These parts look real to me, but I have one major issue--Apple hasn't sent any take-down letters.
I don't know why this fact is being overlooked considering Apple's notoriously heavy-handed secrecy.
Of course, the guy now making the decisions up top has changed, and perhaps Tim Cook has a different view regarding these leaks. If he's decided to allow leaks without retribution and retaliation, that's a significant departure in the whole philosophy of product design control. It may be that they regard leaks as good, free, advertising...something we've all clamored about for years. None of this, however, comes at a truly free price for Apple.
If one assumes these turn out to be real parts, the lack of legal action taken against the leakers sends a clear signal that leaks are OK. Given Apple's huge supply chain these days, perhaps this is just giving into the inevitable, perhaps it's even smart--I happen to think leaks should be embraced to gauge customer reaction and as a basis for viral marketing--but, this is a very big change few have commented on.
If these are real part leaks, then Apple has decided to totally change it's control over product introduction and advertising. For a company which places so much importance on image, advertising and product introductions, this seems like an uncharacteristic deviation from Cook's, to date, conservative design and management style.
TL;DR: No Apple legal action against leaks is a radical departure that seems completely out of character for Cook's new Apple.
So, I see two options: Radical change in advertising, marketing, and product development for a company that owes much of its success to doing things in secret, or; controlled leaks/fakes.
Safe money has got to be on the latter argument. What reason would a company so insanely profitable as Apple start doing things radically different?
