Per the response from Nothing quoted in the article, that’s what happened:
Akis mentions that companies have to submit demo units with placeholder content about four months before the phone’s launch so that they can be tested and “implemented” before mass production. Once the phone enters mass production, companies usually swap out placeholder content (including stock images) with proper product renders and actual photo samples.
Per the response from Nothing quoted in the article, that’s what happened:
Isn’t it a thing to put the words “placeholder” or “lorem ipsum” somewhere in the photos? This seems like a really bad process…
They’re probably tagged outside the image. If you rely on watermarks, then someone needs to spot them with their eyes.