Apple can put a sock in it, customers say.
The tech giant unveiled its latest accessory this week — an iPhone holder made of a simple piece of ribbed material bearing a striking resemblance to a sock and selling for up to $230 that drew shock and guffaws online.
“$230 for a cut up sock,” one user wrote on X. “Apple people will pay anything for anything as long as it’s Apple.”
The iPhone Pocket is a collaboration with Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, who was “inspired by the concept of ‘a piece of cloth,’” Apple said Tuesday.
The design, which mimics a cross-body strap, was “born from the idea of creating an additional pocket,” the company said.
It is available in bright colors like lemon yellow, purple and pink, and can fit any iPhone.
A short strap design that retails for $149.95 and a long strap at $229.95 will be available Friday in select stores – including Apple’s Soho, Manhattan, location – and online across the US, UK, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Italy and France.
Apple customers were quick to mock the new special-edition release online – with some comparing it to the notorious yellow V-sling “mankini” Sacha Baron Cohen wore in the first “Borat” movie.
Others noted that the pricey iPhone Pocket resembles Apple’s discontinued iPod Socks – a set of cotton knit socks that launched in 2004 to protect iPods from damage while traveling.
“2025 – an Apple iPhone sock for $230,” one user wrote on X. “2004 – Steve Jobs announced Apple iPod socks, 6 for $29.”
Another user lamented: “You can buy an [A]ndroid phone for the price of an iPhone sock.”
Budget models like the Samsung Galaxy A16, for example, sell far below $230 at retailers like Best Buy, Target and Walmart.
Another user joked that people could buy a gym sock, instead, for just 15 cents, while a different commentator called the release “peak brand delusion.”
Tech analyst MG Siegler wrote in his newsletter on Wednesday that the iPhone Pocket is “an insanely expensive sock.”
But he noted that Miyake was one of Steve Jobs’ favorite designers.
“I think the most important/interesting aspect of this product is actually the continuing trend of turning the iPhone into a wearable,” Siegler said.
“What started with arm bands for runners back in the day is now more of a daily wearable strap for many people, it seems.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
