A close look at an insanely detailed fake iPhone 15 Pro Max

We learned earlier this month that a Reddit user had his iPhone 15 Pro Max order from Apple intercepted somewhere in the shipping process, and received a fake iPhone 15 Pro Max instead.

While he was sufficiently savvy to quickly realize that it wasn’t the real thing, we can now take a close look at the fake he likely received – with both hardware and iOS 17 software cloned …

The Redditor’s experience

The experience reported by Ed was a pretty horrible one, quickly leading him to realize what he’d actually received.

A user on Reddit this week shared a fascinating story about what unexpectedly came in the box when he ordered a new iPhone from Apple. Instead of the iPhone 15 Pro Max that he bought, “theEdmard” claims that he received a knock-off Android device running an iOS 17-style software skin […]

“The next thing I notice when I turn it on, the screen isn’t right. It lights up the black area in a way that is clearly not OLED, and the bottom has a ‘chin,’ which suggests this is not correct for the phone,” Ed writes. He also describes the initial setup process as being “very poor.”

At this point, he realized what was happening: it wasn’t an iPhone 15 Pro Max. It was an Android phone disguised to look like an iPhone. 

A close look at a fake iPhone 15 Pro Max

Phone Repair Guru got hold of one of fakes – which does sound like it might be the exact model Ed received – and it’s incredible just how much work goes into creating a very close replica. Starting with the box in which it arrives.

That is scary accurate! Take a look at that box, everything looks pristine on this. If I didn’t know this was fake, I probably wouldn’t [be able to tell].

Opening it up and pulling out the phone itself, he says it even feels real.

It actually feels like a pretty good phone. I mean, we have the curved edges – they rounded the edges just like the real iPhone 15 Pro Max. We also seem to actually have an action button, which I wasn’t expecting I thought they’re just going to be lazy and put a mute switch […]

The box includes the braided cable, which is another pretty big touch. We also have the instruction manual, the SIM ejector pin, and the Apple logo sticker. Like always, the phone does feel premium which I think is pretty insane – this feels like a good quality phone.

It doesn’t do so well on the screen and the cameras – there’s a big chin, and the front camera looks cheap, but it does a decent copy of the Dynamic Island. The Action button even works!

The finish does well in a direct comparison with the real thing, even if some of the finer details reveal some quality flaws.

We went to BestBuy to compare the two side by side. As you can see, they look extremely similar, down to every last detail.

The cloning doesn’t end with the hardware. You get the Apple logo when booting up, and the Hello screen. The Settings app even shows the correct model number, and a serial number which has been cloned from a real phone.

Check out the 14-minute video below.