"The design drew inspiration from the concept of “a piece of cloth”
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Nike should have its logo on it, teens will be crazier about it.
Inspired by the concept of “a piece of cloth,"
Looks at URL.
Born from the idea of creating an additional pocket, its understated design fully encloses iPhone, expanding to fit more of a user’s everyday items.
“The design of iPhone Pocket speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user, while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in aesthetic and versatile in use,” shared Yoshiyuki Miyamae, design director of MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO
Looks at URL.
When stretched, the open textile subtly reveals its contents and allows users to peek at their iPhone display…
This can’t be real. Checks URL again.
Phone Pocket features a singular 3D-knitted construction that is the result of research and development carried out at ISSEY MIYAKE. The design drew inspiration from the concept of “a piece of cloth” and…
iPhone Pocket in the short strap design retails at $149.95 (U.S.), and the long strap design at $229.95 (U.S.).
…What the fuck? This has to be hack or something. There’s no way a human being wrote that article, and didn’t know what they were doing.
it’s so stupid I’m still not convinced it’s real.
I know a lot of normies have iPhones because it’s a phone and they see it as a good phone. Fair enough (shitty monopolistic behaviour and Americans’ - yes, this is not a thing in my country - weird ostracisation of green text bubbles notwithstanding)
But Apple is also the brand that made phones a “status symbol”.
I can very easily believe this.
There will be an upsetting number of people that buy this glorified, and much less useful, shoulder bag.
yeah I understand your point.
it was the year 2005, and I was rocking the tmobile MDA with a data plan. I showed folks around me the touch screen and browser and they were like NNNEERRRRD.2 years later they were flicking little paper wads into a little garbage can on their iPhone 3 and raising their pinky in the air as if they were the technical elite.
Soo yeah
Real homies remember that game they had on the palm pilot to learn the handwriting shorthand haha
Seems I’m a bit younger than you, but for some reason this is in my core memories folder.
“This can’t be real. Checks URL again.”
Dude! I was doing the same thing. I kept thinking, “Is this some new form of prank that hides the url somehow?”
I can’t stop laughing at this comment. I think that’s what we all did!
I did the same, but also double checked the date to make sure this wasn’t some weird April fools that got missed
And with all that piffle, they never actually tell what it’s made from. I assume some kind of acrylic? In which case it will snag and pill like crazy and look complete crap within a month.
I should start knitting these for Christmas gifts.
This was my EXACT experience. How was this not satire?
Here I thought it was going to be a small screened cheap iPhone and I was excited for a minute.
cheap iPhone
LOL
I mean, they have done it. When I was looking at phones a few years back, it was genuinely a toss up between a Pixel 4a and an iPhone SE. If all you need it to be is a cameraphone, then both were good options.
Even now, the iPhone 16e is a relatively inexpensive phone when considering its featureset, but I would prefer a “mini” or newer SE variant instead.
Compared to other flagships they’re not outrageously expensive
OK? They’re also fuckin’ expensive
I won’t argue that. But they’re not like, uniquely expensive.
I think the problem people have with the iPhone is that all of them are expensive. Whereas Samsung make the A Series and there is the Pixel from Google. If you want to pay extra and get a more expensive phone that’s an option, whereas with Apple that basically isn’t a possibility.
Yep
Although the real budget option is just to buy last year’s models. The iPhones have actually really powerful processors - having one a year or two old that you can get new for really cheap is really not much of a drawback.
Well, they are more expensive, and have more expensive options.
That’s exactly what I was thinking too. Like an iPhone nano or something. The laugh I let out when I saw what it actually was though, I really needed that today.
Very disappointed that’s not what this was.
Personally, I’m saving up for the “Apple Stick and Bindle”, the nouveau-hobo accessory of the season.
I thought it was going to be a new form factor iPhone that could fit comfortably in your pocket.
Why in the hell would they make something people want?
-me and my iPhone 13 mini dreading an “upgrade”-
We’ve come full circle.
Also, I wonder if this is some kind of scheme to park the “iPhone Pocket” name for a bit in case they want to make a phone called that in 10 years.
I suppose if they ever make a flip phone with a folding screen that would be a good name for it.
Full sock-le?
What the actual fuck.
I’ve commented on here before how women’s clothing generally doesn’t have large-enough pockets for smartphones. A lot of modern women’s clothing is form-fitting, and has small pockets.
So either you revise the clothing or add some kind of wearable bag/pocket.
Used to be that women wore dresses, had slits in the skirts that they could reach through, and then had sorta wearable pockets on beneath them. But full skirts are pretty dead now, so:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket
By the 17th century, pockets were sewn into men’s clothing, while women’s remained as separate tie-on pouches hidden beneath skirts.[5][6]
In the 17th to 19th centuries, women’s tie-on pockets—mentioned in the rhyme Lucy Locket—often carried everyday tools like scissors, pins, needles, and keys.[7][8]: 113
In modern fashion, men’s clothing usually includes pockets, whereas women’s clothing often has smaller or even fake ones, sometimes called Potemkin pockets after the concept of a Potemkin village. A 2018 study by the Pudding found that fewer than half of women’s front pockets could fit a thin wallet, let alone a phone or keys.[9]
When I first ran into this, I thought “well, put the phone in your purse then, dammit, you’re already carrying that for feminine hygiene products”. Problem is that women don’t haul (bulky) purses everywhere — walk into the office, say, set down the purse at the desk, and it’s mostly staying at the desk. I don’t know any women who wear their purses around the house. But they do want to keep the phone available all the time.
And the smartphone is a pretty ubiquitous item to want to carry around now.
So unless women’s clothing changes to have large pockets and somehow deals with not messing up the body’s silhouette or whatever makes that a problem or the smartphone form factor changes (“big smartwatch?”), I expect that people have to wind up with some kind of mini, wearable container. Like this.
I mean, this is a absurdly priced solution, but that’s a fair point.
It’s stupid fashion’s that way. I always thought that when I saw girls sticking phones in their shorts waistbands or whatever.
We should go back to the future:
Or even better, improve it:
And have shorts like that too? I dunno, I’m not a fashion expert, but still.
I mean, I like the Lara Croft thigh holster route, but that might chafe.
And if you’re wearing it the way the male model is, you can probably add an outer shirt or jacket and wear it like an underarm money belt in less-secure environments. I have one of those that I repurposed for carrying a tablet. Looks very similar to this, though not the same brand or type of fabric:
https://www.amazon.com/Multi-Purpose-Anti-Thief-Security-Underarm-Messenger/dp/B077GD5C27
Kind of like a very thin purse with a padded, short strap that’s intended to optionally hide under one’s clothes.
You don’t need something that large to carry a phone, though. The sort of smaller thing that they’re doing here is big enough for that.
Yeah, utility belt/sling over bags!
The thigh holsters seem a bit impractical though. If we’re diving into more fiction fashion, how about the pocketed Normandy crew uniform from ME?
I like those little built-in squares on the thighs.
Oh I’m not at all reacting to the usefulness. I’m reacting to the price of the item. Pockets on women’s clothes are a bit of a disaster.
Eh, I mean, I wouldn’t buy it, but then I wouldn’t buy Apple products in general, as they’re all gonna carry a premium. They sell into kinda a low-end luxury market. I dunno how many people remember back when Apple introduced the white earbuds with the iPod and had a marketing campaign focusing on their color, at a time when headphones were pretty universally a more-subtle black, to make it very obvious that what someone had in their pocket was an iPod.
For some luxury goods, the point is to visibly show the item to others, to demonstrate that you can afford the item, engage in conspicious consumption. Then you get Veblen goods:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
A Veblen good is a type of luxury good, named after American economist Thorstein Veblen, for which the demand increases as the price increases, in apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve.
The higher prices of Veblen goods may make them desirable as a status symbol in the practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. A product may be a Veblen good because it is a positional good, something few others can own.
So people can prefer a higher-priced item, specifically because it lets them show off that they can afford it.
And if you figure that the closest thing to the “phone pocket” is women’s purses, well…that’s historically been a product category that sees a fair number of members that are Veblen goods, a lot of pricey items designed to show that their wearer can afford them. Like, a designer handbag isn’t really any more functional than a far-less-expensive equivalent, yet lots of people buy them.
https://www.hermes.com/us/en/category/women/bags-and-small-leather-goods/bags-and-clutches/
Those are pretty hefty prices for the functionality you’re getting.
If you figure that a phone pocket probably fills more-or-less the same fashion role, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the potential to sell luxury phone pockets is comparable to that to selling luxury handbags.
Apple already kinda sells towards a low-end luxury market, so I expect that Apple’s probably making a not-unreasonable move in trying to feel out whether there’s potential for that among their customer base.
I wouldn’t pay much for a luxury container for a phone, but that’s me. My pockets fit my phone just fine, so I’m not even in the market in the first place. But…doesn’t mean that Apple isn’t making the right move from a business standpoint for them, I think.
EDIT: A quick kagi later, it sounds like the proper industry term is “affordable luxury” rather than “low-end luxury”:
The iPhone 17 was launched in September 2025, during Apple’s traditional event in Cupertino, California. Tim Cook, in turn, emphasized that the model reinforces the company’s strategy of transforming smartphones into symbols of affordable luxury in the global market. Although the price is high for most people, the iPhone 17 is still priced lower than other traditional luxury goods, including designer handbags, sports cars, and Swiss watches.
Since 2007, Apple has established its brand as a benchmark for innovation and prestige. However, in September 2025, the company once again reinforced the idea that the iPhone is the “cheapest rich-people’s item” available on the market. According to Bloomberg, the device has therefore become a gateway for consumers looking to flaunt a globally recognized status item. Thus, it has come to be seen as an affordable alternative to prestige.
“a piece of cloth” huh
borat wearing very little
That was my first thought!
Very nice!
Like many, I thought for a microsecond that they actually brought out a new phone model that will fit in a pocket.
But no, of course they didn’t. Because why the fuck would anyone want that.
I’m so sick of this trend of trying to make the phone as thin as possible and then the camera bump has prominent as possible, completely negating any benefit. My partner would definitely like a thinner phone and would probably buy a phone that didn’t have the camera bump because it didn’t have any camers, if it meant a thinner phone that would actually fit in her pocket.
Either that or keep the camera bump and just thicken the whole phone out and give me a larger battery and the apparently too big to fit 3.5mm audio jack.
What I don’t get is why they don’t make a model with more battery space to flatten out the back. I would love a phone with 10Ah instead of 3Ah and I already carry a battery pack for this exact reason. The lack of options is super annoying.
Oh God I feel dumber having read this. How is this not the onion?! A 3D knitted construction? Really?
It’s the iPod sock of the 2020’s
With heavy inflation
People thinking this is a joke or laughing at this don’t seem to remember when Apple released what was essentially a sock for your ipod video. or how about the $1000 monitor stand? or the wheels for your Powermac that cost hundreds of dollars.
This is Apple folks. If they can find a way to nickle and dime their gullible cultish user base they will do it. They’ve been doing it since…well since the company was founded.
False. The IIgs was amazing.
This is post-Apple. Apple died roughly around 2008-2011 when they figured out how to capitalize on douche snobbery. Previously they catered to the outliers. The clevil (clever evil) was when they figured out how to market that you are being an outlier if you own their crap. Which, ironically drove away the outliers.
The monitor stand and wheels for the Mac are targeted towards businesses. The same kinds of businesses that will spend $1000 per chair on ugly and uncomfortable office chairs.
Those $1000 chairs are not uncomfortable. A lot of the price is also the warranty and they are much cheaper for a business bulk purchasing.
I love picking up Aeron or similar stuff used. They’re great chairs and a used one isn’t any more expensive than those horrible racing style chairs but will actually last and be comfortable for over a decade. My current one is a 2006 model and still going strong.
A very good chair is important, it doesn’t have to be a $1,000 chair, but, never returning to the back-crushing racing chair.
I love this. This is perfect for Apple people.
It’s really not.
Apple seems to disagree with you.
What a sign of the times. God damn I fucking hate this. Some marketing team gleefully jerking themselves off to it somewhere. Their margins on this have got to be disgustingly high.
Profit: $229
It’s great! Costs about zero energy to produce, takes money from idiots, what’s not to love?!
“Never give a sucker an even break”.
The Flimflam man
And is made of polyester, microplastic
Would you rather one spend $230 on a little piece of shit like this or a new pair of tires? Bit relative isn’t it?
It looks like the bathing suit that Borat wore to the beach.
Honest question, how do you Apple fans keep supporting this company?
Well, not a fan, exactly, but I am forced to be fully engulfed in the apple ecosystem.
I don’t hate them more than Dell, Asus, Sony, or Microsoft. Not everything they make is a ripoff.
- the $10 A/D converter in the headphone adapters is a steal
- the mac mini with base config is a good deal
- the macbook air is worth the money and best in class
- ipad — no worthy competition for most users
- M-series chips and their energy consumption
- savvy users avoid all the upsell ripoffs like storage upgrades and displays and sock slings
Main issue I have with that company is the ridiculous pricing of SSD or RAM upgrades. I’m not paying $200 for extra 256gb, we’re not in 2008 anymore
And that it can’t be upgraded after purchase
Edit, went to watch the price of the 256gb SSD upgrade and I was wrong. It’s not $200 but it’s €250 👍🏻
Edit2: I was also wrong about the SSD pricing in 2008, they’re selling it at year 2012 prices, not year 2008 prices
Uh, I think you are agreeing with my last point…? You savvy user you.
Yes but it’s annoying to being forced to workaround the issue with USB drives…
Also I’d like to get 32gb or 64gb because it’s shared with GPU… But a Mac mini with 64gb costs 2500 euro (THREE TIMES!!!) instead of the 750 euro base model with 16gb…
I think that is funny
- 3 complete mac minis, all of them with 16gb ram= 2200 euro, total 48gb divided in the three machines
- a single mac mini, with a huge 256 gb SSD drive (for the standards that were popular last decade), with 48gb of extra RAM over the base one = 2500 euro
Yeah true skimming eh! Fuck Apple.
Yes it’s annoying, which is why storage on the list. I have different but equal complaints about other manufacturers.
FWIW I usually advise a compromise at 512GB as that is enough for most current working active projects, then periodically offload to a media or archive drive. Most clients are fine with that.
In the cases where 32GB of RAM is needed and not just nice to have, maybe a different computer is better, like LLM capable machines with discrete GPUs. If you need more RAM for professional purposes like Vectorworks, well it’s a write-off and the cost vanishes compared to ROI so whining is just indulgent.
Personally I wouldn’t call the MacBook air good value for money. It’s not a bad computer but it’s very expensive for the specs you get. You’re basically paying for it to be very thin and really it’s no more portable than the normal MacBook because when you think about it obviously it isn’t because if the MacBook wasn’t portable it would be a mini desktop.
Well the MBA has some standout features:
- build quality, it really is well made
- trackpad (all apple laptops)
- fanless, this is underrated for some people
- runs macOS
- battery life
- powerful enough for nearly anything south of long 4k renders or LLMs etc.
Honestly, oranges to oranges, I consider the Air as competing with more expensive business class laptops with more ports and bigger numbers, but worse end user experience.
iPads cant even send SMS or make calls. The most gimped of tablets.
The rest of your list seems reasonable
Meh, in my fairly extensive experience with end users, they don’t care about that, they have phones. Different use-case.
But I recognise that we’re here amongst many fussy edge-case users. Still the best tablet by majority acclaim even if you can’t use it as a phone.
I must have a weird sample then. My uncle specifically wants that because he doesn’t want to have a separate phone. So he has a Galaxy Tablet. And a colleague at work recently inquired how she would log in to the phone company website to charge the prepaid plan if she can’t get the login SMS.
Yep, most people seem to have cellphones, and if you wanted to use a tablet as a phone I would suggest an android tablet (or a cheap used smartphone, TBH).
Since I started moving my family over to Apple, the amount of tech support I needed to do for them dropped to almost zero. It just works. I have my Raspberry Pis and Linux boxes for fun and my MacBook for when the computer needs to get out of the way and let me work.
That said, I have zero interest in buying this absurd fashion accessory ;)
I used to work in Apple tech support and trust me the people who buy iPhones are the least tech savvy people in the world. People dwelling in caves in prehistory would have been more capable than your average Apple customer.
A good chunk of them found the concept of plugging your iPad in occasionally to be beyond comprehension. Also that their Wi-Fi didn’t have a 600 mile range and no it wouldn’t work if you were in a different country.
You’ve just reminded me of my late sister, who insisted she could access my WiFi from 300 miles away. “How else am I getting internet?” A mystery for sure.
I focus on the hardware, OS and ecosystem which are all very good for my use and just shake my head at things like this and move on. It’s not like I approve or feel like I have to approve of everything a company does to use their products. Of course the more attuned they are to my needs the more I like them. And Apple has been a mixed bag over the years. Then again so has everyone else.
apple is cool.
lemmy people aren’t cool. they are practical.
practical people are the antithesis of cool people. cool people don’t care about value or function.
hence why they pay $1000s for wear it once clothing.
MacBooks are pretty practical. ARM laptops like MacBooks have genuinely ridiculously good battery life; I was genuinely shocked the first time I used one.
Yes, ARM windows exists, but it’s clunky and has little support because unlike MacBooks, not all Windows laptops run ARM, so developers have little incentive to make ARM Windows versions their apps.
MacBooks are pretty practical. ARM laptops like MacBooks have genuinely ridiculously good battery life; I was genuinely shocked the first time I used one.
Yeah agreed, have one at work. I just really dislike their software.
battery life and simplicity thats why. i used it while in COllege, and i can see why people own even the older ones.
As a recovering Apple user, the hardware really is very, very good.
I have an M2 MacBook Air that is, quite frankly, the fastest computer I’ve ever used. Running Window in a VM within it gave me the fastest Windows computer I’ve ever used. I’ve had it two years and still get all day out of the battery. It can export a two hour AIFF recording of my radio show from Reaper in around 10 seconds. In the two years I’ve had it there have been perhaps three occasions where I wished I’d opted for a Pro instead.
I also have an iPad mini which is a ridiculously useful little tablet, when used in conjunction with my MacBook.
However, over the past year I’ve been drawing further away from their ecosystem, to the point that I mostly only use the MacBook to present my radio show because it’s fanless so doesn’t cause any noise issues when my mic’s open. And that’s as a direct result of Apple being a trash company run by corporate fuckheads who would sooner capitulate to fascists than actually fucking stand for something.
So yeah, very few of us do actually support them.
