Comparison of the magnitude counts in the CFHTLS u ^∗ ,   g′,   r′,   i′,   z′ optical bands with SAM predictions for 17.5 < I < 24 galaxies. The CFHTLS counts are shown with the squares and the error bars correspond to their Poisson errors. The curves and associated shaded areas are respectively the mean and the 1σ, 2σ, and 3σ field-to-field dispersions among the Cmocks samples. SAM predictions are for samples explicitly cut at I = 24, while CFHTLS counts extend above this limit. All galaxies with I < 17.5 have been removed from the counts.