A video has been shared by a leaker allegedly showing an iPhone 17 Pro Max. It's almost guaranteed to be a fake.
The closer Apple's launch of its new iPhones gets, the more wild the rumor mill can get. With the "Awe Dropping" iPhone 17 event less than a week away, the leaks have just started to get wild.
A post by leaker Ice Universe on Tuesday has started to circulate on Weibo. The video is described as showing an iPhone 17 Pro Max from a mass production line.
The brief five-second clip shows a person picking up what looks like the back of an iPhone 17 Pro Max, complete with the large camera bump, alongside other units and packaging. A light-colored model is picked up and turned around, showing the display covered up.
While the video is grainy, it does give a convincing view of a smartphone that certainly looks like it could be one of Apple's releases.
Probably a fake
However, bearing in mind the proximity to the event and the rumor mill's various factions trying to spoil Apple's launch, it's entirely plausible that the device being shown is not really an iPhone.
We are not able to confirm or deny whether the video is genuine, especially considering it is sourced from a Weibo leaker, and is probably sourced from elsewhere. We can, however, make a guess based on what we see, previous rumors, and Apple's typical build quality.
There's the first obvious possibility, in that it is an AI-generated video. The grainy low-resolution nature of the clip could certainly assist in hiding some of the issues of AI generation.
There is also the question of build quality and attention to detail, which is very clearly not to the standard we would expect from Apple. The Apple logo's positioning on the rear seems to be one such issue, as it appears to be oddly positioned.
It's not quite the middle of the iPhone body as a whole, nor is it in the middle of the base panel. It's between the two places.
The border of the base section is also a bit worrying to see, if Apple were to actually release this device. It does match up with another leak from Majin Bu, albeit for a case rather than for an actual iPhone.
The camera bump also looks a little bit unusual for an Apple release, though the visible warping could be artifacts from the video itself. Less excusable is the small microphone hole, which looks huge on the video.
AppleInsider editorial members have also seen fully working Android clones that outwardly ape the design of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've also received pitches to buy some of them too.
The video serves as a reminder that, as September 9 gets closer, the rumor mill and leaks will get more intensive. Take some of these claims with a considerable pinch of salt, unless accompanied by really convincing evidence.
