Apple’s iPhone Pocket Is a $230 Gadget Mankini. We Tried It Out to Measurement It Up

Remember iPod socks? Those brightly coloured woolly wraps that swaddled your iPod prefer it was an toddler? Apple offered them beginning in 2004 for the higher a part of a decade. In issues we didn’t have on our bingo card for 2025, Apple has determined now’s the time to deliver again the knitwear for the newest iPhones.

Meet the iPhone Pocket: a glorified yarn sling in your cellphone and no matter else you’ll be able to cram in there with out stretching the poor factor into oblivion. If we’re being catty, it does look a bit like a sweater you shrank within the wash after which tried to stretch out. Or possibly a mankini.

But hey, it may simply be the zhuzh you are searching for.

The iPhone Pocket is on sale now, however you’ll be able to’t stroll into simply any outdated Apple Store and get it. Apple is promoting it in 10 choose procuring locales, like SoHo in New York, Regent Street in London, Marché Saint-Germain in Paris and Orchard Road in Singapore. Everyone else will simply need to order it on-line prefer it’s from Temu.

High vogue doesn’t come low-cost. The quick strap design will set you back $150, whereas the lengthy strap version costs $230.

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Getting our arms on an iPhone Pocket

On Friday, the primary day the iPhone Pocket went on sale, CNET’s Bridget Carey picked up one every of the lengthy and quick variations (blue and pink, respectively) on the Apple Store in fashion-centric SoHo, the one Apple retail retailer promoting it within the US. Customers there may go hands-on with the woven slings, giving the Pocket a stretch or pattern slipping their iPhones into it.

The longer, crossbody mannequin held Carey’s cellphone securely, and he or she felt assured carrying it round New York all through the day. She additionally put it by some impromptu testing. “I’ve been swinging it around and stuffing other items in it,” she stated. “I’ve even tied it around my neck as a scarf and put it on my foot as a sock.”

So far, the Pocket has saved its form. The materials has some spring to it, and Carey thinks she may take it on errands along with her children and never have to fret. But it is not powerful sufficient for the washer. Instructions inside say the Pocket is to be hand washed and mustn’t go within the dryer.

One of Apple’s solutions for accessorizing with the iPhone Pocket, in the event you’re not doing crossbody, is to tie it onto the bag you are carrying. That was not Carey’s first inclination. “I’m not sure I would feel comfortable hanging my phone like a keychain on my bag,” she stated. “But I still wanted to get a short Pocket because, well, I wanted to have a bit of fashion history. And I love pink.”

If she does go the bag-Pocket route, Carey stated, “I’ll hook my Labubu off it, too. After all, this is Apple’s Labubu now, a hard-to-find fashion accessory that hangs on your bag.”

The vogue sense of the iPhone Pocket

Apple designed the iPhone Pocket in collaboration with vogue model Issey Miyake, the designer behind the countless provide of black turtlenecks worn by Steve Jobs (and an Apple worker uniform that just about occurred).

I’m no vogue skilled, however vogue author Tiffany Lo is, and he or she advised me “the design embodies Issey Miyake’s signature pleat pattern and the idea of crafting it from a single piece of fabric. It’s instantly recognizable.”

The iPhone Pocket is a stretchy 3D-knitted pouch with ribbed textures that hugs your iPhone. It’s see-through whenever you tug at it, so you’ll be able to glimpse your lockscreen. But Apple desires you to place greater than your iPhone on this accent. You’re inspired to slide in AirPods, lip balm, a key fob, breath mints or another pocketable merchandise. The shorter iPhone Pocket is extra like a wristlet bag, whereas the longer one turns your iPhone right into a crossbody accent.

The wearable tech pouch is definitely a vogue assertion in the event you determine to drape it throughout your torso, maybe like a sash of questionable choices. Whether you carry it in-hand, tie it to your bag, or sling it on like a fashion-forward postman, you’ll positively get some appears, maybe confused ones. The quick strap model is available in eight colours: lemon, mandarin, purple, pink, peacock, sapphire, cinnamon and black. The lengthy strap comes solely in these latter three colours.

So who’s the iPhone Pocket for? Lo says it “could appeal to younger generations thanks to the design that allows users to wear it as a crossbody.” Given that Apple launched crossbody straps for all its iPhones earlier this yr, possibly it has some insights into what Gen Z actually desires. Is it well worth the $230, and even $150? Yes or no, it is a far cry from the $29 the iPod socks went for again within the day.