Possibly a prototype/fake MacBook Air? Update! It has a Core i3!

[lixuelai]

There is no way this is a fake. Fake MBAs aren't this detailed. Likely a late prototype.

Btw a likely scenario for this is that this was a prototype from early 2012. Intel's Panther Point was released in April while Ivy Bridge was delayed till June. It is likely that Apple got Panther Point engineering samples earlier but did not have the Ivy Bridge chips on hand to build an exact 2012 prototype. So a 2011 MBA was hacked together with Panther Point for testing.

Another possibility was a contingency plan in case Ivy Bridge was further delayed and Apple wanted a slightly updated 2012 MBA with Sandy Bridge but newer chipset.

[onirocdarb]

Any new discoveries? Very interestingnthread

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by nebrot

I have been living 5 years in China - Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hohhot, Dalian all big cities, seen and had hands on all kind of copy stuff - electronics, cars, clothes, watches. Nothing came really close to the originals and were just rubbish. I found this Air unlikely to be a copy considering its build quality. As mentioned by someone before, it would cost a fortune to make it - copy design engineering, material sourcing, supply chain set-up, machining equipment and so on. "Normal" copy looks just so so from outside, but under the hood even worse. I really do not believe this to be fake - but OP please keep us posted, very interesting thread.

Originally Posted by hackerwayne

Till today i still don't think im having a fake MBA. Ive been using it like a normal one and it perform just like a normal 2011 MBA

I am ten years into China, and I agree the "knock off" stuff is in general very cheaply put together internally. I have seen some good copies of Mac`s over the years, all of them running Windows don't get me wrong there are some extremely skilful people here who could easily put something like this together, equally why? Here in Shenzhen we have literally dozens of high-rise`s that specialise in all IT product, countless thousands of outlets. All the Mac`s that I have seen recently are to all intents and purpose legitimate; they look right, they feel right, they all run OS X and priced as per Apple. There are some very obvious design copies, however these are not "clones" and running Windows.

It`s not impossible that the machine is some sort of fake, however I would expect to see a lot more of them popping up if this was the case...

[hackerwayne]

Originally Posted by onirocdarb

Any new discoveries? Very interestingnthread

Nope. Unit still with me. Im using it like a normal MBA.

[joewillmott]

I bought the EXACT same one last year before buying my proper MBA... it's fake. Like... mine was identical in every single way, although I never switched in another SSD, I had Windows 7 running on it. People saying they aren't this detailed are incorrect; it's just a good fake. I've had my fair share of good and bad fakes over the last year or two.

[Verix]

Originally Posted by joewillmott

I had Windows 7 running on it.

The thing about this one is that it's running OS X natively through EFI. A knockoff shouldn't be able to do this. Was your device capable of running OS X?

[MacTech68]

As an aside, for those wondering about "fakes", as I was, I discovered a fake being sold locally by somebody who got duped into buying one.

Not really similar at all, but just an example.

Note the Apple logo on the lid in one of the pictures:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121099592426

[tardman91]

Originally Posted by MacTech68

As an aside, for those wondering about "fakes", as I was, I discovered a fake being sold locally by somebody who got duped into buying one.

Not really similar at all, but just an example.

Note the Apple logo on the lid in one of the pictures:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121099592426

Haha. Some people are too clueless for their own good.

[hackerwayne]

Originally Posted by joewillmott

I bought the EXACT same one last year before buying my proper MBA... it's fake. Like... mine was identical in every single way, although I never switched in another SSD, I had Windows 7 running on it. People saying they aren't this detailed are incorrect; it's just a good fake. I've had my fair share of good and bad fakes over the last year or two.

This guy runs EFI and has OSX Mountain Lion on it. Its 100% works like a normal MBA except it has a i3 in it.

[joewillmott]

Originally Posted by hackerwayne

This guy runs EFI and has OSX Mountain Lion on it. Its 100% works like a normal MBA except it has a i3 in it.

But when I bought my fake knock-off, they did offer the option of having OSX running on it for an extra £20. I didn't choose it because; a) I am a penny pinching bugger, and b) I needed to use UDK which is Windows-only.

[Senseotech]

Originally Posted by joewillmott

But when I bought my fake knock-off, they did offer the option of having OSX running on it for an extra £20. I didn't choose it because; a) I am a penny pinching bugger, and b) I needed to use UDK which is Windows-only.

Being able to run OS X is one thing; having a native EFI that will boot a basically vanilla OS X is another thing entirely.