It is either the perfect Christmas gift or just a very expensive sock — for your phone.
Apple has launched an Issey Miyake-designed sling to carry your iPhone that costs up to £220, prompting ridicule from some quarters.
The iPhone Pocket “is born from the idea of creating an additional pocket” and “inspired by the concept of a piece of cloth”, the company said.
Miyake, the Japanese designer who founded the label, was known for producing garments from a single 3D-knit piece of fabric.
It revives the link between the two companies that was created by Steve Jobs, whose love of Miyake’s black turtlenecks became his signature style, along with blue jeans and white trainers.
At one stage he approached Miyake to design a vest for Apple staff, which would have been considered a uniform. But, in a biography, Jobs says he was “booed off stage” by employees when he floated the idea.
The pocket, which comes in a short (£140) and long version (£220), appears to be Apple’s attempt to cash in on a growing trend for phone straps. The company launched a £59 “crossbody” strap in September.
The actresses Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria, Gal Gadot and Naomi Watts have been photographed wearing designer phone straps.
The product comes in long and short versions
APPLE
Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight and creator of the Mobile Phone Museum said: “It seems that people love hanging their phones around their necks at the moment.
“Ultimately I guess it depends on your attitude to risk. I certainly worry more these days that someone is going to grab my phone.”
Users on Reddit debated the issue. “London’s scooter-riding phone thieves are gonna love this,” one said. “Strapped phone bags are usually seen as a theft deterrent,” another replied.
A third said: “Usually true, but they also usually fully encase or connect the strap to the phone. This thing is easier to pick than a regular pocket. The phone is practically falling out of it.”
On X, comparisons were made between the iPhone Pocket and the mankini worn by the Sacha Baron-Cohen character Borat.
The pocket is also reminiscent of a fabric iPod holder called the Sock, released by Jobs in 2004, which he joked was to “keep your iPod warm”.
The analyst MG Siegler called the pocket “an insanely expensive sock” in his Spyglass newsletter. He wrote: “I think the most important/interesting aspect of this product is actually the continuing trend of turning the iPhone into a wearable. What started with arm bands for runners back in the day is now more of a daily wearable strap for many people, it seems.”
Siegler, whose iPhone was snatched by a thief in London this year, said he owned a cross-body strap, which gave him more peace of mind than carrying the device.
Apple said the pocket is designed to “fully enclose iPhone, while expanding to fit your everyday items. When stretched, the open textile subtly reveals its contents and allows users to peek at their iPhone display”.
The company said that the iPhone Pocket can be worn in a variety of ways — “handheld, tied onto bags, or worn directly on the body”. It goes on sale on November 14.