With scarcely 24 hours having passed since Apple announced a glut of product updates at its specially-arranged keynote event in San Jose, it was almost inevitable the knockoff makers wouldn't be too far behind. While the first plausible iPad mini knockoff has already reared its head, it's not so common for us to see bootleg Macs unveiled so soon after the official announcement.
With mobile devices often priced in excess of $500 unsubsidized for the very best handsets, it's not hard to see why the bootleg market continues to thrive. Cloners continue to pull out some weird and wonderful rip-offs, and although it's by no means the best we've seen, this fake HTC One X device certainly looks - at first glance - to be the real deal.
We all know that Apple has struggled with knock-off devices for a long, long time. Fake iPods first began appearing in China long before the iPhone and iPad were announced, or even thought of. Now though, even the touch-screen loveliness of Apple's flagship products find themselves being copied and sold on the black market.
If you're a regular reader here at Redmond Pie, you will have insight to the rather incredible world of knock-off products. Whichever gadget you care to name, you can almost guarantee that the bootleggers are, as they do best, keepin' it real fake.
We’ve seen fake iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. Hell, we’ve even seen some very convincing fake Apple Stores. There were even reports of fake Steve Jobs biographies being sold in China under the name of Steve Jobs’ 11 Advices To Teenagers and now, similar biographies are being sold just about everywhere in China.
Just when we were thinking we’ve seen it all - fake iPhones, iPads and MacBooks - East Asia outdoes itself and brings something new to the table. We saw this with the unbelievably authentic-looking fake Apple Stores and today, it has been discovered that there is a fake Steve Jobs biography available in the market.
Well, the Chinese knock-off makers are certainly quick off the mark. Despite the products always falling well short of the real deal in terms of features, the fact is, you don't have to wait around for seemingly decades for a new one to pop up.
Well, that was quick! The folks from Shenzhen have already churned out an iPhone 5 knockoff whose design is in accordance with the schematics leaked a few days back.
As if fake iPhones and iPads weren’t enough, today we came across fake Apple Stores in China. Let me re-emphasize, these are Apple Stores not products.
Those who love the iPad 2 but aren't willing to spend $499 to get one can turn to imitations. These fake products generally not too high-quality, but they're getting better and better by the day (literally, since there are so many).