A 14-second video purporting to show iPhone 18 Pro Max units in a store has been knocked down as fake, with the clip showing Dark Cherry and light blue models beside an iPhone 17 Pro Max and a price sticker that appears to push the rumor into overdrive.
The video surfaced as interest built around Apple's expected September 9, 2026 announcement, which is exactly why it is spreading now. People searching for iPhone 18 Pro Colors are looking for any sign of what the next Pro Max might look like, and the clip from leaker yeux1122 seemed to offer that in one tidy package: in-store hardware, a retail display, and a price tag that looked specific enough to feel real.
But the details that make the video feel convincing also make it easy to question. The clip shows a backward-facing display mount, briefly cuts to the front of one phone with the screen off, and presents the alleged units as store stock even though demo units are not in stores yet. The price sticker says 256GB and lists a monthly amount in Russian rubles that appears to convert to about $123 a month, despite Apple not selling iPhones in Russia. That mix of oddities is why William Gallagher said the rumors are getting more farcical with each passing week and argued that there are about 8-10 things in the video that “blatantly scream” COMPLETELY FAKE.
The larger problem is not just whether this one clip is wrong. It is that the video is framed as proof of a physical retail sighting before launch, when the timeline makes that hard to accept. If the hardware is not supposed to be in stores yet, then the burden shifts to the leaker to explain why a video with a dead screen, a backward display mount and a Russian-ruble price card should be treated as evidence rather than noise. For now, the safer read is that the footage is part of the pre-launch rumor cycle, not a glimpse of the real lineup.
Apple is expected to unveil its new iPhones on September 9, 2026, and that date is the one that will settle the question that this video cannot. Until then, the Dark Cherry and light blue frames may keep circulating, but the claim that they show retail-ready iPhone 18 Pro Max units has already been undercut.
