YouTubers Build World’s Largest iPhone With Working Camera

A pair of YouTubers have earned a Guinness World Record after they built the world’s largest working replica of an iPhone with a fully-functioning camera.

YouTubers Arun Maini (better known as @mrwhosetheboss) and Matthew Perks (who goes by @DIYperks) constructed their own record-breaking version of an iPhone 15 Pro Max, which measured 6.74 feet tall and weighed 440 pounds.

The pair’s enormous device was named the largest ever smartphone replica by the Guinness World Records in London, U.K., on August 29 — just in time for Apple’s annual iPhone launch event today.

In order to set the Guinness World Record for the largest smartphone replica, Maini and Perks had to build an iPhone that actually worked.

So as well as being 12 times the size of the original iPhone 15 Pro Max, the pair’s device is fully operational as a smartphone.

It can take photos and selfies, make and receive phone and video calls, operate all apps, and even has a touchscreen keyboard. The huge device also has a flashlight and charging point, which fits the largest USB-C cable in the world.

Moreover, Perks and Maini’s gigantic smartphone replica has a working three-lens camera array — just like the original iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The huge smartphone’s main camera uses a Canon EOS R5 to shoot full-quality, 8k resolution video — making the pair’s camera sensor 1000% larger than that of the original iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The pair acquired a Sony RX10 IV for the zoom camera. They pointed it upward, rather than outward, at a front-surface mirror to maximize the optical zoom.

How They Built The World’s Largest iPhone 15 Pro Max

Perks and Maini began making their enormous iPhone by transforming an 88-inch LG Signature OLED TV into a functional touchscreen. They commissioned a manufacturer to create a custom touch foil made to match the iPhone screen’s huge size and secured it with UV epoxy for clarity.

Next, the pair tackled fitting oversized components of the phone, such as speakers, a three-lens camera array, and buttons for volume, power, and special function button. He built an aluminum frame with a cross-shaped support to hold everything in place. The frame was also mounted on a large phone stand, allowing it to rotate easily.

According to Endgaget, the only part that Maini and Perks couldn’t recreate was Apple’s iOS as it’s closed-source. Instead, they used Android, which came with two advantages: Bliss OS could imitate the iPhone’s interface, and they were able to install Flappy Bird — something iPhone users haven’t been able to do in almost 10 years.

It took Perks and Maini three months to build a scaled-up version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It cost a total of $70,630 to make the unique piece of tech.

Maini is a content creator with 19.4 million YouTube subscribers, and Perks has 4.61 million followers on his YouTube channel which focuses on “designing and building your own gadgets and technology.”

Maini promised his viewers that he would build the “largest iPhone” if his YouTube subscriber count surpassed that of Apple’s YouTube channel, which has 19.3 million followers.