In the minds of many people, the iPhone represents security and privacy. At least they believe that the closed ecosystem of the iPhone makes it difficult to become an object of peeping and eavesdropping. However, not to mention the US government’s surveillance backdoor, and apple have also been exposed to many security vulnerabilities in recent years, but they are indeed slightly safer than Android.
In addition, even Apple has a hard time preventing users from physically modifying their mobile phones to make them a candid camera tool, and because the related modification market has matured, it is even more hidden. Recently, when Xiaolei was hanging out in a forum, he saw a netizen who was engaged in mobile phone repair, exposing the modified iPhone XR provided by a repair customer. The modified iPhone XR has turned into an extremely covert candid camera device.
Is iPhone XR actually a secret photography tool?
Although iPhone XR was expensive when it went on sale, its initial shipments were not high. However, after the price reduction the following year, it still won the global mobile phone sales championship that year. In 2018 and 2019 alone, iPhone XR’s Total shipments reached 69.4 million units.
According to speculation from relevant agencies, the total sales of iPhone XR from its release to September 2021 may exceed 80 million units. The huge stock of iPhone XR makes it the darling of the modification market. According to the information Xiaolei searched on mobile phone forums such as Kuan, iPhone XR is the most commonly used model among iPhone modification machines.
There are two main reasons. First, the A12 processor equipped on the iPhone XR still has good performance (performance is similar to Snapdragon 865 and 870), and the stock is so huge that the second-hand price is extremely low. Second, iPhone XR is the last single-camera phone released by iPhone (except for the iPhone SE series), and the single-camera design makes it easier to transform iPhone XR into other mobile phones.
(Picture source: Apple)
The mature modification process has also made iPhone XR the most popular model among criminals. An iPhone XR exposed by NGA netizens has undergone a lot of modifications and turned into a covert candid camera device. . As can be seen from the disassembly diagram, the battery of this iPhone XR has been replaced with a smaller model, and the space saved is used to install the camera and driver board.
(Picture source: NGA)
The viewfinder of the camera is the volume button area that most people will not pay attention to. Xiaolei guessed that the original volume button should be replaced by a volume button made of one-way perspective glass. When using it, you only need to place the phone on its side and align the volume button area with the location where you want to shoot, and you can complete the shooting secretly.
(Picture source: NGA)
According to this netizen, the modified camera can also be equipped with a wireless driver board, and the recorded videos or photos can be directly transferred to another device, even if someone suspects that the mobile phone was secretly photographed. You won't find anything in your phone's photo album.
(Picture source: NGA)
As the most common digital product in life, if someone holds a mobile phone and points it at you, most people may be subconsciously vigilant, because we know that the other party may be filming. But if a phone was laid flat on a table or other flat surface and pointed sideways at you, I think most people wouldn't be wary of it.
(Picture source: NGA)
Judging from the comments of netizens, this device may be mainly used for various illegal candid photos. For example, candid photos on some banned websites may be shot with this device. In addition, some netizens revealed that the iPhone XR is not the only mobile phone used for similar modifications, but the modification industry chain of the iPhone mm headphone jack for shooting and video recording with higher definition.
Although similar candid photography equipment and hardware have been banned on most e-commerce platforms, there are still many merchants secretly selling and providing related modified equipment in offline stores. For example, netizens in NGA mentioned Shenzhen There are many shops in Huaqiangbei that can do this kind of modification, and the modification price is not expensive and ordinary people can afford it.
The modified iPhone XR can hardly be used as a normal mobile phone. The greatly reduced battery capacity reduces the phone's screen-on life to less than half of the original, so it can only be used as a candid camera and only runs the camera and wireless module. , the battery life of this device can reach more than 12 hours.
Therefore, if you see an unowned iPhone in some private places (such as public changing rooms, shower rooms, etc.), it is best to cover it with something. Although similar candid camera equipment is not common, But don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unexpected. It is necessary to be prepared in advance.
However, some netizens said that these stores do not provide modification services to everyone who asks. Generally, they only provide modification services if they are brought by acquaintances. Otherwise, the store will only sell you the "show off" service of modifying the iPhone XR into other models of iPhone. This kind of service Modification service is another "gray business" for iPhone XR in the mobile phone market, and there may be more victims.
iPhone XR turned into iPhone 11/12/13?
On the Kuan Forum, it is not uncommon to use iPhone XR as the basis and transform it into iPhone 11/12/13 by replacing the shell, frame, etc., and many people are still asking if there is a reliable merchant who can do it. Provide related modification services. However, judging from what Xiaolei has learned, converting the iPhone XR into other models of iPhone is not without cost, and the cost is not small.
Because of the single-camera design, the iPhone XR can be disguised as other iPhone models of the same size by adding fake lens modules. However, subsequent iPhone models cannot perform similar operations because they all use dual-camera designs and have different camera angles. transformation.
Although the modified iPhone XR is very similar in appearance to iPhone 11/12/13, there may be problems such as Face ID being unavailable and the screen not supporting true color display. The experience is definitely not as good as before the modification. The modified iPhone XR has become a fraud tool in the hands of many people. They disguise the modified iPhone XR as iPhone 12 or 13 and sell it at a low price to some users who do not know much about mobile phones.
(Picture source: Kuan)
In fact, similar scams were not uncommon in the past. Android phones with an iOS-like system (only the system UI is similar) were used to disguise themselves as iPhones, and then sold at low prices to some young people who came from villages and towns to cities. People, by the time the victim realizes that the phone in his hand is not an iPhone, the scammer has already disappeared.
However, for people who know a little about mobile phones, iPhones disguised as Android phones have many loopholes. They can be easily identified by opening the settings page. But what if it is an iPhone disguised as an iPhone? The iPhone 12 modified from the iPhone XR is exactly the same as the real iPhone from appearance to system. Even if some functions cannot be used normally, users who come into contact with the iPhone for the first time may not be able to detect it.
For example, if Face ID fails, scammers can prevent you from testing this function on the grounds that you haven’t paid yet and cannot enter Face ID during the sale. The True Tone display is something most people won’t pay attention to when testing the machine. function. When a iPhone 13 that seems to be normal and sells for only two to three thousand is placed in front of them, a greedy person will probably buy it without hesitation, thinking that even if he doesn't use it, he can resell it to others and make a profit of one or two thousand.
Of course, there are also people who simply want to "show off" after modification and make others think that they have a new mobile phone. However, such people are basically a minority. Most modified phones end up in the second-hand market and are used to deceive others. Those mobile phone novices who want to get cheap prices.
(Picture source: Kuan)
If you want to pick it up from the second-hand market, or someone suddenly comes to you and says you are in urgent need of money and want to buy an iPhone 11/12/13 at a low price, you should be careful, even from the system level There are no problems with the operation and operation. It may be an iPhone XR released in 2018.
And under the influence of the domestically developed iPhone modification industry line, they can even use the old system to modify parameters to disguise it as a new system. Unless you use professional software to detect it or are very familiar with iPhones, it is often difficult to judge. The true identity of this iPhone.
Second-hand iPhones have always been the hardest hit area for scams. For users with insufficient budget, it is the best solution to give up the iPhone and choose a brand new Android phone within the budget. In terms of experience, you can buy it for two to three thousand nowadays. The experience of domestic Android phones is not much worse than that of second-hand iPhones at the same price.
If you don’t want to buy an iPhone, it’s best to start from some more formal channels, such as the official certification channels of second-hand platforms such as Xianyu Youxuan, which not only inspect and inspect the machine, but also make it easier to protect your rights.
cover source: https://stocksnap.io/photo/iphone-8-XSA4UCSSR2
