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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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A cell phone picture, purported to be an iPhone running on China Mobile's proprietary 3G network, is making the rounds after being posted on Chinese news site MyDrivers.com (English translation).

S03264954.jpg



In the picture, we can see the China Mobile 3G logo in the upper right corner. The third number down, which is partially blacked out, is part of the serial number. The third digit, a 0, suggests the phone was made in 2010. The next digit, which appears to be a 5, would have the phone manufactured towards the end of that year, in either the 50th, 51st or 52nd week.

Additionally, the carrier name in the top left corner appears to be China Mobile, written in Chinese text. None of this is conclusive, but it does suggest a China Mobile compatible iPhone is coming to CM's 3G network sooner rather than later.

Last month, Apple COO Tim Cook was reportedly spotted at China Mobile headquarters. Apple and China Mobile have been known to be working hand-in-hand to ensure future iPhones will work on China Mobile's upcoming 4G TD-LTE network.

China Mobile is a strategic partner for Apple. It has a 70% market share in the world's most populous country with more than 600 million subscribers. In November of last year, China Mobile began assisting customers who wished to use the iPhone 4 on their network, including in-store assistance cutting its full-size SIM cards down to micro-SIM size.

Article Link: Alleged China Mobile iPhone 4 Prototype Spotted
 

res1233

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,127
0
Brooklyn, NY
An iPhone 4 prototype out of china? This must be legit.

EDIT: Because I am a prophet and can foresee an incoming wave of people who don't understand sarcasm, that was sarcasm. No, really.

5k? It's a refurbished prototype?

I call fake. I could fake that in a few seconds with make it mine.

Yep. It doesn't take an amazing hacker to figure out how to change his iPhone into chinese, then edit the carrier posted on the top there. I could probably do it myself if I felt like taking the time to.
 
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stevenfraser

macrumors newbie
Apr 5, 2006
2
0
No China 3G logo

The only 3G indicator I see is the normal 3G in the upper-left of the screen. The post says to look in the upper-right where you can see that the battery is at 63% which I'm assuming they are thinking is the "G3" of the 3G China logo
 

Awjvail

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2010
401
114
The only 3G indicator I see is the normal 3G in the upper-left of the screen. The post says to look in the upper-right where you can see that the battery is at 63% which I'm assuming they are thinking is the "G3" of the 3G China logo

Not on the screen. On the black part above the screen, to the right of the earpiece.
 

Voidness

macrumors 6502a
Aug 2, 2005
847
65
Null
The only 3G indicator I see is the normal 3G in the upper-left of the screen. The post says to look in the upper-right where you can see that the battery is at 63% which I'm assuming they are thinking is the "G3" of the 3G China logo
Look above the upper-right corner of the screen, you can see the 3G logo.
 

larrylaffer

macrumors 6502a
Aug 1, 2009
691
1,293
Los Angeles
Interesting stuff. I travel to Beijing frequently and my phone always hops on China Unicom. Since China Unicom is state owned, and 3G compatible by the world's standard. Why is China Mobile using a proprietary protocol to begin with?

Is this akin to Japan's whackydoodles CDMA standard? I doubt it's a matter of government snooping since both China Unicom and China Telecom both use standard 3G networks which are readily available all over Beijing and Shanghai.
 

cvaldes

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2006
3,237
0
somewhere else
Are there many Chinese readers of MacRumors?

Not sure how significant this story is.
It's significant to AAPL shareholders regardless of country of residence.

Note that about half of Apple's revenue comes from international markets. When you're talking about expanding sales in the most populous country in the world with 1.3 billion people, it becomes significant.
 
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