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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Yesterday, Apple.pro shared a pair of photos that had appeared on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, purportedly showing the rear of Apple's rumored plastic low-cost iPhone with a Lightning cable plugged into the bottom. The two pictures show a glossy curved shell and have been picked up by numerous sites today.

plastic_iphone_5_case.jpg
Our first thought upon seeing the photos was that it is likely simply an iPhone 5 in a plastic case. A lack of an Apple logo or discernible text on the back of the device is unlike many Apple prototypes, and the Lightning cable looked to us to be plugging into a recessed case rather than a flush port on a device.

plastic_iphone_5_case_2.jpg
French site NowhereElse.fr apparently had similar thoughts [Google translation] and performed some analysis of one of the images. Adjusting exposure and contrast on the photo better reveals the bottom of the device, and it certainly does appear that the Lightning cable is plugged into a hole in a case rather directly into a device. Other features along the bottom of the device are also consistent with the iPhone 5: speaker, microphone, and headphone jack.

plastic_iphone_5_case_1.jpg
As a result, we believe these photos are almost certainly an iPhone 5 in a nondescript plastic case rather than an actual low-cost plastic iPhone or a rear shell from such a device.

Article Link: Photos of 'Plastic Low-Cost iPhone' Likely an iPhone 5 in a Case
 
Nothing says "low-cost" like metal fleck. ;)

Is is me, or do the edges seem uneven where the back case meets the side band?
 
So with one breath... MR "Here is news!"

and in the next... "oh wait!! Nothing to see here folks"....

...

Great front page article :D
 
So with one breath... MR "Here is news!"

and in the next... "oh wait!! Nothing to see here folks"....

...

Great front page article :D

Sometimes debunking rumors already spreading like wildfire is important. :)
 
Quick, everyone who is bored at work, search eBay and Alibaba for this case!
 
These pictures have the same out of focus, blurry appearance of all other leak pictures. They have to be real! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, if you look at the mic, speaker and connector port on the bottom, you can clearly see that it is a case. That or a serious downgrade in Apple quality.
 
I should start my own rumor website, most of these "rumors" consist of things any person with a little common sense could tell you.
 
These pictures have the same out of focus, blurry appearance of all other leak pictures. They have to be real! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, if you look at the mic, speaker and connector port on the bottom, you can clearly see that it is a case. That or a serious downgrade in Apple quality.

Did you read the write up? That is the conclusion. If you want to skip reading all of that then the headline tells you the same.
 
This is pretty lame. Who every took these pics didn't even try to make it look convincing, not that it every would but still.
 
Dear Chinese folks,

Please put more work into your attempts to troll everyone.

Regards,
-the rest of the planet.
 
I call BS. Not a single Apple logo nor a place to see the Apple logo through if this was really a case? Man, like the other poster said, these guys aren't even trying.
 
I call BS. Not a single Apple logo nor a place to see the Apple logo through if this was really a case? Man, like the other poster said, these guys aren't even trying.

I hope they didn't think it would end up on MacRumors, but it did. Can't we just have no obviously fake rumors from now till WWDC in 7 days?
 
Did you read the write up? That is the conclusion. If you want to skip reading all of that then the headline tells you the same.

Yes I did, and that was my comment. A summary of the "smoking gun" from the article.

You most certainly live up to your avatar. :rolleyes: Hopefully the rest of your week goes better for you and your mood improves. :(
 
i love how in the era of such high quality cameras even in phones all of these supposed "leaks" are always blurry, overlit disasters.
 
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