iPhone 6 copies hit market ahead of Apple's release

MANILA, Philippines — Do you want an iPhone 6 ahead of the release date?

Patterned straight from assumed features by the Apple rumor mill, shanzai manufacturers have rolled out the first functional knock-offs of the undisclosed, next-generation iPhone for the Chinese market.

The prices range from $2 to $74 (about P100 to P3,200).

The counterfeit phones were said to be inspired by former Taiwanese pop star Jimmy Lin who posed with what he alleged is the iPhone 6 on his account on social networking site Weibo.

Former Taiwanese entertainment personality Jimmy Lin claims he already has the iPhone 6 model. screenshot/Weibo

A counterfeit iPhone 6 unit being sold by online shops. screenshot/Taobo

The clones usually come with a 4.7-inch screen and Lin described them to have a "good grip."

Reema C'verty of The REM noted that they run on an obscure operating system that mimics the iOS and are "desperately low on internal memory."

Copies of the iPhone 5 based on leaked specifications also hit the market in 2012 weeks before the official units were released by Apple.

Apple had said that the besides assembling the iPhone, Chinese firms were contracted to manufacture some of its components. Forbes reported, however, that Apple's development, product management, marketing and other high-wage functions are based in the United States.