” and Apple logo emblazoned on the back.
One of the comments to his post suggested that cheap knock-offs like this one can be acquired here; a quick look showed at least half-a-dozen or so clones.
Here’s a great clip demonstrating one of the phones in highly enthusiastic yet (to me) unintelligible Mandarin or Cantonese.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIbw1wP992I
The question is, then — if these clones are so readily available and cheap, why aren’t we seeing more of them?
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others. Hang with him on Twitter.
19 responses to “Chinese iPhone Knock-Offs Reaching Western Shores?”
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