Not everyone is ready to shell out for a top-end iPhone 13 Pro Max, but with a little trick you can splurge. The method is simple: an old iPhone is taken and packed in a new case. We already talked about the iPhone XR turned into the iPhone 13 Pro, and now I will show the iPhone XS Max, which has gained a second youth and turned into the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

It is impossible to evaluate the device exclusively in a serious manner. It is immediately clear that this is a replica and it is possible to impress such an iPhone only to someone who is far from the world of new products and vaguely imagines how the original Apple product should look like.

Savings start with packaging

Acquaintance begins with unpacking. The quality of the packaging is not so hot, the Chinese have learned to counterfeit Apple boxes at a higher level. And here one glance at the sticker with the characteristics and IMEI is enough to suspect something was wrong. Included is only a cable similar to the original, and that’s it. No protective film, as the Chinese love it, no stickers with an apple, no bonuses like a silicone case.

almost similar

When the phone is lying on the table with the screen down, the unusually small camera modules are surprising. In the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the camera block is so huge that you can’t confuse it with any other device.

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iPhone 12 Pro Max on the left, fake iPhone 13 Pro Max on the right. Photo: Alexander Pobyvanets / Wylsacom Media

In the case of our hero, he has even less optics than the 12 Pro Max and does not look so solid. And in fact, there are not three cameras, but two, and LiDAR, of course, is absent.

It feels like the case in the first minutes resembles the original: the device is heavy, massive, with a shiny steel edging on the sides. For a replica, it’s pretty decent, although it’s not difficult to find differences from a real iPhone.

On the left is a fake iPhone 13 Pro Max, in the center is a real iPhone 12 Pro Max, on the right is a fake iPhone 13 Pro Max. Photo: Alexander Pobyvanets / Wylsacom Media

The mute switch is small and hard to press. On the one hand, the body unevenly adjoins the surface, protrudes noticeably relative to the steel border.

The connectors on the bottom end are not symmetrical, as Apple taught us, but slightly shifted towards the back. The lock and volume keys are too far up and the SIM card tray is on the other side.

Another important point is the location of the keys on the sides and a smaller block with cameras relative to the iPhone 12 Pro Max and 13 Pro Max. Cases for the listed Apple models do not fit this replica.

This is very important, many people use smartphones only in cases, immediately protecting the case after purchase. In this case, the cover is not so easy to find.

The screen is big, but it’s not a Pro Max

If the iPhone XS Max had a screen that was curved at the edges, then after several generations, Apple came to flat surfaces. At first they were in the iPhone 12, and then in the iPhone 13 generation. So the curves at the edges of the screen in our case look and feel strange.

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This does not affect the image quality in any way, it is excellent, but you can recognize a fake. It seems as if a protective glass is glued on the screen, the surface slightly sticks out relative to the case. There is a noticeable transition between the sidewalls and the glass covering the display.

Of course, attentive people will also notice an enlarged cutout for Face ID, because in the iPhone 13 Pro Max the size of the “bangs” has become smaller.

Illustration: Svetlana Chuvilyova / Wylsacom Media

Iron is old but working

The characteristics of the iPhone XS Max by the standards of 2022, of course, are not top-end. The smartphone is almost 4 years old – a decent time for any device. But the flagships are good because even after many years they are comfortable to use. There are no lags out of the blue, the phone came with iOS 15.3.1 out of the box, so if you wish, you can upgrade to 15.5 or even install iOS 16 beta.

The smartphone is sold in the basic version with 64 GB of memory, of which almost 52 GB is free. Not so much, but you can live if you don’t install heavy games and don’t store a lot of videos and photos locally.

In terms of performance, the A12 Bionic is enough in 2022, but everything here depends heavily on personal requirements for the device. Someone just needs an inexpensive iPhone, while others need the highest quality video shooting – here you already need to look at fresher models.

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Opening the topic of money

Let’s go back to 2018. Back then, the 64GB iPhone XS Max cost $1,000 for the minimum 64GB version. In Russia, prices for it started at 96,990 rubles. Now in the middle of 2022, it is extremely difficult to find such a new one, it will cost about 40,000 rubles. In principle, the restored XS Max will cost the same, these are much more common on sale.

Alternatively, you can buy a used smartphone from your hands by looking at the offers on Avito, where you can find a decent version of thousands for 25–27 rubles. Moreover, the iPhone XS Max in the case of the iPhone 13 Pro Max will cost about 30,000 rubles. Not a little, I must say, but as an option for rejuvenating an old phone – why not.

The disadvantages of such a proposal, first of all, I would like to attribute that it is not clear what is inside. It seems like an iPhone, but no one will give an answer to how much the working components are here and whether there will be problems with them in the near future.

If you have read the text to the end, then here is another fact. We are giving away this smartphone in our telegram channel among subscribers using this link: https://t.me/Wylsared/6249. The results will be summed up on July 7th.

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