Is it Genuine or Fake? iPhone 4S Side-by-Side Comparison Photos

Published on April 20, 2012 by Richard Ker

How easy it to spot the difference between a genuine and a fake iPhone 4S? To the untrained eyes, it will be difficult. See the side-by-sde comparison below.

This side-by-side comparison was featured on a popular Chinese blog PCPOP.

 The quality of the fake iPhone 4S is so good that you may not even realize that it’s fake! Fake (top), genuine (bottom).

The only visible difference from this side view is the SIM tray. Fake (top), genuine (bottom).

Almost identical except the Sleep/Wake button. Fake (top), genuine (bottom).

The dock connector looks almost the same. Do note that special pentalobe screws are used on all iPhone 4S. Fake (top), genuine (bottom).

The back casing’s color is more vibrant on the genuine iPhone 4S. Fake (left), genuine (right).

The fake iPhone 4S appears to be slightly thicker and the mute button is not well made. Fake (left), genuine (right).

On the front panel, the most obvious giveaway is the proximity sensor “slot”. Fake (top), genuine (bottom).

Impressive: iOS 5 notification center appears almost identical as the genuine iOS. Fake (right), genuine (left).

Fake iPhone 4S running on Android with Market app opened. Fake (right), genuine (left).

Settings screen: bizarrely identical. Fake (right), genuine (left).

Did you enjoy that? I hope so. Here are some pointers of how to make sure that you get the real deal:

  • Siri – this is the surest way to check. Long press Home button to activate Siri. If it doesn’t come up, go to Settings > General > and turn on Siri.
  • Settings – go to Settings > General > About and check that it has modem firmware 1.0.11, 1.0.12, 1.0.14 or 2.10.01 and iOS 5+ installed.
  • Performance – the A5 chip is a fast processor and you must be able to see how fast you can launch apps, switch between apps etc.
  • Apps – if you see strange looking apps or apps you’ve never seen before, chances are it’s not real.
  • Built – check the general built quality of the phone, it shouldn’t feel plastic, pentalobe screws are used, also check its proximity sensor slot (see photo above) etc.
  • Serial number check – if you have access to the internet, you can check the iPhone’s information here just by entering the serial number (Go to Settings > General > About). It will show production year, model number, color etc.
  • Bring a friend if you’re new to iPhone. An experienced iPhone user should be able to tell the difference.

Last but not least, watch the following video.

Don’t be fooled by the obvious difference!

 

How I Factory Unlocked My AT&T iPhone 4 in 48 Hours without an AT&T Account

Published on April 19, 2012 by Richard Ker

Did you manage to get your iPhone unlocked yet? Here’s how I did it in less than 48 hours.

UPDATE: If you don’t have an AT&T account or your request was rejected, you can still unlock it here. Click here to unlock it fast.

I was rather surprised how quick the unlock was done considering it takes days just to fix a logic board!


Anyhow, on Monday, April 16th Beijing time, I sent the email above to AT&T customer care: icare3@amcustomercare.att-mail.com. I purchased this used iPhone 4 in late 2010 through a friend who’s based in the US. I was lucky enough to have baseband 1.59.00 on it so I had to preserve the baseband whenever I need to update the iOS.


As soon as the email was sent, I received an automated response.

Although I didn’t receive any response within 24 hours, an email came to me on April 18th stating that I was eligible for the unlock. It also came with full instructions on how to proceed.

I didn’t restore it using stock firmware but instead I built a custom firmware using sn0wbreeze 2.9.3‘s baseband preservation mode. I inserted my China Mobile SIM card, connected to iTunes and it was unlocked right away. The only bug I found (as shown in the photo above) is baseband 1.59.00 is not compatible with iOS 5.1 – notice that there’s only one signal bar while the signal here is pretty strong.

Thank you to those who participated in this quick poll. So far only 20%  of those who responded managed to unlock their AT&T iPhones. This may not be very accurate as there were about 55% who received a case number may have already unlocked their iPhones by now. About 26% of the requests were rejected. You can use this service if your request was rejected.

Since it’s already fully unlocked, I kinda feel nostalgic about the old baseband 1.59.00 because it had served me so well. Thank you AT&T for doing this for us, you’ve exceeded our expectations.

Now, should I just update to 4.12.01?

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Try this “iPhone 5″ Pear and Mango Flavored Ice Cream in China

Published on April 19, 2012 by Richard Ker

In China, Chinese entrepreneurs love to use copyrighted trademarks on their own products.

Check out this pear and mango flavored ice cream made by China-based Doshi Ice Cream company. Even the ice cream is shaped like an apple that also looks like a fried egg.

In pursuit of attracting iPhone-crazy Chinese consumers, they put an “iPhone 5″ on the packaging of their ice cream despite no one knows how the iPhone 5 (which is rumored to be released in June) looks like.

Protecting Intellectual Property (IP) has always been a big headache for Chinese authorities and this is just one example what the authorities here have to go through each day. Apple didn’t register its trademarks across a variety of industries so this Chinese company saw this loophole and took advantage of it.

It might not be a mobile phone, but the iPhone 5 ice cream would be one hell of a juicy target for corporate lawyers  if Apple tends to do something about it.

via SouthCN.com

Mobile Substrate 0.9.3997 Can Bypass Boot Loop Error After Failed Jailbreak Tweaks

Published on April 17, 2012 by Richard Ker

The updated mobile substrate version 0.9.3997 by Saurik could save you from restoring your device if a jailbreak app or tweak you recently installed went horribly wrong.

For iPhone newbies out there – Saurik (Jay Freeman) is the creator and the mastermind behind Cydia. What’s a Mobile Substrate? Essentially it’s a few system shared dynamic libraries (.dylib files, similar to Windows .DLLs a.k.a system files) that allows developers to write programs that extend programs they didn’t write. Many jailbreak apps you’ve heard or installed before such as Winterboard, QuickGold, SBSettings, Five Icon Dock, Clippy, Backgrounder and even ultrasn0w unlock require mobile substrate to run properly.

He just released the latest version of Mobile Substrate which allows you to boot up your iPhone safely if one of the jailbreak apps and tweaks you just installed caused your iPhone to crash or stuck in a boot loop. A crash like this might force you to restore your iPhone and potentially you may also end up losing your jailbreak. iPhone 4S users who are currently jailbroken on iOS 5.0.1, this is really for you!

According to Saurik:

“This feature allows you to bypass horribly broken extensions (ones that prevent the device from starting up at all) that you may have installed so you can open Cydia and uninstall them.

To support devices that do not have a Volume Up button (the first-generation iPod touch), you can alternatively hold down the “Clicker” (not Volume Up) button on your headset or earphones.”

If you’re a jailbreak who constantly installs Cydia apps and tweaks, it’s best that you update your mobile substrate now.

Once installed, by simply holding the ‘volume up’ button on your iPhone during reboot will bypass any error. You can then safely remove the problematic app or tweak you just installed.

This is a great tweak that every jailbreaker should install. How to update this? Just launch Cydia and tap on Changes. You should see it there.

R-SIM IV Unlock for Baseband 4.11.08 Release Date Extended for One More Week

Published on April 15, 2012 by Richard Ker

To those who are eagerly waiting for R-SIM IV, here’s a quick update for you.

Each Supplier, the distributor/developer of R-SIM IV who claims of developing the unlock for iPhone 4 baseband 4.11.08 and 4.12.01 updated their website yet again, today.

UPDATE Apri 15th

Sorry for the delay, this task is more compliated (complicated) than expected, but please give 7 days more.

We are reaching the goal.

They are requesting their customers for 7 more days after postponing the release date for the second time.

It’s also apparent that they’ve been bombarded with emails as they no longer publish their email address on that page.

Well, if yours is locked to AT&T you should know by now that you have a chance of unlocking it for free. Otherwise, you can always downgrade your chips.

Let’s wait for another week and see how it goes!