Pictures of fake iPhone 5 may hint at the real thing

August 2, 2011 By Mike Dunn

Pictures of a fake iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S might give us a hint as to what the actual next generation iPhone will look like.

This might be the first iPhone rumor that doesn’t claim to have a picture of the next iPhone. What we have here are pictures of a knockoff of the next generation iPhone. The phone pictured does not match all of the wild redesign rumors we have been hearing about, but it does have a few rumored changes. What makes these pictures more interesting is the fact that the fake phone is made in the same Chinese town the real iPhones are made.

The first thing we noticed with this phone is just how good it looks from a quality point of view. The phone looks like an iPhone and nothing about it screams out “fake.” You will notice some design cues from past iPhones along with iPhone 4 styling. It looks very much like an original iPhone, but with a glass back. You will also notice the rounded glass up front and back, which has been a persistant rumor up to this point as well. The fake iPhone is only 7mm thick, which is 2.3mm thinner than the iPhone 4. The thickness might change, as clearly this fake phone won’t be packing as much horsepower under the hood as the actual iPhone.

What we don’t see in this fake phone is a larger screen or a tear-drop form factor. As we reported yesterday, the new rumor around the release date is for October, which means that it is very likely that Apple is already making the next-generation iPhone to prepare for the massive launch. There is a decent possibility of a phone being snuck out of the factory, or at least blueprints, which might be the cause of this foreshadowing copy cat.

What do you think of this phone? From what we have seen, this is the most promising design for the next iPhone. It is not a radical redesign, but it is most likely just different enough to make iPhone 4 owners want to upgrade.

Showing 12 comments

Bill Roberson at 9:24pm 29th September 2011 I agree with Hickman & Ian. I personally like phones with a bit of heft and if it gets a bit larger, that's fine too (larger retina screen would rock). If it turns out its super-model/iTouch thin I'm slapping a Juice Pack on it the moment it becomes available to fatten it back up.
Terry at 3:12pm 2nd August 2011 I agree . I prefer thinner but definitely with more powerful camera than a mere 8 mp which Nokia did over 1&1/2 years ago...
Terry at 3:10pm 2nd August 2011 I agree the iPhone 3GS and iPod look the same save for thickness thank God! Personally I don't mi d thinner I just prefer more features and stronger powerful cameras. I bit of sophistication like the android pattern lock might be nice too... Just a thought...
Mike Dunn at 3:04pm 2nd August 2011 It's odd that they say it's thinner cause it looks sort of bloated in those pictures.
1. Matt Hickman at 3:26pm 2nd August 2011 i agree, i think its the bezel that makes it look thicker.
2. Ian Bell at 3:32pm 2nd August 2011 The more I think about it, the more I think this is the iPhone 4S and not the iPhone 5. Rumor has it that the iPhone 5 has a lot larger screen, and I don't think this screen looks any larger than the current iPhone 4.
  1. Mike Dunn at 4:02pm 2nd August 2011 I hope they come out with a larger screen. I think changing screen size would be tricky for a number of reasons, but in order to compete with Android's monster screens they should do it.
Matt Hickman at 2:03pm 2nd August 2011 personally, i dont want the iphone to get any thinner. its already thin enough. i can barely hold it with one hand and text with it because it is so thin. Steve Jobs! dont make it thinner! just add widgets, better notification and some more voice commands and we'll be good to go!
1. Ian Bell at 2:35pm 2nd August 2011 Totally agree. Funny thing: I decided to take the case off my iPhone 4 to try and use the phone without it for a while, and it actually felt almost too thin (plus was too slick). So I am using a case again on it.A lot of people think that the iPhone 5 will be like the iPod Touch in thickness. That might be a little too thin for a lot of people.
  1. Matt Hickman at 3:27pm 2nd August 2011 agreed, i had a large non stick case on my iphone just to keep it in my hands. all by itself, its just a slick piece of glass that easily falls out of your hand.
Bill Roberson at 8:06pm 2nd August 2011 Here's hoping it shoots 1080i/p HD. That's the only upgrade I want. OK, more speed. And more memory. Maybe a bigger screen. Is self-levitation to much to ask?
Lucas Meyer at 7:52pm 2nd August 2011 looks very much like an SGSII