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Purported iPhone 6 mock-up takes cues from HTC One M8

The latest "iPhone 6" shell from China, this time in silver, looks an awful lot like another flagship phone already out.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about energy, renewables, science and climate to bring educational content to life on topics around the solar panel and deregulated energy industries. Eric helps consumers by demystifying solar, battery, renewable energy, energy choice concepts, and also reviews solar installers. Previously, Eric covered space, science, climate change and all things futuristic. His encrypted email for tips is ericcmack@protonmail.com.
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Eric Mack
2 min read

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An iPhone 6 M8? Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

With each passing day, there seems to be more iPhone 6 fluff floating around, from far-out concepts to rumors about curved screens on a taller body with electronic image stabilization, and on and on...

But as with past new iDevice releases, as the reveal date gets closer, the leaks and hype get more tangible. It usually starts with whispered rumors, then maybe it moves onto some leaked schematics or components. Then we get the barrage of concept videos and cases, followed by what we're seeing now: physical "dummy" phones; basically empty or nonfunctioning shells of how the final phone could look.

That's what popped up on Baidu and 9to5Mac this week. The device pictured on the Chinese site looks an awful lot like the tall, thin iPhone 6 we've been hearing about, but the silver, rounded back gives it an aesthetic similar to the recently released HTC One M8.

My favorite bit from this leak is Google Translate's description of these images, which tells us that they are not of the iPhone 6, but rather something called "Landlord fight it real machine."

I would so pay for a Landlord fight it real machine. I might even be willing to trade all our base that are belong to us for such a device.

At this point if these rumors turn out to be true, as I've pointed out in the past, it would seem that Apple has finally taken to following the market when it comes to form factors that people actually seem to want, namely smaller tablets like the iPad Mini and larger phones like the Galaxy S5 and HTC One series.

That still leaves plenty of room for Apple to wow us again with sweet new components and software in its next flagship iPhone. Not to mention the fact that the "dummies" in these images could also refer to any of us who take them too seriously this early in the game.

Let us know what you think of all the early iPhone 6 hype in the comments.