Simple circuitry, surprising engineering: Inside counterfeit Apple gadgets

Enlarge / Lumafield's blog shared this image showing CT scans of three earbuds. The left is a real AirPods Pro (2nd Gen). The wire-riddled two on the right are fakes. (credit: Lumafield)

Whether they're products pretending to be made by a brand or devices claiming to be something they're not, (like a microSD card posing as an SSD), fraudulent electronics pose a threat to unsuspecting shoppers' wallets and, at times, their safety. With their popularity and high prices, scammers often target Apple products. But what's actually inside those faux Apple devices?

To find out, Lumafield busted out its $75,000 CT scanner to illustrate what people get when they end up with counterfeit MacBook chargers or knockoff AirPods Pro.

Lumafield makes industrial CT scanners and software. Lately, it has been using its Neptune scanner to examine electronics, like Apple's $130 Thunderbolt 4 cable. This week, Lumafield provided CT scans (which you can play with via Lumafield's online Voyager software) of the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation (here), two counterfeits (here and here), as well as a look at Apple's 85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter (here) and a fake (here).

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