Roger Fingas
Months after the Apple Watch's debut, Apple is finally at work on an official charging dock for the device, a leak revealed on Tuesday [updated with images of the product].
The product will be disc-shaped and known as the "Magnetic Charging Dock," a source informed French site igeneration on Tuesday. A shared packaging photo indicates that Watches will be able to lay either flat or on their side — the latter is particularly important, since it enables watchOS 2's Nightstand mode.
The dock should come with a bundled Lightning cable, but not an AC adapter needed to plug the device into a wall outlet. Pricing should be 89 euros or about $95, though local U.S. pricing will likely be cheaper.
The source didn't mention a release date, but a price and finished packaging may suggest that a launch is imminent.
Update: New images from German site Grobgebloggt.de show the anticipated product in action with an Apple Watch. They are included below.
Numerous third-party Watch docks have been available since the wearable first shipped last April, but Apple itself has stuck to providing a basic charging cable. Many of those third-party options are vertically-built, preventing the use of Nightstand, and require that owners thread Apple's cable through them to make them work.
Charles Martin
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
23 Comments
Good to see Apple making their own charging stand. I ended up buying the Twelve South Forte stand. The Forte stand works great and the build quality is excellent. The Forte doesn't prevent the use of Nightstand.
Strange that Apple did not have such a thing on day one. They are notoriously tunnelvisioned when it comes to imagining useful accessories for their own products.
Wonder if they'll make an integrated iPhone/Watch charging stand as well? Kinda like the Belkin Valet but maybe try to get Nightstand support in there too. Maybe not but it'd be nice since I usually prefer Apple's accessories over third party.
EDIT: on 9to5Mac there's actual pics of this thing in use.
Strange that Apple did not have such a thing on day one. They are notoriously tunnelvisioned when it comes to imagining useful accessories for their own products.
If the ? watch had nightstand mode on day one it would have made sense to release this alongside of it at launch.
I don't currently have an ?Watch, but isn't $95 a bit pricey for such an accessory?