Apple's leak: Huaqiangbei worked overnight but still couldn't produce the iPhone 18

More than two months before the launch of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro series, documents such as the phone's motherboard schematics have already been circulating in seller groups in Huaqiangbei. These files clearly show the layered structure of the iPhone 18 Pro motherboard and Apple's complete supply chain information.

These documents originated from a data breach at an Apple supply chain factory. Multiple media outlets previously reported that a ransomware gang stole a large volume of data from Tata Electronics, Apple's Indian contract manufacturer, and uploaded classified parts lists, supplier directories, and photos of Apple's unreleased iPhone 18 Pro series models to the dark web.

Apple has now launched an investigation into the incident and is working with Tata Electronics to develop long-term security measures.

Sellers in Huaqiangbei and people in the digital tech community are thrilled. In the past, they could only speculate about various details of Apple's new products, but now they can analyze official documents point by point. Some commented that Huaqiangbei is now facing an "open-book exam."

A Cheng, a Huaqiangbei seller with 20 years of experience, told *Caijing* that in previous years, information leaks occurred before every Apple new product launch, but they mostly focused on the phone's appearance, allowing sellers of phone cases and screen protectors to stock up in advance for overseas sales. However, this time, even documents like the principle manual and specification diagrams for Apple's self-developed chips, along with full supply chain details, were leaked, making it "the largest leak event for Apple smartphones I have encountered in my 20-year career."

Topics such as "Huaqiangbei Holds Apple's Launch Event Early" have trended on social media. Most of this content is filmed by Huaqiangbei sellers or digital enthusiasts, who review the leaked documents to highlight the features of the iPhone 18 Pro series, subtly suggesting that Huaqiangbei might be able to "launch" the iPhone 18 Pro series first.

However, multiple Huaqiangbei sellers and senior figures in the smartphone industry told *Caijing* that it is absolutely impossible for Huaqiangbei to manufacture iPhone devices. Although this largest electronics distribution hub in China has a complete supply of smartphone components, it cannot obtain Apple's core chips or the iOS operating system.

"At most, we can make knockoff phones with Android motherboards and the appearance of an iPhone 18 Pro," A Cheng stated.

Regarding the situation of early counterfeiting and model modification in Huaqiangbei following this Apple supply chain schematic leak, domestic regulatory authorities have not made a direct public statement yet. However, a review of previous regulations shows that regulators have maintained a clear and consistent law enforcement stance and compliance red line. Multiple departments including the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the General Administration of Customs have formed a regular regulatory closed loop, resolutely safeguarding the legitimate intellectual property rights of foreign-invested enterprises, standardizing the order of the telecommunications equipment market, and cracking down on the smuggling gray industry chain.

01

Huaqiangbei Prepares Card-Modification Solutions in Advance

Currently, Huaqiangbei merchants are primarily focusing their attention on the card-modification solutions in the leaked iPhone 18 documents.

The iPhone industry chain has long supported the businesses of many Huaqiangbei merchants. Here, Apple smartphones are split into countless fine segments: screens, batteries, motherboards, frames, SIM trays... Each segment has its corresponding sellers, who are interconnected to form a huge underground and semi-open Apple products market.

"SIM-locked phones" are one of the most important niche sectors for iPhones in Huaqiangbei. Zhang Dong, a senior smartphone industry professional, told *Caijing* that merchants here acquire cheap US-version iPhones through various channels. Some are smuggled unlocked units, while others are carrier-locked contract phones from overseas carriers. The former are "unlocked" and more expensive, while the latter are "locked" but much cheaper with huge market potential.

"Locked" contract phones are restricted to using SIM cards from designated carriers. To bypass the network lock verification, Huaqiangbei's card-modification solution providers place a tiny chip (a "RSIM" or "card sticker") in the phone's SIM tray, which disguises the domestic SIM card as a specific overseas carrier's card when the phone is activated. In addition, US-version iPhone 14 and later models only support eSIM, so to use them in mainland China, a physical SIM tray must be added.

Despite the risk of unstable signal, the market for Apple's RSIM-locked phones is very active due to their attractive low prices. One RSIM phone seller told *Caijing* that a 512GB US-version iPhone 17 Pro "locked" RSIM phone costs only 6,600 yuan, while the same model on Apple's official website sells for 10,999 yuan, equivalent to a 40% discount.

A Cheng mainly works on smartphone repair and technical sharing in Huaqiangbei. He estimates that tens of thousands of iPhones undergo card modification across Huaqiangbei every day. "If you walk along Huaqiang South Road, you will see shops doing card modification everywhere. I see their stalls receiving one or two boxes of phones to modify every day recently."

After the iPhone 18 data leak, short videos using the gimmick of "Apple 18 Huaqiangbei Launch Event" easily gained tens of thousands of likes. Some professional Huaqiangbei card-modification solution providers are also highly active on short video platforms. The owner of one major card-modification solution provider told *Caijing* that they are already estimating the card-modification solutions based on the leaked materials, but they need to obtain the actual device to conduct in-depth research.

Potential risks also exist. The market for Apple's RSIM-locked phones has always been a gray area. A Cheng believes that "Apple must know what we are doing in Huaqiangbei, and they will definitely find ways to stop us." He added that according to the leaked documents, the iPhone 18 series currently has two versions: one with a Qualcomm baseband and one with a C2 baseband, and it is still unknown which version the US market will use.

RSIM-locked phones rely on vulnerabilities between the Qualcomm baseband and Apple's system to implement card modification. If the C2 baseband is adopted, since it is designed at the factory without any reserved detection circuit for physical SIM card insertion and removal, perfect card modification cannot be achieved.

"If the US-version iPhone 18 uses the C2 baseband this time, the entire card-modification industry in Huaqiangbei may disappear," A Cheng said. However, the aforementioned card-modification solution owner analyzed to *Caijing* that the US version with millimeter-wave will likely use the Qualcomm baseband, and the C2 baseband will most probably be used in the SIM tray board, so card modification can still be done. The next key point is to determine what kind of SIM tray to use and where to place it.

At the moment, A Cheng is mostly excited. He just obtained a discarded internal test motherboard of the Chinese-version iPhone 18 series, and he will get several intact motherboards in a few days. To get these motherboards, he pulled connections and spent some money, wanting to share how to perform card modification against the actual device as soon as possible. He asked *Caijing* if there are any risks or potential traffic if he posts the actual photos of the motherboard on short video platforms.

As for whether Huaqiangbei can "manufacture" the iPhone 18 from scratch, multiple Huaqiangbei sellers firmly stated that it is absolutely impossible — there are no core chips here, let alone the iOS system. At most, they can produce "knockoff phones" with Android chips and iPhone 18 shells, priced at one or two thousand yuan, which only circulate in the underground market.

For consumers, phone card modification can easily damage the phone's motherboard. Such devices can hardly enjoy Apple's official after-sales service and are likely to be remotely locked by Apple.

Regardless of whether the technical schematics come from an overseas leak, the act of merchants using leaked schematics to mass-produce accessories and replicate device appearances for commercial profit falls into the category of patent and copyright infringement. Modification practices such as importing US-version locked phones, adding physical SIM trays to eSIM devices, and using RSIM to bypass network locks are unauthorized modifications that violate network access regulations, posing risks to communication security and user privacy. The circulation of such devices also involves smuggling and tax evasion, which does not comply with domestic market operation norms.

The short-term business dividends Huaqiangbei derives from leaked information are accompanied by policy and compliance risks.

02

Phone Case Sellers Are the First to Profit

Apple has not yet announced the exact release date of the iPhone 18 Pro series. Media reports state that the September autumn launch event will introduce the iPhone 18 Pro series, while the base iPhone 18 standard model will be delayed until the spring of 2027.

According to media reports, the ransomware gang released more than 200,000 files allegedly stolen from Tata Electronics on the dark web, with a total data size of over 630GB. These files contain component designs, specification documents, and trade secrets for its core clients Apple and Tesla. Some media outlets stated that after reviewing the files, they found at least six documents that map iPhone 18 Pro related components to their suppliers, covering details of core parts such as motherboard chips, battery assemblies, and camera modules.

The data leak has been confirmed by Tata Electronics. S. Krishnan, Secretary of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, stated in an interview that the Indian government is investigating the massive data breach at Tata Electronics.

Tata Electronics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate. In 2023, the Tata Group completed the acquisition of Wistron's Indian iPhone factory, marking the first time an Indian company entered the iPhone assembly market. In January 2025, Tata Electronics acquired a 60% stake in Pegatron's Indian subsidiary.

According to media reports, Apple's iPhone assembly volume in India reached approximately 55 million units in 2025, accounting for around 25% of the global total iPhone production. Market research firm Counterpoint Research predicts that India will produce 26% of the world's iPhones in 2026, up from just 6% six years ago.

As of now, Apple has not publicly responded to the leak. An Apple supply chain factory told *Caijing* that it has not been affected by the incident and is proceeding with its projects on schedule. During the leak event, Apple announced price increases for multiple hardware products including Macs and iPads in many global markets, with increases ranging from 16% to 25%, citing significant rises in memory and storage chip costs. There are also reports that the iPhone 18 Pro will see a price hike.

After reviewing all the leaked materials, A Cheng believes that the supply chain information in the files is the most damaging to Apple. However, the principle manuals and specification diagrams for Apple's self-developed A20 chip and C2 baseband are not included in these files. He speculates that Tata Electronics does not have access to Apple's self-developed chip documents either. In addition, the leaked files do not involve any pricing information.

From the perspective of Huaqiangbei sellers, the most they can do with these documents is to study them in advance to figure out how to perform card modification or make some accessories. "How much commercial value can these secret documents create for people like us? It's absolutely impossible to manufacture a smartphone motherboard. How could Huaqiangbei make a 2nm chip device?"

At present, the only people who have actually made real money from the iPhone 18 Pro are likely phone case sellers. One Huaqiangbei phone case foreign trade seller said that they start producing new Apple phone cases around May every year. Since these cases are mainly sold to Europe and America, it takes about two months to reach customers. Most of these overseas large customers have dozens of branches and need to distribute the products further, so the timeline perfectly aligns with Apple's new product launch date.

Now, various styles of iPhone 18 Pro and Apple foldable phone cases are already displayed in Huaqiangbei stalls. This seller has no shortage of orders: "We don't sell them individually. We have a large number of orders right now, and we only supply to regular customers."

This article is from the WeChat public account "Caijing Magazine", written by Tan Haiyan, edited by Liu Yiqin, and republished by 36Kr with authorization.